Introduction: Swirled Wire Beaded Pendant

By My Etsy shop!
About: (Educational) Designer, Researcher, and Developer

I recently got some new wire, and I couldn't wait to try to make something with it! I had been wanting to make a pendant in this style for quite a while now, but for some reason I never got it to look the way I wanted it to. The closest to a successful wire wrapped pendant I had got so far was this one: beaded heart pendant.

After attempting this pendant, my first result was the one with the red beads, shown in the last step. I absolutely loved the result, and couldn't believe it actually looked the way I wanted it to look! After making that first one, there were some clear points that could have been better, so I included that in the making of this second pendant.

I personally think it turned out really good, I hope you'll like it as well!

Step 1: Materials

To make a pendant like this, you will need:

- pliers

- two different gauges of wire, mine were 0,8 and 0,4 mm

- beads

- a mandrel or a collection of differently sized round objects

Step 2: Drawing

Start by sketching the base swirl on the size you want your pendant to be. Make sure your beads can fit between the sides of the swirl.

Step 3: Cutting the Wire

Cut off a piece of wire of which you are sure it's long enough to bend the basic shape of the pendant. Rember to cut the wire with the flat sides of the cutting pliers to the part you're using, this will give a more finished look and prevent sharp ends.

Step 4: Starting the Shape

Using the top part of the round nose pliers, start bending. Continue shaping the wire to create the top swirl.

Place the swirl against the widest part of the mandrel and bend the wire around it for about three quarters.

Step 5: Keep on Swirlin'

Move your swirl up a bit on the mandrel and bend a bit around it before moving it up a bit and bending it again. Once you've reached the top of the mandrel, continue using your round nose pliers.

Step 6: The Finished Swirl

Once you have finished bending the swirl, you can place it on your sketch and, if needed, make small changes.

Save the leftover part, this can be used to complete step 15.

Step 7: Thin Wire

Cut off a long piece of your thinner wire.

As you can see, the second picture shows the difference between the thick and the thin wire.

Step 8: Coil

Insert the thin wire trough the left side of the top swirl, back to front. Coil around the top swirl, down to the base of the pendant. Continue until there is a second wire right next to it.

Step 9: Joining

When the two wires are next to each other, coil the wire around both wires about four times.

Step 10: Weaving

After the four coils, start weaving the wire between both sides as shown. Repeat until there is enough distance between both sides to add a bead.

Step 11: The First Beads

Add the first bead to the wire and coil the wire around the other side of the swirl as shown.

Next, let the wire go underneath the outside of the swirl and coil it around four times. After that, add a second bead and repeat this.

Step 12: Some More

Repeat this for the other beads.

Step 13: Coiling Again

After all the beads have been used, coil the remaining wire around the inner part of the swirl. You can coil a small part or go for the entire swirl, that's entirely up to what you prefer : )

Step 14: Cutting the Ends

Once you're done coiling, cut off the ends and flatten them, to prevent sharp ends from sticking out.

Step 15: The '8'

For this step, you can use the remaining piece of wire from your base. Bend your wire around the round nose pliers to create a loop, repeat on the other side to create the 8. I used the technique I used in step two here, but instead of continuing you can just finish it. Cut off the remaining wire, straighten the 8 between flat pliers and correct any imperfections.

Step 16: Add It

To add the 8 to your pendant, simply open up one of the sides, add it and close it again.

Step 17: Necklace Time

To add it to a necklace, just repeat last step for the upper loop of the 8.

Step 18: Done!

And that's it! I really hope you liked this instructable, if you did I would love to know : ).

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