12/05/99

Since the angel ornament was so popular, my wheels started churning again hoping to come up with more wire ornament designs. Finally, I developed this wreath ornament. Remember those coil earrings from way back? Well, here is that same technique. You’ll need the following supplies and tools to make one of these:

small wooden dowel or pencil
wire cutters
round nosed pliers
red sewing thread
6" of 28 gage red wire
approx. 20" of 22 gage green wire

First, a note about the wire used here. I used what I had around. Luckily, I had some colored wire on hand. I used these gages for this wreath because, as I said, I used what I had. You can use any gage or colors you like or have available. The lengths of wire are also approximate since you could make this larger or smaller. It’s up to you. I recommend trying this out first with whatever you can scrape up at home. Then, if you like it, you can troop down to your closest bead store. Most bead shops now carry this wire in various gages and colors. If you’re bead store deprived, almost any wire supplier (such as Softflex and WigJig ) also now sell Artistic Wire, and don’t forget that many bead stores also sell through Internet sites. There are a number listed under the Beads section of Netlinks, so take a look there too.

Here’s how I put it the wreath part together:

1. Wrap green wire around dowel (or pencil) so it’s nice and tight like a coil.

2. Pull off the coiled wire from the dowel and gently pull apart to there are spaced between the coils.

3. Shape into a circle so the ends of the coil meet.

4. Cut about a 4 inch piece of red thread and tie around the coil ends so the circle won’t come apart.

Next, make the bow using red wire:

1. Make to loops approx. the same size in the wire so they are like bunny ears.

2. Next, wrap the ends of the wire that form each loop around the middle part of the bow. Do this with both ends. This will help strengthen your wire since it’s so thin.

3. Curl the ends of the wire using round nosed pliers.

Now, finish the wreath:

1. Place the bow on the top front of the wreath so that it lines up with the thread.

2. Tie a square knot around the bow so that it is tight up against the coils.

3. Finish by pulling the thread ends together and tying an overhand knot. This way, the wreath can be hung using the thread.

Here's a printer friendly copy of this file.

Comments? Questions? Ideas? Share them on the jewelry making forum.

All graphics created by Tammy Powley.

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