DIY Wire Wrapped Birds Nest Necklace Tutorial

2012-02-17T10:26:00.000-05:00

I love searching the net for fun DIY jewelry projects, it is a wonderful procrastination pastime when I have a billion other things that are silently calling to me...dishes, laundry, kids...the list goes on...and on. Recently I have seen a number of these adorable wire wrapped birds nest necklaces and fell in crafty love! They looked easy enough ... and totally wearable too! Here are a few that caught my eye...

So I decided to give it a go! (I also had in the back of my mind that this would be a perfect addition to my little line of Etsy Kraft Kits) I picked up the wire and the beads at the dollar store, the jump ring I had on hand but originally purchased from Michaels, and the necklace was already mine as well (sourced from Etsy). Here goes...

1. First I took about a metre (give or take) of thin silver metallic wire and twisted a loop into one end. I also set aside the 3 faux pearl beads that I was going to use.

2. Next, I threaded the 3 beads onto my wire.

3. I bent my wire so that my beads were sitting in a triangular shape.

4. I then threaded the wire through the loop that I had originally created.

5. I pulled it through nice and tight.

6. And I started wrapping, keeping the wire fairly close to the perimeter of the beads.

7. I kept on wrapping until I had about 10 cm remaining in my wire (remember the wire wrapping does not need to look perfect, in fact, imperfections will give your birds nest a more realistic and charming look).

8. Next I threaded my jump ring through the remaining length of wire.

9. Then I found a space in between 2 beads and started to loop my remaining wire around the wire wrappings, securing it in this one spot. When you feel that it is nice and secure, cut off any additional wire if necessary and/or tuck in the edge of the wire.

10. Here you can see one of my three knots completed.

11. I prepared 2 smaller (10 cm each) lengths of wire in advance which I now got ready to use to create my final 2 knots in between the other 2 beads.

12. Here I go with the next one...

13. I like to knot it through itself at the end, so I know it won't go anywhere!

14. (Drum roll please.....) Tada - So cute!!

15. A little re-arranging of the beads to center them and here is my necklace threaded through my silver chain.

Hopefully this will inspire a little DIY project for you! Why not give this one a try! Fun, and best of all EASY!!!

Email me at ThePrettyPaperFactory@gmail.com for more information.

Pinterest and Other Ramblings

2012-02-15T15:29:00.000-05:00

I just have one question, what did people do before the Internet? It is so hard to remember a time when you couldn't just pull up 'google' to solve an argument! My latest and greatest Internet driven obsession - Pinterest! I am completely and totally obsessed! Whoever came up with Pinterest is pure genious! I think that I have made a Pinterest sourced recipe for dinner every night for the past 3 weeks! And what a place to find anything craft and / or DIY related! If only someone would pay me to browse Pinterest...oh well dreaming is healthy right!! Back to reality...a couple of weeks after Christmas my computer crashed...and went to computer heaven, unfortunately it insisted on bringing every last file of mine (cough, ahem, that wasn't backed up) with it. Erghhhh. Needless to say I have been working my little heart out trying to make something out of nothing to get my little Etsy shop back up and running again. This not so small task would be infinitely easier if there were either (a) more hours in the day, or (b) a nanny by my side or (b) a personal assistant at my beck and call. Again, a mere dream. I am getting close...close. Tomorrow I will be posting a tutorial for a bottle cap necklace...and hopefully that will be succeeded by many more tutorials!! I now must run...literally - I have become a cold weather runner...one of my proudest accomplishments of late!!

Email me at ThePrettyPaperFactory@gmail.com for more information.

The Pretty Paper Factory

DIY Wire Wrapped Birds Nest Necklace Tutorial

Pinterest and Other Ramblings