Bead 'N Wire Earrings & Pendant by Lydia F Borin A Beadwrangler Workshop

Supplies

• Three 3” silver or gold tone head pins or eye pins, 2 for earrings, 1 for pendant (must fit size 11/0 or 8/0 beads)
• 2 earring findings:  studs or ear wires with loop for a dangle attachment.
• 1 jump ring and gold or silver tone choker for pendant
• 40 size 11/0 or 8/0 seed beads, all one color or a combo of colors
• 2 size 6/0 seed beads or 4mm druck or bicone beads
• 2 size 8mm beads
• 1 thin dowel, or soft doll needle (thin) or Stole Weaving needle (thick) or use fingers for shaping
• 1 pr wire cutters
• 1 pr needle nose or chain nose pliers
• optional, 1 pr flat nose pliers
• optional, small charms or dangles for either earrings or pendant when using eye pins

Making Easy Bead 'N Wire Earrings & Pendants

Bead 'N Wire Earrings
String 1 size 11/0, 1 size 4mm, 1 size 8mm, then 19 size 11/0 beads.  Once you wrap the bead strung pin around a needle, the earring will become shorter in length.  Take a pair of chain nose pliers and put the eye/head pin between the two prongs at the pliers opening.  The wire should be held right above the last bead strung on the wire.  Turn the pliers to one side or the other, 90 degree angle, then wrap the open wire end around one prong with your fingers.  Sometimes this loop is a little offset instead of setting up straight.  Use the same pliers to adjust the wire loop so it sets up straight or use a pair of flat nose pliers for that purpose.  Use the wire cutters to cut off the excess wire so only the loop is at the end.   Use the chain or flat nose pliers to open the loop a little and put the earring finding on and then close the loop.

Now you have a long earring.  Take the earring and wrap it around a soft doll or stole weaving needle or make a spiral form with your fingers .  The soft doll needle will make a tighter wrap and the stole weaving needle will make a wider wrap.  You can also use a large sewing needle or larger tapestry needle such as a size 16.  After the earring is wrapped, pull it off the end of the needle.   You may need to do some hand shaping on the end where the 8mm bead is so it points down instead of to the side.  Put the earring on and see if you are satisfied with it.  If you want it shorter, take off a few beads, cut the head/eye pin shorter and form the loop on the end again.  If you want a longer earring, you will need to purchase longer head/eye pins.

For the second earring, string the beads and then wrap this earring the opposite direction from the first one so they will be a matched set rather than a mirror image which would leave both hanging in the same direction.

You can use a size 6/0 seed bead, an 8mm and size 8/0 beads instead of 11/0.  The earring will be a little heavier and will not wrap as tight as 11/0 beads, however, it will give the earrings a different look.  Be careful of using cut beads as they may break when in the wrapping process.  For the 11/0 beads, you may have to pull out the ones with the biggest holes to get them over the head/eye pin you are using.  Experiment with a variety of seed beads and larger beads for diversity in styles.  If you are wrapping the earring, the 8mm bead needs to stay towards the end as it will not wrap well at the top among size 11/0 beads.

Bead 'N Wire Pendant
For a pendant, use the same techniques.  If you are using an eye pin, you can add a fancier bead close to the eye pin loop.  Then you can add a large drop bead directly onto the eye of the pin if the drop bead has a large enough hole.  You can also add a jump ring to a drop bead and then attach it to the eye pin.  Make drop beads with a 4mm bead on a thin or soft head pin, then a smaller bead on top, cut off the excess wire of the head pin, form a loop and attach it to the loop on an eye pin.

You can add a tiny charm, drop bead or other type bead on that eye pin loop.  If you are adding a charm, it should have a loop on it.  You just open the loop on the earring or pendant, then place the charm on and use pliers to close the loop.  If you want to add a drop bead or other type bead that does not have a loop on top or adequate hole to go directly onto the loop,  you will need to use a very thin jump ring or part of a thin eye or head pin to make a loop.  If you are using a jump ring, use pliers to open it and string on the bead, then close the jump ring with the ear wire loop inside.  If you are making a loop of thin wire, make the loop on chain nose pliers, then open it and place the bead on, then take it through the loop on the eye pin and close again.

Conclusion
Do not worry if your loops are perfect, just have fun.  If you want to make more earrings and want the loops to look more professional on head or eye pins for earrings and pendants, Bead & Button Magazine specializes in earring and necklace projects that are worked with wire loops and a variety of necklace closures and earring findings for beginners.  You will find these basic instructions in almost every issue along with projects to learn this process.   The instructions and illustrations are also in my Beadwrangler’s Hands On Bead Stringing Book.