DIY Bead and Wire Christmas Ornaments

 I love beads but I have not had much experience in using beads.  But somehow I have seemed to have acquired a collection of all sorts of coloured beads, large, small, plastic, glass... I am a bit like a magpie and am attracted to sparkly things.  I find beads at op-shops, and people also give me beads, and my bead collection has grown quite a bit!  But as I am not really a jewellery maker, I needed to find other uses for them.  These Christmas decorations are fun to make and look fabulous.

You will need:

Wire.  I don't know what gauge I used, but I used a wire strong enough to hold the shape; and a fine wire (about 24-26 gauge) for threading beads on and wrapping around the wire shape. 

A selection of coloured beads

Pliers

Wire Cutters

Bend your thick wire into your required shape, and bend around again so that you have two sides. (See picture below). Snip your wire.  You do not need to attach the ends but you might like to twist them together to create a join.

Some possible ideas for wire shapes...  Cross; Heart; Anchor; Star.

 

Cut a length of fine wire. Wrap one end of the wire a couple of times around the wire where you have joined it together, to secure it.

Begin threading a selection of coloured beads onto the wire and wrap it around your wire shape as you go. 

(Back of wire heart shaped ornament)

Continue adding beads and wrapping around the wire shape.  If your length of wire is too short, simply wrap the end around the wire shape and cut another length of wire and continue, adding beads and wrap around your wire shape.  Continue until you have finished wrapping beads around your shape.

Attach a piece of thread to the top of your ornament and it is ready to hang on the tree.

 Wire and Bead cross.

 The back of the wire and bead cross. You can see where I have wrapped the thin copper wire around and around the wire shape.

 A bead and wire cross.

A wire and bead cross

 Back of the cross

 Front of the cross.

Some other ideas for making wire and bead ornaments... 

Memory wire, red and blue glass and plastic beads, and a little sailboat.

Beads threaded onto wire, with ends joined together and bent into a star shape.