Key pendants made of wire with stones

Wire is a strong and pliable material that can take any shape. The unique properties of thin metal threads were successfully used by ancient jewelers who wove filigree patterns, creating amazingly beautiful jewelry. The material holds its shape well, has a noble shine, isn’t this a paradise for the modern jewelry industry? Modern craftsmen can, as if by magic, turn a coil of ordinary wire into spectacular and stylish accessories. Do you want to learn how to make exclusive wire jewelry with your own hands? Then we suggest you master the simple ABC of craftsmanship, and use the example of master classes to learn how to create real miracles.

Basics for beginners

The names of the ancient jewelers who successfully embodied their imagination in wire jewelry are unknown to their contemporaries. The art form “wire wrap,” which translated means “wire wrapping,” went down in history under the name of the craftsman Alexander Calder. The master learned to weave original products from an early age. He made his first crafts as gifts to family and friends, and later his unusual hobby turned into his life’s work. Original, original, openwork works inspired many to accomplish creative feats.

Alexander Calder and his work

The main principle of such needlework is to use thick wire for the base and thinner and more flexible wire for braiding products.

Wire wrap style pendant

You can add beads, stones, and all kinds of decor to the weaving. By the way, if the wire is braided on top with a thin thread, then such needlework is called ganutel. To learn how to create beautiful wire accessories, you need to know a few simple secrets:

• Selection of tools. The job requires a small arsenal of tools. Beginners will need round-nose pliers, several types of pliers with sharp, nylon, rectangular tips, a wick or sandpaper. To create complex interweaving patterns, experienced craftsmen use anvils, a hammer and a hammer, crossbars and a drawing board.
• So that in the end, homemade wire jewelry has, as they say, a “store-bought gloss,” you can use sulfur liver for coating. Products made from copper, aluminum, brass, bronze wire are patterned with this material to create a noble antique effect.
• It is enough to master the creation of several elements to make an original masterpiece. The simplest elements include a spring, balls and rings.

Wire tools

To make a spring, just wrap a piece of wire around the crossbar. Such an element can be used for braiding or as an independent decorative detail. To make a ball, you will need a burner or gas burner. To make the droplets perfectly even, you will need borax. By the way, you can create new interesting elements from a ball using a hammer and an anvil. Rings are connecting parts that are indispensable in creating beads or bracelets. It is enough to wind the wire around the crossbar, “bite off” the excess and remove a perfectly even ring. The diameter of the ring depends on the thickness of the crossbar. Having received the necessary knowledge, having prepared necessary tools and materials, you can begin the creative process.

Using available tools for working with wire

Master classes on creating jewelry

Unusual jewelry made from copper wire, bronze or brass, can take on a variety of shapes. For example, you can make original jewelry for hair, rings and bracelets, openwork necklaces or pendants. Beginners should not worry about the lack of practice and experience in creative work, simple and detailed master The class will help you create your own collection of luxury jewelry.

Earrings made of copper wire with turquoise

Hair ornaments

In anticipation graduation ceremonies such a master class is especially relevant, because many girls are in a creative search for their image. I want to be the brightest, most beautiful, exclusive. Eat the right way create an unusual look by decorating stylish hairstyle hand made hairpin in the shape of a flower with an elegant curl. The operating algorithm is as follows:

1. On a piece of paper, draw a sketch of the future product, schematically marking the location of the beads and the pattern on it.
2. We begin the work with a turn, smoothly moving to the outer circle of the product. Place the end in a spiral that is slightly higher. The result should be a round element with antennae. We use the pliers continuously to ensure that the product is neat.
3. We twist the place where the two curls touch with several more tight turns, weave in beads, and then we braid the base of the hairpin with thin wire.

Stylish decoration for hair

To make it clearer for beginning craftswomen, we offer an auxiliary diagram:

• six curls between beads;
• ten curls between large elements;
• eight curls between smaller elements.

Simple hairstyle with spectacular decoration

To make the hairpin delicate and have a finished look, we string small beads at the beginning of weaving, and large beads can be woven into the middle.

