Celtic Bracelet

This is my favorite creation so far! I hope to make a matching necklace sometime.

 

I'll post instructions later...

Pearl and Wire Bracelet

 This was almost insanely easy, and it looks so classy. First, I put a bead through floral wire. Next, I shaped the 20 ga wire to mold around the bead. Then I twisted the floral wire that the bead is in around the 20 ga wire. Repeat until the bracelet is finished!

The bracelet is strudy enough to stay on without actually needing a clasp, but I made a jump ring and S hook clasp so that it can't get yanked off by baby brothers who are facinated with this stuff...

A Bottle of Pixie Dust!

This is made from an old plastic perfume bottle that my little sister had. I "weathered" (rubbed pastel or ink with a sponge) the paper, calligraphied it, and attached it with rubber cement. (glue works, too). I filled the bottle with water and glitter (shhh! Its pixie dust to the little ones!), colored the lid with Sharpies, glued a flower on top, and tied ribbon on. Ta Dah!

Heart Set

This was very fun to make! First I made the two dangles (or wirewrapped loops) that the glass pearls are on. Then I twisted the heart shape, putting the dangle into the bottom loop. Then I attached it to the earring hoops!

For the ring, I put a long strip of wire through the bead and pulled it backwards. Hopefully you can see that in the picture. I twisted it around my finger. I twisted floral wire around the spot where the bottom of the heart is. Then I simply twisted the ends of the 20 ga wire into a heart shape!

Chandelier Earrings

These chandelier earrings were a ton of fun to make! They were quite a puzzle to put together, though... except for the actual loop that goes into the ear, this is entirely handmade. I took a strip of wire and made a triangle with two loops in the bottom corner. The ends of the wire are attached to the middle beads.

The twisted ties on the beads took a bit to get the hang of, but are fairly simple. You curl the end of the wire and thread the bead on. Next, form a loop with your pliers slightly above the bead. Keeping the pliers in the loop, take the rest of the wire and twist it three times around the wire directly below the pliers.

That sounds confusing. :P I am terrible at explaining it...

 EDIT: I found a site with instructions! http://www.beadingdaily.com/blogs/howto/archive/2009/02/13/wirewrapped-loops.aspx

 I used some random leftover plastic beads. :P

Elvish Circlet

It hath long been a dream of mine to own Elvish jewelry. Who could not, if they but once hath seen The Lord of the Rings? (By the way, today I am randomly writing in semi-Old English. Just so you know.)

Such silver filigree as never known! Such delicacy, detail, wonders to behold!

And then, to the greatest of all dismays, dashing wild hopeful hopes to the ground and slathering them with the mud of disappointed, I made the amazing discovery that... any replica, of whatsoever quality, costeth at least $30. The beautiful detailed intricate creations... somewhere in the $200 range.

AND THEN I GOT AN IDEA.

Make my own.

So, I hereby present to thee... A Circlet (no kidding)

Much fun was gained from this pleasurable experience. Listening to some music (not to mention music and music), I worked with wire for a couple hours. There is nothing like the joy of creating something beautiful... (or, not so beautiful, but at least an attempt at beauty)

HERE IT IS!!! (I'm proud of it, even though its not much.)

I used 20 guage wire and one fake pearl bead. To connect the various swirls of 20 gague wire, I twisted floral wire around it. A couple of easy-to-break places I added a touch of fingernail polish to hold it steady. (You know you are a crafty [muahahaha] when you use more fingernail polish on projects than on your fingernails.)

The hook in the back was made with a beaded chain with an S-hook at the end. With this chain, there is no need to secure the circlet with clippies!

My apologies for a lack of better pictures. Sometime I will try to get one with a black background.


 EDIT:
 Guess who got pictures-- nearly a year later?! This has been a favorite tiara with all the little (and not so little!) girls playing over at our house! You can definitely see the wear and tear (and bending, from the swirls tangling in hair, which I didn't bother to correct) in these pictures.


Sorry there is so many; my sister was such a compliant model and too sweet.

On black; the one twist has obviously slid up. An easy fix had I caught it before I snagged the picture.

It can be worn as a crown instead of tiara!

She got a little annoyed at the end... she wanted to play princess, not take pictures!

Harder than it looks- wire crocheting

I once heard something about wire crocheting- apparently you can make some really cool things with it. So me being me (and I love to experiment) I pulled out my smallest yarn crochet needle and some floral wire.

END RESULT: My fingers were very sore. My poor needle was dying a slow and painful death from erosion. And I had only finished two rows.

I don't think I'm ever going to try that again.