Christmas tree jewellery

By this time six years ago  we were in the middle of uprooting ourselves, packing up our life possessions, in order to move to a new house. That was not an easy task, especially since our married daughters kept their former bedrooms as warehouses for their surplus belongings!

No Christmas preparations whatsoever that year! And much has happened in the intervening years which prevented me from working on my blog. But I was sorry to have neglected it for so long and have promised myself not to let that happen again.

And since Christmas is just round the corner again I want to start by giving you some ideas for Christmas tree jewellery. For this project you will need wire in either of the following gauges: brass 18g (1mm), or copper 16g (1.2mm) or aluminium 14g (1.4mm) and a matching wire in 24g (0.5mm). You will also want wire cutters , flat nose pliers, round nose pliers, hammer and anvil. And assorted beads in different sizes and colours of your choice! Start with about 50cm of your chosen wire, straighten it and start bending it.

Measure 7cm and using flat nose pliers make a sharp bend and fold the wire back on itself. Now measure 3.5cm and bend in th opposite direction. Continue until you have 6 points on one side and 5 on the other. Now measure 7cm again and cut.

Flip it over and start opening the points like the picture above. Gradually open the points, keeping the wire fairly straight.Continue until you have a star shape.







Now bend the two long ends toward each other to

form the 6th point of your star. Measure 3.5 cm and
bend away one end at an angle and wrap two or
three times around the other long wire and cut off any excess.
 Now bend the second long wire back at an angle of 90 degrees and cut, leaving 1.5 to 2cm. Using round nose pliers form a closed loop.  Hammering the points and corners of the star will help to strengthen it and give it some
texture.

And now comes the fun part!

Attach the 24 gauge wire on one point of the star/and trim the end. You will need about 1 metre of wire for this. Now start adding your beads. One or two and wrap the wire around the star shape. Add another bead or so and continue wrapping until you have a look you are happy with. Cut off any excess wire and tuck in the end. Now choose a length of matching ribbon and attach through the loop at the top of the star, so you can hang it up.

Play around with different beads and wires. Make a 5 pointed star and vary the size. Let your imagination fly!