In a similar way, you can make not only a hairpin. There is an original way to decorate hairpins - simply braid them with a thin metal thread, adding a few beads or seed beads to the weave.

Delicate hair decorations based on hairpins

Luxurious pendant

Copper wire has high ductility, it can be easily cut, heated, and soldered. Thanks to its unique properties, the inexpensive and beautiful-looking material has become a favorite in handicrafts. What can you make from copper wire with your own hands? Yes, everything that your imagination suggests - bracelets, rings, pendants and much more. Luxurious wire pendant master class:

1. Let's prepare tools and materials. You will need a coil of copper wire with a cross-section from 0.1 mm to 1 mm, pearl beads, wire cutters, pliers and a drill.
2. The main part of the product consists of two pieces of 16 cm long and 1 mm thick. We make turns with a thin copper thread of 0.1 mm around the thicker sections, then bend the two braided parts into a ring. We bend the remaining ends into a snail shape.
3. We will wind it thinly onto a piece 0.3 mm thick, the length of the base is 12 cm. We will thread its end between the braided parts and fix it. We make a small break and wrap it around the frame several times.
4. We make the same break in the upper part, and wind the remaining part onto the base. We make a snail from wire 1 mm thick, wind it to one and the other break.
5. A thin wire thread is attached to the upper part, pearls are strung on it, the ends of the wires are braided around the workpiece, and the excess is bit off with wire cutters. So we add all the prepared beads.

Copper wire pendant with pearls

To ensure that the product has an elegant glossy shine, we polish the surface of the pendant with a drill, and then rinse it under warm water. Luxurious, intricate, in the spirit oriental jewelry Magnificent Century, the pendant is ready to decorate any lady’s outfit.

Sweet heart

There are many master classes on making stylish wire jewelry, from which you can learn how to create magnificent designer collections. But a few simple tips will help beginners do the job at a decent level:

• To avoid patination of the wire, non-oxidizing materials should be used. For durability, you can coat the surface with varnish.
• After heating the wire over the fire, rub it while still warm with baby cream, and then wash it with soap and water. Patina is an effect that, as they say, is not for everyone. Many craftsmen prefer to coat jewelry with gold, silver or bronze paint, and top it with varnish for shine.
• Be sure to draw a diagram and sketch of the jewelry before starting work. Working with wire is thin and filigree, requiring attention and perseverance. When you see a wire decoration that you want to repeat with your own hands, mentally divide it into its components, this will make it easier to work with.

Each master has his own imagination, creative ideas and vision of the future masterpiece. All kinds of decor, such as beads, beads, stones and even buttons, are ideally combined with wire. Beginners can use ready-made master classes for practice, and during the weaving process they can supplement the idea with their own details.

Funny cat earrings
Copper bracelets for every taste

Video master class on making earrings from copper wire with turquoise

Video master class on making a rainbow heart

You can create a beautiful decoration or decorative piece of furniture using a variety of various methods. However, they look the most complex and elegant.

History of wire use

People began using it as a material for creativity and creating necessary household items 3000 BC. Archaeologists have been able to establish that in Sumer (around 2600 BC) wire was used to make women's hair ornaments, which were gold and silver ribbons. Over time, it began to be used to make chain mail, candlesticks, horse brushes and other things.

But where did the craftsmen get the wire suitable for such products? Initially, it was created in a rather labor-intensive way: sheets of metal were cut into thin strips, then twisted together and rolled between two flat sheets. The second way to obtain it was also to wind thin metal strips onto a core round shape. Today, it is produced by drawing it through special conical molds, which is why the method of its production is called drawing.

Types of wire

Most often, wire weaving involves the use of copper wire, which has a beautiful appearance and color. In addition, wire made of brass, steel, silver and aluminum is used in needlework. In addition to everything on sale, you can find wire with an additional coating (an alloy of other metals), which allows you to change its color.

Also, an important characteristic of any wire is its diameter. Handmade products use wire with a diameter of 0.2 to 2.0 mm.

What do you need to have to work with wire?

