This beauty is tougher than she looks: With a memory wire base, she can survive countless on-and-offs, even if they're not as gentle as they might be.
I like to use about 4 loops of memory wire, always cutting it with heavy-duty wire cutters from our garage workshop and not my jewelry wire cutters. (Memory wire is made of stainless steel, which can trash regular jewelry wire cutters.) I also cup (with my free hand) the place where I make the cut on the memory wire (to prevent anything sharp from flying free), and I shield my eyes.
Along with memory wire (gold-plated, silver-plated, stainless steel finish, whatever), I use the following supplies: black or brown neoprene or rubber tubing, copper-plated coiled wire beads in varying sizes, stone beads in carnelian, agate or other fall colors, and glass beads in assorted sizes, also in fall colors. It's nice to include a few faceted ones, either in stone or glass.
I cut the black tubing into different lengths to fit onto the memory wire between groups of beads. When working with memory wire, I like to start somewhere near the middle of the coils and work out from there so I'm not sliding every component along the full length of the piece. I slide a piece of tubing on, add a group of beads to my liking, and slide on another piece of tubing, making sure that the tubes and beads fit snugly next to each other - no gaps! As the tubes and beads near either end of the memory wire, I use round nose pliers to curl one end of the wire so the beads don't slide off. Fill up the entire length of the memory wire, varying the bead groupings if you like. It's fun to add a little themed charm to dangle from either end - or both! Be sure that the dangle can't slide off the curled end of the bracelet.
This is an easy design to adapt to Christmas, Easter, Independence Day, etc. It's a great way to use just a few beads to create a multi-loop bracelet too.
Have fun! Send me a picture to share if you make your own Fall Frolic Bracelet!
No comments:
Post a Comment