Heya!

I realized I had some nice gold wire just sitting there unused among my other craft supplies. And I also felt in need of something to cheer myself up since I haven't been getting as much outdoor time as I used to. And as an extrovert deprived of social interactions and new opportunities, you can guess that - maybe I wasn't doing as well as I could be.

(Anyone else feeling the same way? Or have you been having the time of your life with you, yourself, and Netflix??)

So anyways, I decided to make myself a sunshine-and-beach inspired bracelet today AND I thought it would be nice to share so we could all have a little more sunshine in our lives.

It's quite easy to make - the swirls aren't as complicating as they may seem.

Let's get making!

Supplies

1mm wide gold wire
Needle nose pliers
Wire cutters
White pearl beads
A small blue jewel (I used one of those plastic stick-on craft jewels)
A hammer and a smooth surface to hammer on

Step 1: Optional (but Recommended) - Sketching Out the Reference Shapes:

The first thing I usually do when making jewelry is sketch out the shapes of the jewelry parts on a sticky note. That way, I know what size to make each piece, how to get the exact shape right for each piece, etc.

You could just skip this step and make your pieces without a guide, though personally I take the less risky route and base my pieces off of the sketch + comparing my pieces with each other to ensure my pieces are all similar.

I left some notes about each piece in the picture in case it helps.

Step 2: Making the Clasps:

I started with making one swirly end of a clasp before curving the wire up and around to make a bit of horseshoe shape and ending with another swirly end.

Then, I repeated the process with the second clasp.

Hammer both pieces on a smooth surface to strengthen the clasps.

Step 3: Making the Main Bracelet Pieces:

I experimented with 2 methods while doing this, actually:

Method 1:

Make the innermost swirly bit with pliers
Wrap the wire around the swirly bit with your hand to make a circle.
On the final wrap around the circle: Stop halfway to make a little loop above the circle (this is for linking it with the other bracelet pieces later), then continue wrapping the other half of the circle.
For the second circle, follow the same steps but REVERSE the order: The outer wrap + the little loop first, then swirling inwards.
Just cut the excess.

Method 2 (possibly the easier method in my opinion):

Measure out and cut about 18 cm of gold wire.
Mark the 9 cm point on the wire.
Follow Steps 1-3 from Method 1 (the first circle should use up about 9 cm of wire).
Follow the same Steps 1-3 from Method 1, but on the other side of the bracelet to make the second circle.
Cut the excess.

When you're done one piece, just make another 3 pieces.

And yes, remember to hammer all the pieces to strengthen them.

Step 4: The Swirly Center Piece

Okay, so it sounds fancy and all.

But really it's just making one circle like in the previous Step, EXCEPT instead of continuing to make a second circle, you make a little loop at the end, chop off the excess wire, and call it a day.

Then, just hammer it up a bit.

Step 5: Connecting the Pieces With Beads

Start with a 2.5 cm long piece of wire and begin a little loop on one end. Hook it on to the loop of a bracelet piece and THEN close it.

Then, just slid in a pearl bead and repeat the process on the other end of the wire.

Do this with 3 more pearl beads and you will have connected the all the swirly pieces together.

You can always check out the pictures out for details.

Step 6: Connecting the Clasps With Jumper Rings

If you have golden jumper rings you can use, well great!

If you don't have any jumper rings, here's an easy way I use to make some: wrap your wire around something round and thin (like a thin paintbrush) and cut off the extra.

Make 6 rings total - one for each side of the bracelet. Hammer up each of these.

Link one ring to a clasp, a second ring to one end of the bracelet, and link a third ring to connect both of these rings.

Then repeat with the remaining 3 rings on the other side of the bracelet.

Step 7: Glue on the Jewel

Well. Just like the title says it.

Take some super glue and glue the jewel onto the center piece of the bracelet.

Boom!

Aaand a note on how to put it on: slightly open the ends of the clasps and slid them into each other (imagine linking two horseshoes together). Then, just close the ends of the clasps again.