Corinne Bradd creates charms to use throughout your special day, including a pretty necklace and glass decorations
What you need...
- BEADS Charms, puffed heart, medium, Bead: frosted silver, 5mm, 3mm; ovalshaped, perforated pattern, CRYSTALLIZED™ - Swarovski Elements, bicones, 4mm, mix of colours
FINDINGS Wire, 1mm, half-hard, Jump rings, 4mm, Silver sheet, 0.3mm thick, Head pins, Chain: heart, silver; fine curb, silver, Toggle clasp, heart, silverv
TOOLS Pliers: round-nosed, flat-nosed, Needle tool
instructions
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Heart - 1. Cut a 5cm length of silver wire. Bend one end tightly around the narrowest part of round-nosed pliers to form a figure ‘6’. Make a 45 degree bend in the remaining wire, 1cm from the curve. Wind the other end around the pliers in the same way as before to create the other side of the heart. Fix a 4mm jump ring to the base and hang a puffed heart charm from this.
2. Use a fine line marker to draw a heart motif on the protective covering of a piece of 0.3mm thick silver sheet. With sharp scissors, cut around the shape, snipping into the notch at the top from both directions to avoid buckling the metal. Pierce a small hole in one side using a needle tool. Fix the flat heart to the wire shape with a jump ring and remove the protective film.
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Spiral - Cut a 5cm length of wire. Bend one end tightly around the narrowest part of round-nosed pliers to make a figure ‘6’. Continue spiralling the wire using the jaws of a pair of flat-nosed pliers. When there is 1.5cm left, bend the wire at 90 degrees. Thread a 5mm frosted bead onto this and curl the remaining wire into a loop for hanging.
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Oval - Thread a 3mm frosted bead onto a 2.5cm silver head pin. Add a 4mm bicone, a large oval perforated bead and a second bicone before bending the top of the pin into a loop.
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Heart chain - Thread a 5mm frosted bead and a 4mm bicone onto a silver head pin and cut off the excess, leaving 1cm to bend into a loop. Cut six links from a length of heart chain and fix the charm to one end and a jump ring to the other.
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Glass Charm - Cut a 12cm length of wire. Bend one end into a tight loop and use round-nosed pliers to form it into a loose coil. Stretch it out and thread several charms described earlier onto the spiral. Bend the other end into a tight curl and wind the spring onto the stem of a wine glass.
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Gift Box Charm - Use a piece of wire to make a large jump ring with roundnosed pliers. Fit several charms onto this. Tie wide ribbon around your gift box, thread the length through the jump ring and secure with a bow.
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Necklace - Cut a suitable length of fine chain and thread six 5mm frosted beads onto it. Fix a silver heart toggle clasp to the ends of the chain. Ease the frosted beads to the centre and use jump rings to secure your handmade charms between each.