Sunny Shell Pendant
I notice that many times when I collect shells on the beach, they already have holes in them as if they were prepared to become a bead or jewelry component in their next life. So, I got my wire out and started to play and came up with this pretty shell pendant. Since each shell is a natural piece of art, each pendant will be a little different too, but you can still use this basic technique to create your own shell pendant.
You'll need the following:
1 shell with a hole in it
*choice of wire
wire cutters
round-nosed pliers
flat or bent-nosed pliers
jeweler's file
nylon nosed pliers
*I made some of these using 22 gauge round sterling wire, and I really liked how they turned out, but for demonstration purposes, I'm using colored wire for this project. Obviously, you can use sterling, gold-filled, colored, whatever you want.
1. Begin by cutting about 6 inches of wire and filing both ends.
2. Use round nosed pliers to start a curl on one end of the wire and nylon nosed pliers (or your fingers if the wire is soft enough) to continue curling the wire a few times.
3. Then insert the straight end of the wire through the hole in the shell, so that the curl part is up against the front of the shell.
4. Use your fingers to hold the curl part of the wire against the shell, and bring the wire up, around the side of the shell, and back through the hole on the same side of the shell that you originally inserted the wire. Note: Be gentle with this because it is a shell and it can break if apply too much pressure to the shell.
5. Now use your round nosed pliers and create a
wrapped loop.
6. Bring the wire back through the hole, but this time bring it through the back of the shell instead of wrapping it around the shell as before.
7. Again, create another curl and coil with the left over wire, and roll it up towards the hole in the shell.
8. Press both coils gently up against the shell with your fingers.
All graphics created by Tammy Powley.
