DIY Wire Wrapped Bracelets – Gorgeous Arm Candy You Can Make!

 

One of my favorite things to make is jewelry. Maybe because it’s shiny and I love shiny things or possibly it’s because it allows you to be extremely creative and wear that creation proudly. That’s why you’ll always find a ton of DIY jewelry posts on this site, including these instructions to make your own wire wrapped bracelets. 

If you’re anything like me then chances are that you walk down the aisles of the craft store slowly falling in love with all the different beads on the DIY jewelry aisle. 

Sometimes I want to buy all the gorgeous beads or even the funky beads but I don’t know how I would use them. Anyone else? Here’s a great solution to use those medium to larger size beads that you just fall in love with. 

Ignore the rusty wire cutters that I had to pull out of a tackle box. Raising creative kids means that you’re never really sure where your craft supplies are at. It’s going to be worth it one day, right?

How to Make Wire Wrapped Bracelets 

Here’s the best news: You can do this. It’s simple. If you’re nervous about making it look amazing, do your first bracelet with old wire that you can cut the beads off of as a practice. When you have one under your belt, you’ll feel like a pro and will rock it. 

You need –

20 gauge wire

Needlenose pliers

wire cutters

medium or large sized beads / crystals

a cup to shape your bracelet on

Start making the bracelets by measuring out about 3 feet of wire and pulling it straight. 

Use another bracelet to determine the correct size you want or very loosely measure around your wrist, giving room for the bangle to hang on your wrist.  You can also use a string wrapped around your wrist to measure, just make sure you tie it closed and get fit it over your hand to get it off and on.

Once your have your measurements, turn the glass upside down and find the same measurement on the taper of the glass. Mark it using tape or a hair tie so that you can have consistent sizes. 

Leaving the first 10 or more inches free, wind the wire around the glass to make the correct shape and form for your bracelet. 

If you look you can see that the beginning of the piece of wire and the end are both free.

Carefully slide the wire off of the glass while holding it tightly to keep it together.  It might be a little hard the first time but as long as you keep the same shape, you’ll be ok. 

Use your needle nose pliers to make a 90-degree angle with one free end of the wire. This is where you’re going to start wrapping. Wrap it around the other wires at least 3 times. After I made a few of these bracelets I decided that I like the look of 4 wraps. It’s up to you. 

Keep the wires together or push the sides of the wrap together using your pliers to make a nice neat wrap. 

Now slide a bead onto your free tail of wire and you’re going to wrap the other side to hold the bead in place. 

Wrap the wire around the wire bracelet on the other side of the bead using your pliers to get a nice neat wrap.

Don’t cut the extra wire! Now you’re going to pull the extra over to the right and start another wrap 1/3 of the way around the bracelet. 

First go to the right to add another bead and then go back to the center stone at go to your left to add the bead using that tail of wire. It’s simple. 

And when you’re done you’ll have a lovely bracelet with three stones.

Why just three stones? So that you can easily stack more than one together.

The good news is that you can be a perfectionist and have your wires perfect and straight or you can be artsy fartsy with wires that aren’t all the way in place and either way you get an amazing finished product. 

Shiny glittery arm candy – what else can you ask for? 

 

It really is as easy as wrapping wire. 

Do you want more Jewelry tutorials? Check out these posts: