copper and silver wire necklace

Over the last few days I’ve been obsessed with beading and jewelry making. I posted on Moms Who Make Stuff a long post about what got me inspired—or rather, what led to this sudden fanaticism. This is the third necklace I’ve made, and this time, I worked only in wire. I’m especially proud of myself because I made every single bit of it myself, from the coils, to the jump rings to the clasp itself.

The pattern/design comes from The Complete Guide to Wire & Beaded Jewelry by Linda Jones, (see the Amazon link below if you want to check it out). It was easy to make, took just a couple hours from start to finish after my son went to bed. It was tricky to learn to wrap the spirals, and they didn’t turn out perfect, but I got better and faster as I figured out what I was doing. One major downside is that the wire is still very pliable and easily pulled apart, as I discovered when I let my toddler try it on and he decided he wanted it OFF NOW. Since I’m notoriously hard on jewelry, I’m worried I’ll yank it if I wear it.

Here’s more pictures:

You can see the simple clasp I made out of wire:

The little double rings linking the spirals are called jump rings and I made those too. They’re super easy, but I don’t like the way my wire cutter was snipping them. I might need a nicer tool.

I’d like to try this necklace again. I really like working in wire.