Make Wire Wrapped Rings

Before: Copper wire on spool

One of my daughter's favorite designs is to take an orphan glass bead and use it as a focal point for a simple wire-wrapped ring. She makes a lot of them and has a few quick, easy designs that are always a hit.

Materials
Bead of your choice

Select beads

18-gauge copper wire

Tools
Ring mandrel
Wire cutters
Wire rounder
Rawhide mallet
Tumbler (optional)

Step 1
Select the bead to use as the focal point for the ring.

Step 2
Determine ring size. Feed the bead on the copper wire. Wrap the copper wire around the ring mandrel at the size needed.

Step 3
Finish the ring.

After: wire wrapped ring

My daughter has a number of different ring styles. Sometimes she wraps the wire only once and tucks the excess wire under the bead.

Ring with prongs

Other times, she bends the wire on either side of the bead so that the ends of the wire frame the bead and look like prongs holding the bead in place.



Other designs call for the wire to be wrapped two, three

Rings with multiple wraps

or more times before tucking the ends under the bead or creating a prong-style setting for the bead.

Step 4
Trim the excess wire with the wire cutters. File the ends of the wire smooth using a wire rounder, needle file or cup bur and flex shaft or rotary tool (like a Dremel).


Related Tutorials 

Wire wrapped rings by GeltDesigns.com

Make a Ring from Gimp
Make Wishbone Earrings from Wire
Make Earrings from Scrap Wire
Make Earrings from Copper Wire
Make a Bangle Bracelet from Steel Wire
Make a Bracelet from Steel Wire
Make Earrings from Steel Wire


Further Reading
"All Wired Up: Wire Techniques for the Beadworker and Jewelry Maker (Beadwork How-To)"; Mark Lareau; 2000.
"Making Bead & Wire Jewelry: Simple Techniques, Stunning Designs"; Dawn Cusick; 2002. 
"Bead on a Wire: Making Handcrafted Wire and Beaded Jewelry"; Sharilyn Miller; 2005.
"Making Designer Bead and Wire Jewelry: Techniques for Unique Designs and Handmade Findings"; Tammy Powley; 2005.

Day 91  Month 4. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent to date: 0
Found materials: copper wire, orphan bead
New Jewelry a Day.

NJAD Index by Type of Found Object (Days 1 to 90)

Yesterday, we published an index of our first 90 New Jewelry a Day projects by type of jewelry. Today, we present an index of the first 90 projects by type of found object used to create each NJAD project:

Bottle Caps
Make Chanukah Menorah Earrings from Plastic Bottle Caps

Bottles & Jars
Make a Beer Bottle into a Heart Pin
Make a Bracelet from a Plastic Bottle
Make a Cuff Bracelet from a Plastic Bottle
Make a Pendant from a Bottle
Turn a Glass Jar into a Pendant

Box
Make a Bracelet from a Handle 

Buttons
Make a Leather & Button Bracelet
Make a Button Bracelet
Make Button Earrings
Make a Chain and Button Bib Necklace

Chain
Make a Belt from Brass Chain
Make a Chain and Button Bib Necklace

Duct Tape
Make a Braided Duct Tape Bracelet
Make Duct Tape Earrings
 
Game Pieces
Make a Valentine's Day Heart Pendant from a Scrabble® Tile
Make a Bracelet from Scrabble® Tiles
Make Game Piece Earrings
Make Post Earrings from Vintage Game Pieces

Gift Card
Make Post Earrings from a Gift Card
Make a Necklace from a Credit Card
Make a Bracelet from a Gift Card
Make Earrings from an iTunes Gift Card

Glass
Make a Beer Bottle into a Heart Pin
Make a Pin from a Glass Pebble
Make Glass & Copper Earrings
Make Leather & Lampwork Glass Bead Earrings
Make a Pendant from a Bottle
Turn a Glass Jar into a Pendant
Make a Glass & Knotted Leather Necklace
Make a Glass & Brass Link Bracelet
Make Recycled Glass & Sterling Silver Earrings
Make a Kiln Formed Bracelet
Make a Glass Charm Necklace

Hair Bands
Make a Stone & Elastic Belt 

Hardware
Make a Necklace from Lock Washers & Toys
Make Heart Earrings from Copper Staples
Make a Heart Pendant from a Copper Washer
Make Earrings with Lock Washers
Cold Enamel a Washer to Make a Pendant
Make a Stamped Pendant from a Washer
Make Hex Nut Earrings
Make a Three Strand Bracelet from Copper Washers
Make a Bib Necklace from Washers
Make Earrings from Grommets
Make a Bracelet from Grommets

Holidays
Make a Valentine's Day Cuff Bracelet
Make a Valentine's Day Necklace from Shoe Lace Charms
Make Heart Earrings from Copper Staples
Make a Beer Bottle into a Heart Pin
Make "Kiss Me" Heart Earrings
Make a Valentine's Day Pendant from a Scrabble® Tile
Make a "True Love" Bracelet from Scrabble® Tiles
Make a Valentine's Day Pendant from a Copper Washer
Make a Stamped Bracelet
Make a Pin from a Glass Pebble
Make LEGO® Christmas Earrings
Make Chanukah Menorah Earrings from Plastic Bottle Caps
Make a Dreidel Pendant
Make Dreidel Earrings

Leather
Make a Leather & Brass Link Bracelet
Make Leather & Lampwork Glass Bead Earrings
Make a Leather & Button Bracelet

LEGO®
Make a Super Bowl Necklace from LEGO®
Make Wine Cup Earrings
Make a LEGO® and Chain Necklace
Use LEGO® as Beads to Make a Necklace
Make LEGO® Christmas Earrings
Make a Giant LEGO® Necklace
Make Lego Earrings

Misc
Make a Necklace from Shoe Lace Charms
Make Heart Earrings from Copper Staples
Make "Kiss Me" Heart Earrings
Make a Ring from Gimp
Turn an Earring into a Pendant
Make a Necklace from Shells
Make Earrings from Shoe Charms

Paper
Make a Valentine's Day Cold Enamel Cuff Bracelet 
Make Paper and Rubber Earrings
Make Earrings from Paper
Make a Necklace from Paper

Pipe
Make Earrings from Copper Pipe and Wire
Make an Enamel Necklace from a Copper Pipe
Make a Beaded Bracelet with Copper Pipe & Wire
Make a Neck-Ring from Copper Pipe
Make a Bangle Bracelet from a Copper Pipe

Polymer Clay
Make a Crab Pendant from Polymer Clay

Rubber
Make Paper and Rubber Earrings

Scrap Book Supplies
Make "Kiss Me" Heart Earrings

Scrap Metal
Make a Valentine's Day Cuff Bracelet from Scrap
Make Wishbone Earrings from Wire
Make Earrings from Scrap Paper & Copper
Make Glass & Copper Earrings
Make Earrings from Scrap Wire
Make a Stamped Bracelet
Make Earrings from Copper Wire
Make a Tricolored Riveted Pendant & Chain
Make Tricolored Riveted Earrings

Steel
Make Earrings with Lock Washers
Make a Bangle Bracelet from Steel Wire
Make a Bracelet from Steel Wire
Make Earrings from Steel Wire

Toys
Make a Necklace from Lock Washers & Toys
Make Wine Cup Earrings
Make a Charm Bracelet from Toy Figurines
Make a Cartoon Pendant
Make a Spider Pin from a Toy
Make a Necklace from Figurines
Make a Lizard Pin from a Toy
Make Dog Earrings from Toys
Make Post Earrings from Vintage Game Pieces
Make a Dreidel Pendant
Make Dreidel Earrings

One World One Heart 2011 Door Prize

OHOW Door Prize

And the lucky winner of our door prize is......GPC from Michigan! GPC blogs under the name Shedding the wolf.

My daughter had the honor of selecting the lucky winner... and after making the selection we both went back to GPC's blog to see just who had won. My daughter said, "GPC's blog looks yummy!" I agree. We were inspired... we both headed into the kitchen to make a Nutella late night snack.

We had a lot of fun visiting blogs around the world. Thanks to all the participants who visited and left comments. Thank you, Lisa, for hosting OWOH. Great idea!

Have a great weekend!

NJAD Index by Type of Jewelry (Days 1 to 90)

Today is day 90 of our New Jewelry a Day project. To date, my daughter and I  resisted the temptation to supplement our ample craft supplies and instead used only what we have and what we can find in our recycling can to make the first 90 jewelry projects of our year long adventure. To find materials, we sifted through the toy box, our craft corner and rescued lots of materials from the recycling bin ...but so far we girls met our self imposed goal of spending no money on our NJAD project.

Naturally, as we use up our many craft supplies, the challenge of making a new jewelry project from found objects every day gets more difficult...but that also mandates more creativity. All in all...a very satisfying way for a mother/daughter team to spend an icy, snowy winter.

Here is an index of the NJAD projects to date (days 1 to 90) by type of jewelry or accessory made:

Belts
Make a Belt from Brass Chain
Make a Stone & Elastic Belt (Made from Hair Bands)

Bracelets
Make a Valentine's Day Cuff Bracelet
Make a Bracelet from Scrabble® Tiles
Make a Bracelet from a Handle
Make a Charm Bracelet from Toy Figurines
Make a Bracelet from a Plastic Bottle
Make a Cuff Bracelet from a Plastic Bottle
Make a Stamped Bracelet
Make a Braided Duct Tape Bracelet

Copper Bracelet by GeltDesigns.com

Make a Leather & Brass Link Bracelet
Make a Three Strand Bracelet from Copper Washers
Make a Leather & Button Bracelet
Make a Beaded Bracelet with Copper Pipe & Wire
Make a Bracelet from Grommets
Make a Glass & Brass Link Bracelet
Make a Bracelet from a Gift Card
Make a Button Bracelet
Make a Bangle Bracelet from Steel Wire
Make a Bracelet from Steel Wire
Make a Bangle Bracelet from a Copper Pipe
Make a Kiln Formed Bracelet 

Earrings
Make Earrings from Copper Pipe and Wire
Make Heart Earrings from Copper Staples
Make "Kiss Me" Heart Earrings
Make Earrings with Lock Washers
Make Wine Cup Earrings
Make Hex Nut Earrings
Make Wishbone Earrings from Wire
Make Game Piece Earrings
Make Paper and Rubber Earrings
Make Earrings from Scrap Wire
Make Dog Earrings from Toys
Make Glass & Copper Earrings
Make Post Earrings from a Gift Card
Make Leather & Lampwork Glass Bead Earrings
Make LEGO® Christmas Earrings
Make Duct Tape Earrings
Make Earrings from Grommets
Make Post Earrings from Vintage Game Pieces
Make Earrings from an iTunes Gift Card
Make Earrings from Shoe Charms
Make Earrings from Copper Wire
Make Chanukah Menorah Earrings from Plastic Bottle Caps
Make Dreidel Earrings 
Make Earrings from Steel Wire
Make Tricolored Riveted Earrings
Make Recycled Glass & Sterling Silver Earrings
Make Lego Earrings
Make Button Earrings

LEGO®  Necklace by GeltDesigns.com

Necklaces
Make a Necklace from Lock Washers & Toys
Make a Necklace from Shoe Lace Charms
Make a Super Bowl Necklace from LEGO®
Make a Necklace from Paper
Make a LEGO® and Chain Necklace
Use LEGO® as Beads to Make a Necklace
Make a Necklace from a Credit Card
Make a Giant LEGO® Necklace
Make a Bib Necklace from Washers
Make a Necklace from Shells
Make a Glass Charm Necklace
Make a Chain and Button Bib Necklace

Neck-Rings
Make an Enamel Necklace from a Copper Pipe 
Make a Neck-Ring from Copper Pipe

Pendants
Make a Pendant from a Scrabble® Tile
Make a Valentine's Day Heart Pendant from a Copper Washer
Make a Crab Pendant from Polymer Clay
Cold Enamel a Washer to Make a Pendant
Make a Stamped Pendant from a Washer
Make a Cartoon Pendant
Make a Pendant from a Bottle
Turn a Glass Jar into a Pendant
Turn an Earring into a Pendant
Make a Dreidel Pendant

Back of Pin made by GeltDesigns.com

Make a Tri-colored Riveted Pendant & Chain

Pins
Make a Beer Bottle into a Heart Pin
Make a Spider Pin from a Toy
Make a Lizard Pin from a Toy
Make a Pin from a Glass Pebble

Rings
Make a Ring from Gimp

Make Earrings from Copper Pipe and Wire

Before: copper pipe

My daughter and I both love the lush, elegant look of copper ....and it is an added bonus that we have an abundance of copper around our house leftover from renovations.

Today, we went back to our stash of copper pipe and cut pieces of pipe to make lightweight but large, elegant earrings.

After: Earrings by GeltDesigns.com

Materials
Copper pipe
16-gauge round copper wire
20-gauge round copper wire

Tools
Jewelry saw & blades
3M wet/dry sandpaper
Nylon jaw pliers
Chain nose pliers
Needle files (optional)
Round nose pliers or

Gather your too

Wire looping pliers
Mandrel or Wrap n' Tap pliers
Wire cutters
Flex shaft and 19 gauge cup bur or wire rounder
Rawhide or plastic mallet
Lortone Tumbler (optional)

Cut the pipe

Step 1
Create the copper beads. Cut the copper pipe with a jewelry saw. Use sandpaper to sand the edges of the copper pipe smooth.

Step 2

Slide the pipe on the wire

Create the beaded dangle component. Slide the copper pipe onto the 16-gauge copper wire. Form the wire around the copper pipe. Hit the wire with a rawhide mallet to harden the wire.

Make the ear wires

Repeat to create a matching component.

Step 3
Make the ear wires using round nose pliers to make the ring and a mandrel or Wrap n' Tap pliers to shape the ear wire. Hit the ear wires with the rawhide mallet to harden.

Step 4

Attach the ear wires

Attach the ear wires to the dangle component.

Step 5
Place the completed earrings in the tumbler to further harden the copper wires, prevent the earrings from becoming misshapen when worn and adding sparkle and shine by burnishing.

Related Tutorials
How to Make an Ear Wire Jig 
How to Straighten Wire
How to Smooth Edges on Wire
How to Measure Wire
How to Use a Wire Gauge
GeltDesigns Tutorials by Topic
Make an Enamel Necklace from a Copper Pipe
Make a Beaded Bracelet with Copper Pipe & Wire
Make a Neck-Ring from Copper Pipe
Make a Bangle Bracelet from a Copper Pipe
NJAD Index (Days 1 to 60) by Type of Jewelry
NJAD Index (Days 1 to 60) by Type of Found Object  

Further Reading 
"Contemporary Copper Jewelry w/DVD: Step-by-Step Techniques and Projects";  Sharilyn Miller; 2010.
"Complete Metalsmith: Professional Edition";  Tim McCreight; 2004.

Day 88  Month 4. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent to date: 0
Found materials: copper pipe, wire
New Jewelry a Day.

Make a Necklace from Lock Washers & Toys

Before: toys and lock washers

I am not sure what type of toys these are; my daughter thinks that they belonged to one of her brothers. She thinks they were used to build action figures that were "like tranformers but not transformers." 

After: Necklace by GeltDesigns.com

Whatever they were, we both thought they were interesting to look at and the hole made them prefect to use as beads. We used lock washers as spacer beads and strung them simply on 2 mm satin. OK, not the most innovative project we've done this year... but it was quick, easy and made a  cheerful, fun accessory.

Materials
4 lock washers
2 toys
2mm satin cord & findings


Related Tutorials
Make a Necklace from Figurines
Make a Lizard Pin from a Toy
Make Dog Earrings from Toys
Make Post Earrings from Vintage Game Pieces

Day 87  Month 4. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent to date: 0
Found materials: toys, lock washers
New Jewelry a Day.