Tools:

Flush cutters

Round Nose pliers

Flat Nose pliers

Chain Nose Pliers

¼” wooden dowel or other round object for shaping your ear wires

Rounder/bur cup or file, fine sandpaper or emery board for smoothing wire ends.

Supplies:

Approximately 5” 22ga half hard round wire

Six 1 ½” head pins

Three pair 8mm round beads

Suggested materials:

Sterling silver

14k Gold Fill

Gemstone beads, Swarovski Crystals, square beads or even small oval beads. 

Step 1:

Thread one bead onto a headpin.  Take your round nose pliers and grab the tail about ¼” up from the bead.  Bring the wire over and around crossing over itself as shown.

Step 2:

Wrap the headpin wire tail around just above your bead two or three times.  Hold this wire while your wrapping with your chain nose pliers.  Clip of any excess and snug with your chain nose pliers

Step 3

Repeat step 2 for the rest of your beads.

You should now have three pair of wrapped beads as shown here.

Step 4:

Now take your round wire and cut it into two 2 ½” pieces.  Here’s where you might want to smooth all your cut ends before proceeding.

Using your round nose pliers make a tiny loop at one end of each wire.  Use the very tip of your pliers as you want just a very small loop.

Step 5:

Now you’re going to make the loop that holds the wrapped beads you just made.

Place your pliers just above the loop you just made.  Have the wire up at the fattest part of your pliers…

Step 6:

Bring the wire tail around and over your pliers' nose as shown.  Bring it down close to your loop.  You can adjust the space between this wire and the loop with your fingers later.

Step 7:

Now using your wooden dowel shape the main part of your ear wire around it using your thumb and forefinger.  Place your thumb just above your loop and your forefinger on the opposite side and push gently down over the dowel.  This may take a little practice to get the ends just right.  You want the end on the back side to be just a little bit longer that the bottom of the front.

NOTE:

I used brass craft wire (ala Wal-Mart) to practice making my first ones.

Step 8:

Now you want to make a gentle little bend on the end of your ear wire.  Take your flat nose pliers and take hold of the wire right at the tip and bend upward just a bit. 

You don’t have to do this if you prefer a straight wire.

This is what you want your ear wires to look like when finished.  You might want to tighten the space up where the loop is just a bit.  Once you place your dangles on you don’t want them to slip off.

16

You can wear these with all three beads, just two or with just one.  You don’t really need to stick with round beads.  When done you have a lovely pair of pretty ear wires that you can hang any dangles from that you like.  If they won’t fit over the loop end thread them up and around the other end and down into the holding loop