How to Make a Wire Wrapped Circle Pendant with Beads
Ever since I made the Wire Wrapped Circle Pendant, I have been thinking about it with beads.This pendant provides so much opportunity for creativity! You can use whatever beads you like and arrange them in whatever why you like. I used gemstone chips, which look very cool, but cheerfully colored seed beads would work great, too, or really any beads you would like.I used my ring mandrel to make the circle, but you can use anything you can find around the house - a broom handle, a highlighter, a thick marker, etc.I also want to make this pendant much larger and I was thinking about wrapping around a tin can to make a larger circle.Let's get started!
Materials and Tools:
- 24 gauge wire. (You can try other gauges, but I found that this gauge works perfectly for this project.)
- 25-30 gemstone chip beads, or you can try any beads, really
- Wire Cutters
- Round nose pliers
- Chain nose or flat nose pliers
- Optional: Bent nose pliers
How to Make this Pendant:Step #1
Cut off about 2 1/2 - 3 feet of 24 gauge wireStep #2
Slide 25 - 30 beads on the wire (you can always remove some or add some later if necessary.HINT: I just bent the wire on the end to hold all the beads on while I worked.
Step #4
Start at the end with no beads and start to wrap the wire around your ring mandrel, highlighter, etc.
As you are wrapping, pull beads up into each loop as you go. I wrapped around 6 times and had 4 - 5 beads on each loop. The placement of the beads on the loop doesn't really matter right now, but just make sure that you somewhat evenly space the beads on each wrap.Step #5
Carefully pull the wire off, trying to keep the wire in its shape.Step #6
The end that you started wrapping with bend up slightly so you can easily see it. Then with the long end of the wire, wrap around the circles a few times.Step #7
Pull up a couple of beads and continue to wrap around the circle. Continue to pull up a couple beads and wrapping all the way around the circle. Try to make your bead placement somewhat evenly dispersed.
HINT: While I was wrapping around the circle, some of my wraps got a little weird. I just took my pliers and sort of pushed them in. 
HINT: The the circle loses it's shape at any point, just put it back on the ring mandrel to get the right shape again.Step #8
Grasp the wire with round nose pliers close to the circles.Step #9
Bent the wire over the round nose pliers towards you.Step #10
Then go around the wire once. Try to get the loop centered over the pendant, but if it's not, you can fix it in the next step.Step #11
Take the wire off your pliers. Use your round nose pliers to straighten out the circle if necessary.Step #12
Hold the loop between your chain nose or flat nose pliers. (Or ideally, nylon covered pliers).Continue wrapping around the wire in the same direction as you started, holding the end of your wire with bent nose or other pliers you're comfortable with.
Step #13
Trim off any excess wire.Step #14
As you can see, my beads are not perfectly even, but I still love my pendant! I want to make them to match each of my outfits!
I slide mine on a satin cord. You could also place it on a chain or other cord.These would make amazing earrings, too!
Please comment below if you tried this! Better yet, take a photo and give us a link to it!If you're just getting started and you're looking for beginner wire wrapping tutorials, check out my eBook (and now print book, too!!) Wire Wrapping For Beginners. Click here to get more information.