When I was looking for guest craft bloggers for my National Craft Month celebrations Sykes Cottages contacted me. They had created a craft guide featuring a series
of easy to follow craft tutorials and were happy for me to feature one of them.
Over to Leanne from Sykes Cottages to tell you more....
Hi, Crafting
is one of the world’s most rewarding pastimes; it’s creative, engaging and
artistic. Sykes wanted to offer simple handmade craft
guides for beginners as a stress-free introduction to the world of craft. After teaming up with six UK-based
craft bloggers, we created Simple Handmade Crafts: A Guide for Beginners,
to encourage those who’d never tried craft to take up scissors and thread
and have a go. All of the tutorials in the guide were designed to be easy to
make, giving novices the chance to create something special in just a few
simple steps.
One of the tutorials in the guide
was contributed by Erin; a UK craft blogger who creates wonderful handmade
jewellery and other incredible crafts on her blog, e-eliseETC. Her tutorial for a pair of
wire work Spiral
Earrings are inexpensive to make and easily-transportable, making it perfect
for beginners who’d like to try their hand at basic wire work techniques.
If you’d like to have a go at
making these gorgeously simple earrings you can read how below....
You will need:
- Sterling silver wire (0.6mm-0.8mm),
- Six beads (this tutorial uses Jade rondelle beads 4x6mm),
- Wire cutters, round and flat nose pliers,
- A pen
- A small file.
Step 1:
To begin, cut approximately 2 inches of wire. Using flat-nose pliers, bend one end to form the centre of the earring’s spiral.
Step 2:
Holding the centre loop firmly
with the flat-nose pliers, carefully wrap the wire around the centre bend. When you've done this a couple of times, your spiral should begin to take shape.
Step 3:
Once you’re happy with your
spiral, use pliers to make a 90-degree bend in the wire in the opposite
direction.
You’re now ready to add the beads.
Step 4:
To complete the charm, make a
90-degree bend above the three beads. Then, use pliers to make a small loop
which will be used to attach the charm to the earring wire. Repeat the above
steps to create a second charm, before setting both aside.
Step 5:
For the earring wire: cut a 2”
length of wire and create a small loop at one end using round nose pliers, this will allow you to attach the charm.
Step 6:
Using a small round object like a
pen, make a curved bend in the wire. Then, use round nose pliers to bend the
other end of the wire outwards to give the wire its earring shape. Be sure to
check if the end of the wire is sharp; if it is, you may like to smooth it
down with a file.
Repeat step five and six for the second earring wire.
Repeat step five and six for the second earring wire.
Step 7:
To complete your earrings: use
pliers to open the small loop on the earring wire and attach the charm. Then,
secure the charm in place by closing the loop with the pliers.
Repeat this step for the second earring and hey presto, you've created a wonderful pair of
earrings!
Thank you Leanne for sharing this tutorial. These earrings are so pretty and I can't wait to try making them for myself.
If you are new to jewellery making and you would like to know more about the basic techniques I would recommend visiting the tutorials here by Beads Direct. They are free and helped me when I first tried making jewellery.
To find out more about Erin, the blogger behind this tutorial, you can find her over on...
Her blog
Twitter
Instagram
Her blog
Sykes Cottages kindly provided this tutorial for free and have NOT sponsored me or this blog to use it. You can find out more about Sykes Cottages and their 5,000 self-catering cottages to rent across the UK and Ireland on their website.
