Beads

Adjustable fashion bangles

I enjoy wearing bangles. I have a small collection of cute bangles, some are bought, others are gifts to me. The bangles I buy are usually of unique designs such as those I found during my trips. Recently, I was inspired to create my own bangles after checking out some fashion items from a high-end store. I looked around and found one project from the website of Lower East Dry Good (LEDG). I already tried a set and they look nice. I also gave some bangles to my friends who love to wear them.

What you need:

Jewelry wire – preferably the smaller, memory wire coils for bracelets but any jewelry-specific wire will do. Just make sure that the wire itself is rigid and not that maleable.

Wire cutters

Assorted jewelry charms

Assorted beads and seed beads

Round needle nose pliers

A round cylinder to shape the wire to

Small jump rings

What to do:

With all your supplies handy, find one of the ends to the wire coil and snip off about a coil and half. Slightly pinching the meeting point of the coils, slip it over your hand making sure that it’s a good fit for your wrist or with extra allowance or space around your fist. The main idea of the bracelet is that it is adjustable. It can only work if there is enough space so it can open as you put it on but it still has to snap  back to a comfortable fit once on your wrist.

With the right size you can now begin making the loops that allow the bracelet to grow and shrink. Using your round needle nose pliers, take one of the overlapping ends and bend the wire crossing it back over the main coil. Create a small, but loose loop over the main coil.  Make sure it’s not too tight or it will not stretch or shrink easily. Next take the other loose coil end and repeat. Add your charms and wear out

Next, cut off a larger piece of wire, at least 2 coils. String along some beads; you can create a pattern or mix it all up. Leave at least a 1/2 inch of plain wire on either side. Create the loops over the part of the wire like before and wear them all out together with your other favorite arm party essentials.

 

 

Snowflake Earrings

These snowflake earrings from Crafts for All Seasons are excellent hobby to keep you busy during the cold winter days.

The materials for this project are Swarovski crystals and other jewelry/beading supplies that you can easily get from your local craft store. Even if you haven’t tried making jewelry before, the steps are easy enough to follow. These earrings will definitely bring sparkle to your attire any time of the day.

What you need: 

24 gauge craft wire

clear seed beads

12 Swarovski bicone beads (4 mM) in color of choice

12 Swarovski bicone beads (4 mM) in a lighter color of choice

jewerly pliers

2 fish hook earrings

Steps:

Begin by cutting 6 lengths (3 for each earring) of wire to about 4 inches long. Twist these together in the center, very well. The easiest way to do this is to hold them together with the pliers, then use another set of jewelry pliers to twist. Once twisted, spread out the arms of the wires to form a snowflake shape. Pinch the center well with the pliers and make sure each arm isn’t wobbly. If they are, twist them a few more times to make them nice and secure.

On one of the arms, thread on a clear seed bead, followed by a darker color Swarovski crystal, then another seed bead, then the lighter Swarovski crystal, and end with another clear seed bead.

Secure the end of the wire by first clipping it close to the end with the wire cutters, then make a little loop at the end with the jewelry pliers. Repeat this for all the arms of the snowflake.

On the end of one of the arms, attach the fish hook earring loop before you create the loop in the end of the wire. Enjoy these beautiful earrings!