Even though nowadays there is a large number of special devices and devices, working with wire can hardly be called simple. After all, in order to create the most simple decorations The master needs to have on hand:

• Pliers
• Side cutters
• Round nose pliers
• Anvil
• Device for winding springs
• Hammer
• and Jig-Wig (a plate with rows of holes and special nozzles of various diameters)

Each of the above tools must be used correctly. And this, of course, takes time. Therefore, you should not expect that everything will work out the first time. However, the presence of such difficulties does not mean that wire is an unpopular material among needlewomen. On the contrary, she uses special attention among handmade masters, because it gives the opportunity to create complex, exclusive jewelry, the likes of which cannot be found.

Wire jewelry

Well, now let’s get down to the fun part and tell you what you can create from wire. First of all, these are, of course, earrings, bracelets, rings and all kinds of necklaces and pendants. The variety of weaving techniques, as well as their combination with bright stones and other decorative elements, allows you to create a large number of different women's jewelry.

They all differ in design style, so they can be selected for a wide variety of occasions.

For example, this is what they might look like: earrings:

Most of them have a complex curled shape. Some are made in the form of small studs, while others, on the contrary, are made in the form of large and massive earrings. Here are some examples:

As already mentioned, chains and pendants are often made from wire. Chains can have completely different shapes and diameters, which completely depends on the chosen weaving technique. In addition, needlewomen often like to complement them with unusually shaped pendants, which together look cute and quite original.

As for pendants, then they can either consist entirely of wire or be a cabochon braided with it. The choice of one or another pendant depends entirely on the imagination of the master and the materials at his disposal.

If desired, you can also make full-fledged ones from wire jewelry sets. Below is a video tutorial on how this is done in practice. During it, you can see what it costs a master to create with my own hands even a seemingly very basic decoration:

Wire rings:

However, you should not assume that the wire is no longer good for anything. In the handmade world, everything is possible. That’s why in many homes you can see wicker trees, coasters, candlesticks, bottle holders, decorative figurines and many other wire products.

Alternatively, it could be these cute ones butterflies and dragonflies:

All of them fit perfectly into a modern interior, and can also be selected to decorate a house decorated in any other style.

Probably everyone has tried to make simple wire crafts with their own hands. Remember the improvised rings, bracelets, roses and funny little men that are so easy to twist from copper wire scraps or from thin wire taken from a champagne bottle.

And if you master a few basic elements and get inspired, you can make crafts from copper wire that will become real masterpieces!

Copper wire butterfly

First, you need to learn how to make curls from wire. It is convenient to use special tweezers for this purpose.

Only on the basis of such curls can you make a wonderful version of a wire craft for children - an elegant butterfly with weightless openwork wings.

Twist the second wing using tweezers.

Glue a large bead in the center.

If you stock up on a whole set of tools, you can do much more complex and incredibly interesting crafts. For example, a piece of strong wire can be turned into a dragonfly.

And if you use beads or seed beads in your work, the dragonfly will gain real charm. Crafts made from beads and wire are very popular; they are convenient to use in interior design, creating jewelry and accessories. And making such crafts is not at all difficult - you just need to imagine how you want the end result of your work to look like, and at the right moment string beads onto the wire suitable shape, color and size.

You can use not only small beads, but also fairly large beads. It all depends on the type of product and its size.

Souvenir “Heart” made of copper wire

You can combine wire with other materials. For example, a simple but very cute heart made of copper wire can be fixed on a wooden block.

Twist the wire at the base of the heart.

We lay out the wire a second time. We fix the end of the wire at the bottom of the heart.

We make a hole in a wooden cube, pour a little glue there and insert a wire with a heart there. The result will be a wonderful souvenir, which, by the way, can be conveniently used as a stand for notes, business cards and even photographs.

DIY wire pendants

Instead of beads and beads, you can use buttons and glass pebbles from the hole in the middle. They easily turn into part of an original heart pendant

Or a cute souvenir bird.

A pendant in the shape of a rain cloud will look original.

Copper wire pendant “Tuchka”

You can also turn it into a dream catcher.

You can make a very beautiful feather pendant from colored beads and copper wire.

Or a round elegant medallion pendant.

And this luxurious mandala pendant can be hung on the window so that it delights with the shine of its beads and catches little sunbeams.

