Project Introduction
When I saw these beautiful Venetian glass star beads, I couldn?t help myself. I wanted some jewelry and I wanted it right away. I whipped up a super fast necklace and earring set so I could wear them to work the very next day. Sometimes, you just need an immediate gratification jewelry project to do, especially when you want to wear your new beads.
All the supplies for this set, except for the sterling wire, came from Gems2Behold.
Materials and equipment:
1 - 20mm star silver foil glass bead
2 ? 13mm star silver foil glass beads
6 ? 4mm Swarovski bicone rose crystal beads
Approx. 12-15 inches of 22-guage, round dead soft sterling wire
2 sterling French ear hooks
**1 sterling 18inch 1.3mm Omega Chain
Round-nosed pliers
Ben-nosed (or flat) pliers
Wire cutters
*Nylon-nosed pliers
More on Supplies and Equipment
*Though not 100% necessary, nylon-nosed pliers are really helpful for work hardening wire and straightening it out. If you do much wire work, I think they are well worth the investment.
**Another alternative for using the Omega chain in this project is to substitute a regular sterling chain you may already have or you might also consider using some ribbon.
Begin First Wire Curl
1. Cut about five inches of wire, and use round-nosed pliers to curl the end. (If you are not using flush cut wire cutters, you may want to also file the ends of your wire. Otherwise, with wire this soft and a good pair of cutters, you can probably skip the filing.) Use nylon-nosed pliers to continue curling the end of the wire a few curls, thus making a wire coil head pin.
Adding the Star & Crystal Beads
2. Next, because of the shape of the star bead, I took a pair of bent-nosed pliers (flat or chain-nosed will also work here), and I bent the area of the wire right above the curl just a little.
3. Now slide on one crystal bead, on 20mm star bead, and another crystal bead and push them down to the end of the wire. (You?ll see now why I bend the wire a little.)
Make First Wrapped Loop
4. Next, use round nosed pliers to make a wrapped loop at the top.
Finish Star Pendant
5. Finish the wrapped loop, trim off excess wire with wire cutters, and again, if necessary use jewelers? files to file any rough areas of your wire. Set this aside and continue making your earrings.
Make the Star Earrings
6. Follow the previous steps, but this time use the two 13mm start beads and make two star, crystal, and wire pieces just like you previously made.
7. Finish off your set by adding ear hooks to the loops of the earring stars.
8. Then slide your star pendant onto the Omega chain.
When I saw these beautiful Venetian glass star beads, I couldn?t help myself. I wanted some jewelry and I wanted it right away. I whipped up a super fast necklace and earring set so I could wear them to work the very next day. Sometimes, you just need an immediate gratification jewelry project to do, especially when you want to wear your new beads.
All the supplies for this set, except for the sterling wire, came from Gems2Behold.
Materials and equipment:
1 - 20mm star silver foil glass bead
2 ? 13mm star silver foil glass beads
6 ? 4mm Swarovski bicone rose crystal beads
Approx. 12-15 inches of 22-guage, round dead soft sterling wire
2 sterling French ear hooks
**1 sterling 18inch 1.3mm Omega Chain
Round-nosed pliers
Ben-nosed (or flat) pliers
Wire cutters
*Nylon-nosed pliers
More on Supplies and Equipment
*Though not 100% necessary, nylon-nosed pliers are really helpful for work hardening wire and straightening it out. If you do much wire work, I think they are well worth the investment.
**Another alternative for using the Omega chain in this project is to substitute a regular sterling chain you may already have or you might also consider using some ribbon.
Begin First Wire Curl
1. Cut about five inches of wire, and use round-nosed pliers to curl the end. (If you are not using flush cut wire cutters, you may want to also file the ends of your wire. Otherwise, with wire this soft and a good pair of cutters, you can probably skip the filing.) Use nylon-nosed pliers to continue curling the end of the wire a few curls, thus making a wire coil head pin.
Adding the Star & Crystal Beads
2. Next, because of the shape of the star bead, I took a pair of bent-nosed pliers (flat or chain-nosed will also work here), and I bent the area of the wire right above the curl just a little.
3. Now slide on one crystal bead, on 20mm star bead, and another crystal bead and push them down to the end of the wire. (You?ll see now why I bend the wire a little.)
Make First Wrapped Loop
4. Next, use round nosed pliers to make a wrapped loop at the top.
Finish Star Pendant
5. Finish the wrapped loop, trim off excess wire with wire cutters, and again, if necessary use jewelers? files to file any rough areas of your wire. Set this aside and continue making your earrings.
Make the Star Earrings
6. Follow the previous steps, but this time use the two 13mm start beads and make two star, crystal, and wire pieces just like you previously made.
7. Finish off your set by adding ear hooks to the loops of the earring stars.
8. Then slide your star pendant onto the Omega chain.