Sparkling Wire Star Pendant (or Ornament)

I forgot about this one. I designed it as a project to go with our space themed summer reading a few years ago. Now I'm supposed to be cleaning out the drive and where better to back up my instructions ;)

It's a small one and the photos were all taken at work so the lighting is worse than usual (sorry!) but I hope it'll help someone make a last minute Chanukah or Christmas gift for someone, or for themselves.

(If you have a lot of beads and a lot of time a series of these would make an amazing twinkly garland...)

Materials:

-9” 18 ga wire

-24-36” 28-26 ga wire

-assorted small beads

-round nose pliers

-flat nose pliers

-wire cutters

-sharpie

-jump ring

-cord or ribbon

Cut 9” of 18 ga wire. Mark 2” in from one end, in sharpie. Then from there, mark every 1 ½”.

You’ll have 5 marks with about a half inch left over. Use round nose pliers to bend wire about 35 degrees at the first mark.

Continue for the next 4 marks. An approximate star shape will form.

(If you get brain freeze too, you can doodle a star in pencil to remember which way the wire should bend/get an idea of angles.)

At this point nothing is connected so feel free to pinch and prod to shape the star, slightly sharpening or softening angles.

Once shaped, bend the shorter wire end across and behind the 2” length at the last marked point.

Trim folded wire. Close tightly with flat nosed pliers. Grip the edge of the wire with the round nose pliers and twist them to curl the remaining wire into a loop.

Cut 36” 28 ga wire. Wrap one end around the star frame 3 or 4 times next to one of the joints. Then wrap around the joint itself 2 or 3 times.

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

Alternate between large and small beads and different shapes.

At the next joint, wrap the wire around it 2 or 3 times and continue around the star.

When you get to the end, wrap the wire around the frame 3 times and clip it. OR if you want to add more beads, go around again! Seed beads can be a great filler and iridescent ones add subtle sparkle.

Hang from a cord with large jump ring. Or tie a ribbon through the loop to use as a window decoration or ornament.

If you don't have a jump ring handy, you can wrap some of the thicker wire around the widest part of the nose of round nosed pliers (or even a pen) and carefully trim both ends to make a circle.