Hammered Heart Pendant

Quick disclaimer- a coworker described something she saw to me that she thought might be a fun library program, so this is my twist on something someone else saw somewhere :)

I'm mostly putting it on here because I'll be doing it in a few weeks and wanted some feedback on instructions before the program! (And related to that, this is quick public library budget, so mostly plastic beads with a few crystals. I'd suggest to practice first, but feel free to go upscale!)

Materials:

-9” 18 ga wire

-24-36” 26 ga wire

-lots of beads!

-round nose pliers

-flat nose pliers

-wire cutters

-Hammer and anvil

Cut 9” 18 ga wire, fold in half slightly short of center.

Continue to bend wires until you have a loop. Gently curves ends of loop down into a heart shape.

If necessary, flip your heart so its longer end is coming from right and pointing left.

Hammer just the heart shape, *not* the tails.

(If you don't have a bench block, the flat side of a larger hammer head will work.)

Trim the longer tail to 1 ½”, make a loose spiral.

Wrap the shorter tail around base of heart, above the spiral.

(It’s tough to coil the 18 ga wire, you might want to use pliers to give you grip for this bit! If you have good cutters you can leave both tails long and trim after you wrap, but it's hard to nip it cleanly short with some of the cheaper cutters.)

Lightly hammer back side of spiral and fold it back and up, so it’s sitting inside the base of the heart.

Choose your beads! (Have lots of extras handy!)

Then cut about 24” of 26 ga wire.

Wrap one end of your wire around top of heart 3 or 4 times, right by the center loop, on whichever side you want to decorate.

Add your first bead, hold it against the frame, and wrap the beading wire once around the heart wire to secure it.

Keep adding beads!

I alternate between large and small beads, I like how they fit, but experiment!

When you get to the end of the side you can wrap the beading wire 3 times to trim and secure them. Squeeze the end with the needle nose pliers to make sure the ends won’t catch.

OR if you want to add more beads, you can wrap up around the beads back to where you started for a second layer. Wrap over your starting wrap and clip the beading wire.

Add a large jump ring to hang the heart from cord, or you can slide it on a chain.

Done!