Time: 10 min each
Level: beginner
Tools: chain nose pliers
Materials: ear ring hoop, jump ring, your choice of beads, charm

“Is that my glass or yours?” You don’t have to ask the question if you have these cute wine glass charms. Wine glass charms are like name tags. They are rings with charms and various beads that go around the stem of your wine glass.

Are you still looking for a few items to complete your list of Christmas gifts? Create a set of 5, 6 or more, and it will be a great gift for friends and family for the holiday season. You can also use these wine glass charms for your guests at your house party or family dinner. They will add colors to your table settings. It’s also a great idea to personalize with initials for your guests.

This is a fun and very easy beading project! You can make these wine glass charms in just a few minutes. You will need only a few items: Ear ring hoops, jump rings, choice of beads, charms as your center piece. Add your beads to the wire. Place your charm in the middle of the beads. With your chain nose pliers, bend the tip of the ear ring hoop to secure the end.

In these pieces, I used semi-precious stone chips in different colors: amazonite, amethyst, aquremarine, amber, rose quartz, citrine and lapis lazuli. You can use any kind of beads. Just make sure the hole of the bead is big enough for the wire to go through. If you’re new to jewelry making, this is a great beading project to have fun mixing alternating colors and textures!

Time: 1 hour
Level: intermediate
Cost: $15
Tools: round nose pliers, chain nose pliers, wire cutters
Materials:  

• 2 — cherry quartz briolette beads
• 2 — 6 mm rose quartz faceted beads
• 12 — 4 mm rose quartz faceted beads
• 12 — 4 mm Amazonite faceted round beads
• 24 — 26 gage sterling silver head pins
• 12″ — 26 gage sterling silver wire
• 1 pair — ear wires

These beautiful earrings feature a cluster of faceted Amazonite and rose quartz beads on a bold and stunning large cherry quartz briolette (3/4″ long). A fabulous mix of colors for play or for work, both casual and formal at the same time. Once you’ve learned how to wrap beads and briolettes with wire, this will be a great beading project to create something beautiful and unique! The pattern for these earrings is very simple.

Cut the sterling silver wire into 3 inch long wires. First, make a wrapped briolette. Second, make a wire wrapped link with one 6 mm rose quartz bead. Connect one side of this link to the ear wire and the other side to the wrapped briolette. To finish, wrap 4 mm rose quartz and amazonite beads with head pins and add them around the two loops as shown above.

If you are new to these techniques, please visit the previous entries: How to Wrap a Bead with Wire & How to Wrap Briolette Beads with Wire

Level: beginner
tools: round nose pliers, chain nose pliers, wire cutters
materials: briolette bead(s), your choice of wire

Briolettes are tear drop shaped beads that have drilled hole on top. If you already know the basic wire wrapping technique using head pins, this is the next wire wrapping technique to learn! They can be a center piece of your necklace, a cluster for earrings, or you can incorporate briolette wrapped beads with other wrapped beads using head pins.

First, cut a 3 inch peice of wire, and string a bead on the wire. Here, I used 26 gauge sterling silver wire. You can also use gold or copper instead.

With your fingers, bend both sides of the wire with an angle. Insert your finger into the “X” area where the wires crossed, and press down toward the bead.

With your chain nose pliers, bend one side of the wire down with an angle. Bend the other wire straight up with an angle to form a 90 degree angle with the two wires.

Grip the triangle loop with your chain nose pliers and flip it over. Wrap about two times, and trim the excess wire as close as possible. From here, create another wrapped loop with the basic wire wrapping technique. Place your round nose pliers right above the wrap you created, and bend the wire to 90 degree angle. Depending on where you place the pliers, you can adjust size of the loop.

If you would like to attach any components to the loop, now is the time to do so. String all components (such as chains or rings) before closing the loop. Grip the loop with your chain nose pliers, and wrap about two times until it meets the end of the other wrapped wire. Cut off the excess wire and finish by tucking in the end.

This wire wrapping technique is easy to learn and a very useful technique to have in your jewelry design toolbox. You can add wrapped briolette beads to earrings, bracelets, necklaces and more!

Time: 1 hour
Level: beginner
cost: $12
Tools: wire cutters, chain nose pliers, round nose pliers
Materials:  

• 6 — large beads (5 mm – 7 mm)
• 8 — small beads (4 mm – 5 mm)
• 6″ — sterling silver chain
• 6 — 26 gage sterling silver head pins
• 4″ — 26 gage sterling silver wire
• 2 set — toggle clasps
• 1 pair — ear wires

After learning the simple wire wrapping technique, this will be a great beading project to create something beautiful and unique! This pattern will add a more interesting appearance by using toggle clasps to connect earring components. Clasps are beading components used in the back or front of a necklace or bracelet designs. For this piece, I use them to connect earring components.

When choosing the beads, the combination of two beads should have a nice contrast: dark vs. light; smooth texture vs. shiny; large vs. small, etc. Here, I used a combination of brown Swarovski crystals & cream pearls, and brown pearls & Amazonite beads.

Cut the chain into six links as follows: 1/2″ x 2, 1″ x 2, 1 1/2″ x 2. Make a wrapped bead loop at the top of the bead, thread the head pin through a link, and close by wrapping the wire. If you are new to this technique, please visit the previous entry: How to Wrap Beads with Wire.

Level: beginner
Tools: round nose pliers, chain nose pliers, wire cutters
Materials: your choice of bead(s), head pin

Wire Wrapping Technique for Jewelry Making

Here is a basic wire wrapping technique using head pins. This is an essential wire technique that you must know! Using this method of wire work, you can work on so many beading projects: dangle earrings, rings and embellishments for your bracelets or necklaces. I personally LOVE this technique because it’s really simple and has endless possibilities. This is a very secure way to connect beads and other components.

First, string your bead to the head pin. Head pins are 1′ - 3′ wire with “head” at the end to hold beads. I usually use 24 or 26 gauge sterling or gold-filled wire. You can also add more than two beads or combine with spaces.

Depending on where you place the pliers, you can adjust size of the loop. If you wrap 2 times, you should do the same every time to keep it consistent.

If you’re new to the wire wrapping technique, I recommend practicing a few times with inexpensive wire such as silver plated wire. Get ready, start wiring!

Time: 2 hours
Level: Intermediate
Cost: $ 38
Tools: wire cutters, chain nose pliers, round nose pliers
Materials:  

• 7 — 6 mm Amazonite faceted round beads
• 14 — 5 mm Amazonite faceted round beads
• 12 — 4 mm Amazonite faceted round beads
• 14  — 4 mm Swarovski crystal beads (khaki)
• 28 — 3 mm Swarovski crystal beads (green)
• 2 — gold-plated clasps (lobster claw)
• 1 — ring large (about 30 mm)
• 1 — ring medium (about 25 mm)
• 1 — ring small (about 20 mm)
• 33 – gold-plated eyepins
• 10 inches  — gold-plated chain

How to Take Your Daytime Look to the Night!

This necklace is the perfect accessory for those who want to have variety of looks throughout the day. This is a very sophisticated and feminine piece. Hook the lobster claw clasp to anywhere you like and have a fun with it! You can wear it at work AND in the evening. Here are some of the many looks you can create with this necklace:

The soft greenish blue color of this amazonite combined with gold components make this a perfect jewelry for your daytime and night wardrobe. This necklace is a combination of small, medium and large faceted round Amazonite beads strung on wrapped gold head pins and attached to gold chain. You just need a simple loop wrapping technique to attach all the components.

To create this fabulous piece, create a set of wire-wrapped loop with eyepins and beads as shown in the image above. I used a combination of Amazonite beads and Swarovski crystals. You can substitute gemstones, glass beads, or swarovski crystals in various sizes: large, medium and small.

Cut the chain into 4 pieces. The length of each piece is about 2 1/2 inches. Connect the bead parts, chains, and clasps as shown in the illustration above. To finish, hook the three rings to the clasp.

Time: 0.5 hour (each flower)
Level: intermediate
Tools: cutters
Materials:  

• 6 — seed beads
• 6 — 4 mm beads
• 6 — 5 ~ 6 mm beads
• 2 feet — nylon thread

Bottom Right — I used 6 mm faceted green garnet beads, 4 mm round swarovski crystal beads, and gold color seed beads.
Top — 5 mm fresh water pearl (white), 4 mm fresh water pearl (pink), and red seed beads.
Left — 5 mm wood round beads, 4 mm lemon quartz round beads, seed beads.

This beaded flower is very easy to make and looks stunning on necklaces, earrings, and rings. Simply connect the motif with jump rings or another thread. You can create a lot of different looks based on this simple pattern depending on your choice of beads. Experiment using round peals, round gemstone beads, swarovski crystals, or seed beads.

To finish, pull one thread really hard so that the knot will disappear inside the bead.

Time: 1 hour
Cost: $ 10
Level: beginner
Tools: wire cutters, chain nose pliers, round nose pliers
Materials:  

• 1 — adjustable beading ring
• 12 — head pins
• 3 — 4 mm jump rings
• 6 — gemstone chip beads
• 6 — 4 mm fresh water pearls

Here is an another great way to bead! Attach a mix of your favorite beads with head pins & jump rings. Beautiful gemstone chips are attached loosely, and they are dancing from the loops! I used an adjustable ring base: They’re made for finger sizes from size 6 to 8.

For these pieces, I used Amethyst, Aquamarine, Amber gemstone chips, and fresh water pearls. Lovely gold pearls compliment the earthy look of the gemstone chips.

Having trouble finding beading ring bases in your local area? Here are a few online bead stores that carry them:

• Fire Mountain Gems and Beads
• Fusion Beads

If you have any recommendations on where to buy ring bases, feel free to post a comment below. Thank you!

Time: 2.5 hours
Cost: $ 28
Level: advanced
Tools: wire cutters, chain nose pliers, round nose pliers, tweezers
Materials:  

• 1 pair — copper clasp
• 14 — copper crimp beads
• 14 — copper wire guardians (horseshoe shape protectors)
• 1 card (2 meter) — brown griffin cord size No. 4
• 2 — 9 mm copper jump rings
• 40 ~ 50 — 4 mm fresh water peals
• 70 ~ 80 — Aquamarine chip beads
• 12″ — bead thread

Pretty aquamarine chips are hand-knotted on brown silk cord and connected with copper fresh water peals. This elegant and very feminine necklace lends a soft and magical touch. A wonderful piece for summer, captures and reflects a warm, embracing glow.

I knotted both ends of Aquamarine chips with brown silk thread and finished with crimp beads and guardians: pre-curved horseshoe shape to cradle and protect your bead cord from fraying. Randomly select small, medium, large chips to make it organic looking piece.

Time: 1.5 hours
Cost: $ 10
Level: beginner
Tools: wire cutters, chain nose pliers, round nose pliers, ruler
Materials:  

• 1 pair — natural brass ear-wires
• 2 — natural brass leaves
• 2 — 4 mm fresh water pearls (brown)
• 2 — 4 mm fresh water pearls (peach)
• 2 — 4 mm fresh water pearls (white)
• 2 — 6 mm fresh water pearls (white)
• 6 — natural brass head pins
• 2 — natural brass eye pins
• 4 — 3 mm natural brass jump rings
• 10″— natural brass cable chain

Freshwater pearls of soft white, copper and creamy peach hang from natural brass leaves and ear wires. Various lengths of brass chains are also strung along. Brass components have a warm and neutral feel that blends well with the colorful fresh water pearls.