Do It Yourself Jewelry Projects and More

Crochet/Viking knit Pendant

2/13/2018

So you found a pretty odd shaped stone, shell or some other very cool object and you don't know what to do with it,right? Happens to me all the time when I go beach combing here on Cape Cod. I found a few ideas on how to make a crochet or viking knit bezel to make it into a pendant. I did not by any means come up with this idea or technique on my own, but I did it with a little help from all the others ideas and I kept the ones that worked best for me to create this project. It takes some patience, mixed with a little humor and practice to get one that looks really good, but truly it looks quite nice even when the outcome is a bit rustic too. So have a cup of chamomile tea and let's get started.

Tools

Round nose pliers
Flat nose pliers
Flush Cutters
File
⅛”-¼” dowel
Scrap paper and pencil
Sharpie

Materials

16 gauge wire 7-12”
26-24 gauge wire 2-4 ft
Cabochon or flattish back stone, shell, etc.

*The size of the stone/center piece determines how much wire you will need, so give yourself more than you think you need until you get good at estimating.

Directions-Prep

To determine how much frame wire you need measure around the outside of your piece, I do this by rolling my piece on the ruler or tape measure. Round up and add 3” to the measurement to account for your bail.
Cut your 16 gauge wire the length you figured out in step one
Mark one end of the wire 1 ½” from the end
Bend the wire at this mark in a 90 degree angle

Making the Frame

Lay flat side of stone/center piece on scrap paper and trace the outside of it to make a template.
Using the template begin shaping the thick wire beginning at your bend (facing the tail away from the frame center and create a smaller version of the shape of the stone/center piece using your thumb and fingers. Lay the stone on top to make sure it is small enough. It doesn't have to be perfect in shape because it is the base back.
Bend the other tail of the frame wire to lay side by side with the first tail
Using 2” of the thin wire wrap the tails together starting at the base of the frame and working upward. Be sure to keep the tails side by side not overlapping. Use your flat nose pliers after each wrap to help keep the tails side by side and tighten the wrap.
Trim any excess small tail of the thin wire and flatten the end towards the back of the frame, do not trim the longer end off, we need it to start the weave.

Wrap the long wire around the frame on one side two times
Lay the ⅛”-¼” dowel on the top of the frame in front and right next to the two wraps
Wrap the wire over the dowel
Wrap the wire around the frame two times and remove the dowel
Repeat steps 11-13 all around the frame until you reach the top of the frame to make first level of crochet bezel
Place stone into the crochet bezel and shape the loop around it with your fingers

Begin next row of crochet by looping over, around and between the first loop and stone and through the new loop. Use your finger to keep the new and old loops arched but close to the stone. This will begin to capture the stone as you go, but you will need to be patient because it is a bit tricky to keep the stone in place until you get a good amount of new loops going around
Repeat the making the next loop onto the next arch and so on until you reach the top again.
Your stone should be secured, however if you feel it is still too loose you can make another row of loops on the last row and around the stone again.

When you are happy with setting, feed the wire up and under the loops to where the long tails are wrapped.
Wrap the thin wire around and up at least 6 times covering the original wrap.
Trim and flatten the thin wire toward the back

Place the ¼” dowel behind the frame just at the top of the thin wire wraps
Bend the thick tails around the dowel so that they lay down the back of the stone
If needed trim the tails to be ½” below the stone top
File the ends of these wires and make small loops on each one
Press the loops tightly against the frame to make the bail (you may use the dowel to help shape it if you wish)

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Three Bead drop Earrings

4/25/2017

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If you want to learn how to make your own earrings, here is a super easy style to make. They have swing and sass and can be made with any beads you like. You don't need a lot of tools and they will take such little time to master. Let's get started!

Tools

Round nose pliers
Chain/Flat nose pliers
Cutters
⅝” Dowel (you can use the top of your favorite nail polish)
Emery board

Materials

20 gauge wire 11”
Two of each - 4mm beads, 6mm beads, 8mm beads

Check out my store too!

Directions
Hoop earwire

Cut two 20 gauge wires 2 ¼” long and file ends
Make an open loop one one end only of each wire
Shape around the ⅝” dowel with loop facing out
Hammer well to strengthen and flatten out the hoop
Reshape on the dowel so that opening is not to big and the earrings will stay on your ears

Beaded drops

Cut two wires each - ¾”, ⅞”, 1”
File ends of each wire
Make a loop with a back bend on one end of each wire
Place 4mm beads onto smallest wires, 6mm beads onto middle size wires, 8mm beads onto longest wires
Make a loop going in the opposite direction of the first loop (ie, front to back and side to side) on each wire to capture the beads
Open sideways one end loop on each bead drop
Now connect to each drop and close loop ,going largest to smallest then to the earwire

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Simple Hoop Earwires

1/24/2017

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I love the classic look of hoop earrings! Making hoops is a basic technique that every wire jewelry makers just has to know. It is easy and opens up a world of possibilities in for incorporating them into your designs. These super fun hoop earwires are simple and you can make them in no time at all! Best part is they can be made in any size you like for many different looks. Lets get started!

Tools

Round nose pliers
Chain nose pliers
Cutters
⅝” Dowel
Emery board

Materials

20 gauge wire 5”

Directions

Cut two 20 gauge wires 2 ¼” long and file ends
Make an open loop one one end only of each wire

Shape around the ⅝” dowel with loop facing out
Hammer well to strengthen and flatten out the hoop
Reshape on the dowel to make sure it is closed enough to stay on the ear.

Now add a bead drop to finish off your super easy, but beautiful earrings!

You can make these earring in any size you want by changing the wire length and dowel size.

To see some of my beautiful work, go check out the Shop!

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Plain Hoop Earrings -Two Styles

10/11/2016

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Tools

Side Cutters
Round nose Pliers
Chain nose Pliers
Nail file
1" dowel (small circle hoops)
1 ⅜” dowel (medium circle hoops)
⅝” dowel (small teardrop hoops)
Ruler
A bic pen with a top

Materials

20 gauge round wire
18-16 gauge round wire

Round hoops

Cut two pieces of the thicker gauge wire 4 1/2" for small hoops or 5 ½” long for medium hoops, and file ends
Make a small loop on one end of each wire using the round nose pliers
Gently shape each one around the 1 ⅜” dowel as you feed the the straight end through the small loop (alternatively, do not feed through the hole but instead wrap the wire tail around under the small loop then cut any excess tail)
Hold the wire tightly around the dowel and then make a sharp bend right where the wire comes through the loop to make it tight
Trim tail to just to ½” and refile the end
Make a larger loop on this end with the round nose pliers to hold it in place
bend the wire of the loop up with the chain nose pliers to create a place to hang the earwire onto the frame
You may gently hammer the outside of the wire to make it looser and come off the dowel easily
Repeat procedure with other wire to create a set of frames.
If you need to make the frame more round and uniform please shape it around the Dowel.
Now take frames and gently hammer them to strengthen them up a bit

Simple Fish hook earwires

Cut one 20 gauge round wire 4” long
Make small loop with round nose pliers on both ends
Slide on loop under pen top with loop opening away from pen
Wrap wire about ¾ of the way around pen
Now do the same to the other side
Find center between the larger loop ends and cut making two earwires
Cut shorter stems if you wish (no shorter than 7/8” from top of hook to tail end)
Gently file ends with emery board
Using Chain nose pliers make a small bend on ends facing away from earring loops( if you wish) to a 20 degree angle with flat nose pliers
Lightly hammer for added strength if you wish

Teardrop hoops

Cut two pieces of the thicker gauge wire 3” long and file ends
Make a small loop on each end of the wire going in the same direction (you may backbend them if you wish)
Place ⅝” dowel in the center of the wire and curve it around the dowel till the loops meet
Make a slight bend in the loops where they meet to make them lay parallel to one another
Place the pen into the bottom center of the loop and reshape the bottom so the top loops actually lay together

Fish hook earwires with forward facing loops

Cut 4 3/4" of 20 gauge round wire and file both ends
Make a large loop with round nose pliers on both ends
Slide on loop under pen top lying flat on the pen
Wrap wire about ¾ of the way around pen
Now do the same to the other side
Create a bend just under the loop away from the larger loop on both ends then re-adjust over the pen to set in the earwire arch)
Find center between the larger loop ends and cut making two ear wires
Cut shorter stems if you wish (no shorter than ¼” from loop end bottom to tail end)
Gently file ends with emery board
Using Chain nose pliers make a small bend on ends facing away from earring loops (if you wish) to a 20 degree angle with flat nose pliers
You may gently hammer the top curve of the earwire for added strength

You can make these hoops in any size you want to and the round can become teardrop as well as the teardrop become round, just change up the dowels and alter the wire length for whatever you want to create.

Also remember to check out my store on line!

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Three Easy Earwire Styles

9/27/2016

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Tools

Round nose pliers
Flat nose or chain nose pliers
⅝” Dowel
Bic or capped pen
Cutters
File
Hammer and block (for hardening)

Materials

20 Gauge round wire (I prefer dead soft but you can use half hard)

Fish Hook Earwires-

Cut a piece of 4" wire
Make small loop with round nose pliers on both ends
Slide on loop under pen top with loop opening away from pen
Wrap wire about ¾ of the way around pen
Now do the same to the other side
Find center between the larger loop ends and cut making two earwires
Cut shorter stems if you wish (no shorter than 7/8” from top of hook to tail end)
Gently file ends with emery board
Using Chain nose pliers make a small bend on ends facing away from earring loops( if you wish) to a 20 degree angle with flat nose pliers
Gently hammer the earwires to strengthen them

Long Drop Earwires

Cut two pieces of wire 2 ¼” long and file both ends
With round nose pliers grab the wire at 7/8"- 1" from one end and bend it into a v shape (repeat with other wire)
Using flat nose pliers squeeze the wire at the bend to slightly sharpen it.
Open the wire and wrap it around the ⅝” dowel to create a curve shape
Make a small loop on the longer tail to hang your drop from
Gently hammer the earwires to strengthen them

Square/Diamond Earwires

Cut two wires 2” long and file both ends
Grab both wires with your flat nose pliers at ¼” away from one end so that tools outer edge is on the ¼” line
Make a sharp 90 degree bend
Measure ½”from bend and grab with flat nose pliers with the tool outer edge on the ½” line
Make a 90 degree bend in the same direction as before
Repeat step 4 and 5 to make last bend
Using round nose plier make a small loop on the very last bit of wire in towards the center of your square/diamond
Hammer earwires gently to strengthen them.

All the earwires can be made larger just up the size of each wire and scale the design as needed.

*For bead drops to hang from your new earwires go to Three Easy Bead Drop Styles in the projects section.

Check out my own designs in my on line store.

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Shamrock/Clover Earrings

3/2/2016

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I love Spring, as I am sure many of you do. One of the first signs of Spring in our family is the annual corn beef dinner on St Patrick's Day. I have very little Irish in my side of the family, but my husband's wonderful mother is mostly Irish and she makes a terrific feast for us all every year. So to celebrate the Irish in all of us, however small, I bring you these fun earrings that you can wear all Spring long.

Tools

Round nose pliers
Flat nose pliers
Wire cutters
File
Bic style pen with cap

Materials

4” of 20 gauge wire
12” of 18 gauge wire

Directions
Shamrocks

Cut 18 gauge wire into two 6 inch pieces
File end of each piece of wire
With round nose pliers create a small loop on one end of each 6 inch piece of wire.
Place loop face up under pen cap

Wrap wire just under half way around pen
Using flat nose pliers bend wire back away from loop

Place back under pen cap
Wrap wire around pen till wire almost meets
Using flat nose pliers bend wire back again

Now Bend wire with flat nose pliers into a 90 degree angle
Do it again using the tip of the tool
Bend again to finish making shamrock stem

Place under pen cap and wrap wire till it almost meets itself
Using flat nose pliers bend wire back

Place under pen cap and wrap wire around till it meets the beginning loop
Leave on pen and wrap tail around under the beginning loop

Trim excess tail and close loop
If you wish to adjust the loops now is the time
Repeat all the steps 1-18 to create other shamrock( feel free to use thw first one to help you make them close to the same, but remember they will most likely end up slightly different and that is perfectly ok)
You may gently hammer the shamrocks to flatten them, just do not hammer the top loops where they connect.

Now follow the fish hook ear wires link and assemble them onto the shamrocks to complete your earring so you can enjoy them. If you want to add some green go to this project and create the bead link to place in between the shamrock and the ear wires. Have fun and may these fun earrings bring you happiness.

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Simple Fish hook Ear wires

3/23/2015

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Tools and materials

Round nose pliers
Chain nose pliers
Cutters
Emery board
Pen w/cap
20 gauge wire 4”

Directions

Cut one wire 4” long
Make small loop with round nose pliers on both ends

Slide on loop under pen top with loop opening away from pen
Wrap wire about ¾ of the way around pen
Now do the same to the other side

Find center between the larger loop ends and cut making two ear wires
Cut shorter stems if you wish (no shorter than 7/8” from top of hook to tail end)
Gently file ends with emery board
Using Chain nose pliers make a small bend on ends facing away from earring loops( if you wish) to a 20 degree angle with flat nose pliers
Lightly hammer for added strength if you wish