Make Your Own Twisted and Coiled Bead Bracelets

Jewelry is much more than a piece of adornment. It is a statement of expression. Jewelry may express the inner thoughts and personality of its wearer and hand-crafted jewelry even more so. Making your own jewelry is simple and requires only a few minutes of your time. You can easily create a glass bead bracelet, or a variation of the glass bead bracelet with your very own hand-crafted beads.

Glass Bead Bracelets
Materials:
18-gauge wire
Wire cutters
Needle nose pliers
Glass beads, any color or design
Toggle clasps

Cut five pieces of 18 gauge wire into three-inch sections. Hold one end of 18 gauge gold wire with a pair of needle nose pliers. Turn the end until a small loop forms. Allow the loop to circle around itself four times. On the last loop, shape the metal so that a square forms. There should be three straight lines wrapping around the center coil. Set the metal aside and repeat the process with the remaining lengths of wire.

Insert the straight end length of one of the pieces of metal wire through a glass bead. Coil the wire around itself until there is only about a 1/4-inch section remaining. Repeat this step with the remaining four sections of wire.

Place the straight section of wire into the square looped section of one of the wire and bead sections. Turn the straight end of the wire over so that a small loop is formed and secures the two bead sections together. Repeat this step with the remaining four pieces until all of the wires and bead sections are attached to each other. There should be two bracelet ends. Attach an end fastening ring to one end of the bracelet and a toggle clasp to the other section.

Variation:

Instead of using glass beads, why not try to make this bracelet using your own beads? Making beads is both easy and fun; both the style and color of your beads is only limited by your imagination.

Clay Beads
Materials:
White polymer clay
Acrylic roller
Silicone pad
Clay cutting knife
Clay cutters (similar to cookie cutters)
Stylus
Awl
Cookie sheet
Oven
Mask
Silver powder
Small glass bowl
Foam brush
Water

Place white polymer clay onto a silicone mat. Roll the clay until it is about ¼-inch thick. Cut out various shapes. If desired, add detail to the beads with a stylus. Determine which direction you want to place your thread hole, and run a hole through the bead with an awl. You will need at least five beads for a wire and bead bracelet.

Place the beads onto a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 275 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove the beads from the oven. Allow the beads to thoroughly cool before coating them with silver powder.

Affix a mask over your mouth and nose before handling silver powder. This is extremely important; silver powder is toxic. Using the foam brush tip, carefully scoop some silver powder into a small glass dish.

Dip the end of the brush into water before placing it into the silver powder. Gently press, not paint, the silver powder onto the beads. Make sure that the coverage is complete. If necessary, repeat this process. It is important to use enough silver powder to give the bead a brilliant sheen. Add water as needed. The bead should resemble how you want the end product to appear.

Place the beads onto a cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 300 degrees for 5 minutes. Allow the beads to completely cool before making your bracelet.

Tip:

Don't worry if your first polymer beads don't turn out. The very first polymer beads I made didn't look like I expected, but by the second attempt, my beads looked perfect. Remember, don't give up. You can do it!

References

Creative Beading Vol. 4; Bead & Button Magazine; 2009

Beading Gems: How to Make Coiled and Twisted Wire