Seashell Wire Pendant

Hey all....before I went back to school to be a teacher and was blessed enough to stay home with my babies, I dabbled in the jewelry business a while.  I'm hoping I can share several things that you can do yourself:)  The first is a seashell wire pendant.  I love working with wire and have made several things with it. So today I am sharing this.

Items you will need:

wire cutters

round needle nose pliers

20 gauge silver plate wire (Michaels has all kinds and in other colors)

a seashell

suede lace

a round pencil

Step 1. Cut about a 2 foot piece of wire and starting with the middle, wrap it in a spiral around the pencil until you have about an inch of wire wrapped.

Step 2.  Now you have the 2 ends of the wire "hanging".  Take your shell and put it between the 2 ends and up fairly close to the spiral.  One of the wire ends should be on top of the shell, the other should be behind the shell.

 

Step 3.  Now is the tricky but fun part.  Holding the shell in place with one hand, take your other hand and start wrapping the shell with the 2 ends of the wire.  One end will wrap from the front, one end will wrap from the back.  The more you wrap (and space it out), the more secure the shell will become.

 

Step 4.  When you wrap until there is no more wire to go around again, you need to loop the wire end onto another wire on the back of the shell.  Always finish your ends on the back.

 

Step 5.  At this time the shell should be pretty secure and you can cut another piece of wire.  Loop it around another wire on the back to secure it and start wrapping again.  How much wire you use is your choice.  You have to have enough to make the shell secure but can add more for detail.

Step 6.  Once you have all the wire wraps you want use your round needle nose pliers and carefully make small bends on the front of the shell.  This will add detail and tighten the wire to secure the shell even more.  Make sure you are always keeping the wire flush to the shell.

Step 7.  That's it:)  You're done!  Just slide the pendant off the pencil and put it on the suede lace or leather cord.  They also look great on the silver collars.

And here is the final product modeled by my baby girl who is home from college for the weekend:D

I hope to be posting some more of my wire creations soon.  I do want to finish though by sayin, be patient, it might take a few tries to get it right and most of all, have fun!!!

Happy Craftin':)