Make Quickie Wire Rings and Let Your Fingers Do the Talking

If you make wire jewelry: earrings, bracelets and necklaces that say "I'm bold," "I'm fun"' "I'm colorful too!;" it's time to let your fingers do the talking. Let them make a creative jewelry statement with these simple, handcrafted quickie wire rings you can create in just a minute or two.

It's not complicated at all. Simply collect your boldest beads; grab a bit of wire, and get your fingers ready. Once you learn these simple techniques, you can add your own personal jewelry designer style and create rings that are fabulously you.

Tools

-Round Nosed Pliers

-Pliers

-Hammer and anvil (optional)

- A Round Ring Thing - Jewelry makers use ring mandrels to make properly sized rings. They are tapered and graduated to create every ring size; but unless you intend to make lots of rings, hold back on that expense.

Find your own round ring thing instead. Try an A A battery to form a pinkie ring, or a glue stick for a bigger ring with a bold bead. Search for cylindrical objects in your ring size: a small round bottle, a thick wooden rod, whatever round thing will give you the size you need.

Of course if you simply must make jewelry the way the professionals do, Amazon.com has a few inexpensive plastic ring mandrels for under 7 dollars.

Materials

-Bold beads - Flat beads with big holes work best.

-It's okay to use a round or thick bead; but make your ring a bit bigger to fit properly.

-Wire -

• For a bold look use 16 gauge.
• For a delicate look try 20 gauge.

Create A Bold Colorful Ring

See Figure 2 for illustrations.

-Cut 8 inches of 16 g wire.

-Slide on your bead to the mid point of the wire.

-Use pliers to fold wire to a right angle bending the wire as close to your bead as you can get.

-Curve your wires in opposite directions around your ring thing to create your ring's rounded shape.

-Once curved properly, the wire will form a double loop with wire ends pointing in opposite directions.

-Curve each wire end around one side of your circle, just below the bead.

-Trim excess wire, leaving enough to form a small loop at each end.

-Loop each end piece around the far side of the double circle, just below the bead.

-Your finished ring will seem open, but 16 g wire makes it sturdy and the openness gives it a unique look.

-For an interesting variation on the 16 g ring, cut the wire piece longer and wind the excess decoratively in place however you choose.

Create a Delicate Wire Ring

-Cut 10 inches of 20 g wire.

- Follow the above instructions.
-After you make your double circle, instead of trimming the excess wire, coil it around your two circles to reinforce your ring.

-Try adding wire details. Create a zig-zag shape, place it over the top of the bead and wind the ends into place.

Create A Double Swirl Wire Swirl Ring

-Cut a 5 inch piece of 16 g wire

-Make a swirl at each end. Swirl in opposite directions (See Fig 3):

• Use round nosed pliers to form a loop
• Hold loop flat with pliers.
• Rotate the pliers, using your fingers to help coil the wire around the loop.

-With swirls at each end, your piece should measure about 2&1/2 inches long. Make it longer for a larger ring.

-(Optional) Flatten piece slightly with a hammer.

-Curve your piece around your round ring thing.

Experiment with these simple techniques until you feel comfortable, then add your own personal touches: swirls, multicolor beads, even dangly objects if you please. Your fingers will love you.

To save on materials, create with copper. Move on to sterling or gold filled when you're ready.

Source:
My personal projects