Last Spring I wrote up a tutorial for a wrapped wire ring and recently got an e-mail from a reader who used it to great effect! wheeee. So I thought I’d share it with you

I love the bridge troll from the second Spiderwick book: The Seeing Stone, it totally reminded me of the crazy swamp witch from Legend. 

So, I got to thinking about trolls and swamps and water - especially with all the amazingly crappy, rainy, wet weather we have been having over the last week and all the swampy floodedness of everything around us right now and I decided it needed to be expressed in jewelry.

Behold the River Troll Ring.

If you’d like to make our own here’s a quick tutorial

1. Decide on wire and beads you want to use. (I used a very fine wire from an old Klutz kit and a pile of different beads from my collection) Make sure your beads will glide easily along the wire’s  length. You may end up with some very small kinks in the wire and you don’t want your beads getting stuck. Try to stick with E-beads and larger stones, seed beads are just too small. Use a ring sizer to determine the size you want (try to find a solid surface to wrap your wire around, spoon handle, pen, marker - I have an old bead tube that worked for me) and remember to go up half a size from what you want it to be, wrapping the wire and the beads you use will take up some space. Cut a 2 yard piece of wire and beginning in the center wrap the wire 2-5 times with each piece, meeting back at the point where you started (the number of wraps determines how substantial your band will be). Use the tails to wrap the band together at the base, moving in opposite directions, then divide the band into 2 equal halves.

2. Now, starting on either side, you place the beads that run along the side of your ring one at a time. Wrap your wire tail 3 times around one side of the ring, thread on your first bead and then wrap the wire 3 times on the opposite side of the ring. Repeat 2 to 3 times more depending on the size and number of beads you have chosen and repeat on the other side.

3. Work your center bead separate from the ring, using A new piece of wire about a yard in length. You may choose to use one stone or many, the important thing to have is a sturdy but slightly loose ring of wire all the way around the bead. Add whatever embellishments you want and bury the end of the wire inside a bead or in a wrap.

4. Attach your center piece to the ring using the tails left from wrapping your side beads. Make sure you thread the wire underneath and through the wire around the center bead and along the two sides of the band. When it feels secure bury the wire ends. Voila!

If you make one send pics!! And feel free to ask questions. I do it a little different every time and you may find a way that works better for you. I have more pics on Flickr.

Toots

Hello again!

I find myself still swirling in the maelstrom of jewelry ideas so I’ll share a quick project with you.  A bitty pair of crochet earrings. Basic crochet knowledge is a must for this one - my favorite book for the home learner.

You’ll need a pair of wire cutters, copper craft wire of your choice, ear wires, jump rings, 2 focal beads, and a size G/6 or 7/4 or 4.5mm steel or aluminum crochet hook. I recommend a dedicated wire crochet hook. Though the craft wire is very maleable it can put some wear on your hook that could be detrimental to further use with snag-tastic fibers.

I have a great old pile of clip-ons that I’ll mine for beads occasionally. Be careful not to set you heart on all the beads visible on clip-ons, many times a significant number of the beads have been glued in place - especially the beads around the clip, but pendant beads are usually good to go.

Cut yourself about 1.5 yards/1.3 meters of the craft wire for each earring. You’ll need to start your crochet chain with a slip knot and do the number of chain stitches that will reach from one side of the bead to the other - for me this was 4. Now slide the long, working tail of the wire through the bead and wrap the beginning short end tightly around this to hold it in place, 3to 4 wraps should suffice, and cut away any excess of the SHORT wire. Wrap the long end of the wire back across the bead so you can resume your crochet stitches.

Chain 2 and turn the piece. One double crochet in the 3rd chain from the hook, 2 double crochets in each of the next 3 chains. Fasten off the last loop and run the remaining wire back through the bead to hide the end. Attach an ear wire with a jump ring and repeat to make a pair.

They remind me of Medusa or maybe a mid 18th century French lady with a wig, me likey. Drop a comment if you have any questions or if you finish a pair - mine took about 5 minutes

Toots

Salutations!

My name is Sara but I also go by ChickenBetty, Mama, sweetheart, tootsie and too many more to count. I’ve been a crafter for as long as I can remember and my crafting choices can be as varied as the names I answer to.  I’ll try my hand at just about anything and if I had unlimited resources its all I would do! Hopefully I’ll be able to share some projects that will inspire you to try your hand at all sorts of new things.

Today I’d like to dive in with some jewelry. I started making jewelry for myself in high school when I was on a limited budget and couldn’t afford many of the sparkly spangles that I saw in all the popular accessory stores. I’ve continued to do so as the years have gone on, for myself and as gifts for friends and family. The tools and supplies are simple and readily accessible to most people either at their local craft store, mega department store, from various online sources and hundreds of suppliers at Etsy.

Lately I’ve been stuck on buttons. I’ve done several necklaces where I would string buttons and beads and add a clasp but I’ve been thinking in a new direction, groupings, clusters and flexibility and I have a penchant for making things inspired by movies, books and pop culture. There have been a rash of comic book themed movies in the last few years and a recent release caught my attention. Follow along

You’ll need a selection of buttons ( I chose laquered shell buttons for this project), craft wire in a color of your choice, coordinating beads, ear wires, chain and a clasp (mine is part of an old thrifted costume jewelry piece) jump rings, wire cutters and round needle nose pliers.

I began with a 24″ ( 60cm)length of wire.Pinch the wire about 3/4 of an inch (2cm) from the end with your round  nosed pliers and give a 180degree turn. Still holding the curve you’ve created with the pliers, wrap the remaining short wire around the long wire stem forming a closed loop. Clip the end close to the loop with your wire cutters, put the flat side of your wire cutters towards the loop, you will get a much closer and cleaner cut this way. The beginning of each cluster will begin in this manner.

Thread the wire through your first button from the back, leaving the newly formed loop showing. Give a gentle curve to your wire and thread it, front to back, in the second button hole. Pulling gently, in the direction of the curve in the wire, tighten the wire through the button holes.

Slide the second button onto the wire, back to front, snug it right up next to the first button and gently bend the button to sit tight with the first. Repeat the wire loop, threading the wire through the second button hole on the second button and tighten to hold in place.

Repeat with the remaining buttons and then thread on your bead of choice.

You now need to finish off this cluster and secure the wire so nothing will fall off! Cut the wire leaving yourself about 3/4 of an inch of wire(about 2 cm). Grasp the very end of the wire with your round nosed pliers and turn the wire around the pliers until you are tight up against the bead. Your first cluster is now done. Continue on to make as many clusters as your heart desires - I made 7. You may need to cut additional lengths of wire when creating the clusters but keep you starting length at 2 feet.

I chose to simply attach one cluster to each ear wire to make the earrings. Super simple, just open a jump ring with your round nosed pliers and drop an ear wire and a cluster on it, close the ring and your earring is done.

The necklace design is up to you. I attached on cluster to each end of the chain with a jump ring. I then took a scrap piece of the craft wire, made a loop in one end, threaded on 2 beads, one cluster and 2 more beads. I closed the other end with a loop and gave the whole thing a slight bend in the middle. I then joined the center cluster to the two on the chain.

That still leaves me with 2 lonely clusters - there are endless possibilities. You could add the last two clusters to the jump rings that join the the center or, remember, the wire along the backs of the button clusters could support jump rings.

Click on any pic to see a larger version. Give it a try. Its fun and you have sparkly spangles when you are done! Drop a comment if you have any questions or if you figured out what my inspiration was.

Toots