Wire pendant "Mandala"

Wire crafts for interior decoration

You can make such pendants part of the decor. For example, a cute octopus will feel very comfortable in your bathroom.

And the bird will good decoration for the wall - on the terrace, kitchen, hallway. Wherever you want to liven up the interior a little.

Wall pendant “Bird”

You can make a Christmas decoration from wire - an angel in a laconic style.

Pendants on wooden planks look interesting. These can be cute figures of people.

Wire pendant "Men"

An incredibly delicate pendant can be made from dark thin wire for a chandelier.

Or flowers, mugs and hearts.

You can also use pendants on a wooden plank as a mobile toy above your baby’s crib. Wire ballerina Wire chairs Wire cacti

Of course, you can use wire and beads to create elegant jewelry and accessories. In this case, you can do without beads if you take bright wire and give it the desired shape. It’s enough just to make a pendant or a beautiful bracelet out of it.

This method can be used to make voluminous openwork wire products of various shapes, especially if the original form is divided into several volumes, which are made separately, and then all the parts are assembled together.

For example, we will make an openwork oblong bead in the shape of a spindle

We will need

thick (1 mm in diameter) and thin (0.5 mm) wire (you can try other wire sizes).

Beads, beads and other elements for decoration

Tools: curved pliers, side cutters, awl, ruler, anvil, hammer.

Knitting needle or wire with a diameter of approximately 1.5 mm;

rod or nail,

as well as supporting material: toilet paper and threads.

Let's first prepare a thick wire from which the frame of the bead will be made. We wind a loose spiral on the knitting needle.

Let's stretch the spiral further and beat it into a flat snake

Something like this.

Let's wind up the broken wire and heat it in the flame of a gas stove burner.

Then we put it in the water. The scale will fall off. Let's wipe off the wire. The wire will become soft again.

Now we will prepare the internal base - the “spindle”, on which we will wind the wire. To do this, you will need toilet paper - pieces torn lengthwise, as well as a metal rod and threads.

By twisting the paper into a rope, we form a “spindle”, for which we place the turns of paper on top of each other in the center of the “spindle”.

We wrap the last layer of paper like a bandage and secure it with several turns of thread.

We begin to form a bead. We wind the broken wire onto the “spindle” in a spiral, making sure that the turns are at the same distance and the wire lies on the flat side and not on the edge.

Then we apply longitudinal turns, wrapping the wire around the ends of the rod.

We carry out the initial fixing of the bead shape. To do this, we secure the intersections of the frame wire with turns of thin wire. 3 passes from one end of the bead to the other are enough. It is convenient to start winding from the middle of a piece of thin wire so that the working end is not very long, no more than 1 m.

Place the bead in a cup of water. When the paper gets wet, you need to pull out the rod and, using an awl, remove the paper and threads.

The result is a semi-finished bead.

We begin to decorate it, filling the voids with metal balls, beads, beads. When wrapping, we try to secure the intersections of the thick wire. Using an awl and curling pliers, you can adjust the shape of the bead and the distance between the turns. It is necessary to take into account that the more densely the bead is “woven”, the more rigid the structure becomes.

I got this bead. Copper balls, 2 types of beads and radonite stone chips were used. This bead, 6 cm long and with a maximum diameter of 1.5 cm, took approximately 1.5 m of thick wire with a diameter of 1 mm and 2 m of thin wire with a diameter of 0.5 mm.

For beads

Tools: wire cutters, pliers

Assembly:

In my work I will use a large number of materials to show the most diverse selection of fittings that can be used in the assembly of this decoration. It is not necessary to use them all at once, as I will do. There are very beautiful jewelry, where two, three, or even one type of beads are enough, and they will look no worse if you used all the elements that I will use in my master class. We will need tools. If this tool is not available, it can be replaced with scissors.

The first thing we need is to unwind the wire. For the base of the hair decoration, we will need a piece of wire 20-25 cm long. In order not to constantly twist the ends of the wires together, I recommend doing all the work on one piece of wire. Therefore, to our base, which is 20-25 cm long, we add another 1 meter of wire and cut off this section from the common coil.

For the top of the hair decoration I will use 1 twin bead and 1 single bead. First, we pass the edge of the wire through one hole of the twin bead, and then through a single bead. And we move them along the segment so that on one side of the stringed beads the length of the wire piece is 20-25 cm, and on the other side of the beads the wire piece is 1 meter.

Next, take the short edge of the wire, remind you that its length is 20-25 centimeters, and pass it through the second hole of the twin bead. We tighten it. After this, the beads must be twisted on the wire. 10 revolutions are enough. The beginning of our branch is ready.

Let's move on to the next branch, which will consist of 5 small ones. We string them through the long edge of the wire. We move them to the first branch. Holding the beads with one hand, we begin to bend the wire, forming a circle of beads that resembles a flower. Then we twist the wire together until we reach the previous element with the top.

The second element of the branch is ready. To begin the next step of making a hair ornament, you need to twist the wires along the main trunk of the twig. Having gone down a little by twisting the wire along the main trunk, we can begin to add further branches. At the same time, when we twist along the main trunk of the branch, we bring out the long edge of the wire to the right. And it is on the right that each time we will collect a new branch, leaving the previous branch on the left.

Our next branch will consist of one bead of freshwater pearls. We string it again onto a long piece of wire and move it towards the remaining elements. We measure the desired length of the leg and begin twisting to the main trunk. After this, we make several twists around the main trunk of the branch.

We add the next three branches in the same way as we added the branch with a bead of freshwater pearls. To do this, we first use a bicone glass bead, then a transparent bead and a matte one.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that with each branch it is necessary to make its leg a little longer than that of the previous branch. If we make them all the same length, then the branch will turn out to be quite small and not voluminous.

Next, I propose to make an element in the form of a leaf. We collect 7 beads on the long edge of the wire. We find the penultimate bead that was collected on the wire and through it we thread the wire again in the opposite direction and tighten it. This turns out to be our last bead and will fix the edge of the leaf. After we have secured the bead, we collect five more beads onto the free edge of the wire. We get a leaf-shaped pattern. We hold the beads with one hand so that they do not run away, and with the other hand we begin to carefully twist them.

This leaf has a fairly long stem. Therefore, you can make a branch from it and add another element. To do this, I will take a tween bead, pass it along the wire through only one hole and make a small branch out of it. This branch is connected to a branch of a petal made of beads. Next, we twist them to the base of the common branch, and then we twist the common base itself several times.

Now we will make another branch, which will consist of three small branches, at the end of which we will use beads in the form of bicones. First we string one bicone. Next, measuring the desired length of the leg, we do several twists. About half of our leg. We string the second bicone onto the wire. We measure the desired length of the leg and also twist it. Then we make several turns of general twisting with two bicones. Now you can string the third bicone. We tried on the leg and twist it along this branch, and then to the main column of the branch.

Now we will show you how to make elements with large beads for our decoration. We add a few more branches on the right and left sides of the general column of the branch, using different numbers of beads and branches for this. We will also collect one twig using a decorative element in the form of a leaf. And we will add the next branch with a bead and decorate it with caps for beads. We have a long branch ready.

Now let's move on to the short branch that will be on our side. To do this, take the long end of the wire. We roughly measure the length of our future branch and string the fittings elements one by one in the desired order, assemble the branch and twist it.

Next we need to secure the branch to a hairpin. We take the short end of the wire and make several turns around the hairpin through the nearest branches. We pull our wire tightly so that our product in the future does not dangle on the pin and sits tightly. When secured, you can add a few more decorative elements or branches. To do this, use the long end of the wire. The winding around the hairpin can be hidden using any large bead, securing it with wire at the very base of the hairpin. We twist the remaining ends of the wire around the hairpin and remove the excess using wire cutters. We press the edges of the wires with pliers so that they do not prick or hide the ends of the wires in the nearest beads.

The hair decoration is ready! You can make such hair decorations with your own hands from a wide variety of accessories, as well as various forms, colors and sizes of beads.

All necessary materials, which I used in this master class, you will find in our online jewelry accessories store. For a more detailed explanation of the assembly of this decoration, you can watch our video master class: