As promised, I'm posting a tutorial (OK - really two tutorials) on how I made my vintage-inspired ornaments that I posted about on Monday. Here are some of the pictures of the ornaments that were created using graphics from Karen @ The Graphics Fairy.
This ended up being a long tutorial so I am going to post about making the wire hangers today and I will follow up with the ornament this weekend. Here's the supplies you'll need for the wire hanger:
18 gauge wire, scrap piece of wood, 4 nails (finishing nails with no head), beads, wire cutters, small pliers, marker or round pencil, old spool, ruler.
Now bear with me with all of the instructions....I promise you, these are very quick and easy to make once you have the supplies ready. I timed myself while making one and it took me 2 minutes.
So here we go:
First, take the four finishing nails and nail them into the scrap piece of wood to make a template for the top of the wire hanger. Nail the top nail in, nail a second nail 3/4" below the first nail, and then nail the remaining two nails 1/8" down and 1/2" over from the the second nail. This is what your template should look like.
Now cut an 18" piece of wire for the hanger.
Make a small bend in the middle of the cut wire and place it over the top nail on the template.
Now cross one wire over the other (underneath the second nail) and then bring the wires up and around the two bottom nails.
Next, take the left wire and loop around the left nail bringing the wire back underneath the center nail. Repeat the steps with the right wire. This is what you should have at this point.
Now slide the wire off of the template. Here's what it should look like.
Now pull the ends of wires together and slide a bead over both wires (note: when purchasing beads make sure the bead hole is large enough to accomodate the thickness of both wires).
Slide the bead to the top of the hanger.
and your hanger at this point should look like this:
Now it's time to shape the circle on both sides of the hanger. To get a smooth circle you need to wrap the wire around a round shape. This is where I used an old spool that I had in my supplies.
I could not get a good picture of the next step because I didn't have anyone to take the picture while I wrapped the wire. The following picture is what the hanger should look like after wrapping one side around the spool.
The wire is too long at this point so you will want to cut to look like this (I adjusted the color on this picture and apparently I went a little too far....the wire looks green!)
Repeat the steps on the other side of the hanger and you are almost done!
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At this point if you want to add some additional beads you need to add them now. I added smaller red beads to both sides.
The last step is to take your small pliers and bend the edge of the wire around in a small loop to give the wire edge a decorative finish and to hold the beads in place.
And here's the finished hanger.
These last pictures show a quick way to make the wire jump rings that you will need to attach your ornament to the hanger.
Take a length of wire and wrap tightly around a pen, round pencil or dowel rod that you have handy.
Slide the wire off of the pen and you'll have this little spring
Now take your wire cutters and cut through the spring
You now have several jump rings to use for your project.
OK....I hope I haven't scared you away with all of these steps. These really are easy to make and I think they look great with the ornament.
I'll be honest, this tutorial was a lot more difficult to write and photograph than I thought so if something isn't clear or you need more clarification please don't hesitate to leave me a comment or e-mail.
I'll be back this weekend with the tutorial on the ornament.
I'm linking with Jane @ Finding Fabulous for her
Frugalicious Friday party. Thanks to Jane for hosting the party. Please be sure and visit Jane and all the other participants for some fabulous, frugal ideas!
Jane
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