Friday, May 29, 2009

Wrap Away

Just a quick wire-wrapping tip for today: if you need uniform sizes for large hoops, clasps or links look around your studio for common objects to use as a guide. I used a bottle of craft paint to create these hoops. Other items I've been known to grab for that perfect shape include sharpie markers, a tube of beads and spool of thread.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Very lovely earrings:) Thank's for the tip!

SummersStudio said...

Great tip! I sometimes use perscription bottle, the amber coloured hard plastic kind because they are tough.

Anonymous said...

Love those earrings! Thanks for the tip.

Rosanne said...

Pencils and wooden dowels work well too. All kinds of things out there to use.

TesoriTrovati said...

Funny...I was just doing that last night...and then I promptly broke the wire as I was finishing off the necklace...ugh...now I need to start over...maybe I can salvage those lemons into lemonade and make a bracelet from that. Great ideas for different sizes! I will have to stock my growing jewelry junk drawer with things around my house to wrap around! Enjoy the day! Erin

Silver Parrot said...

Love the earrings! So "beachy!"

Anonymous said...

I always head to the kitchen - the handle of a wooden spoon, the handle of an ice cream scoop (which is way fatter), a glass, vase, bottles, plastic tub, etc... you can see there is never a shortage.

Beverly Herman said...

Those were the best tips for wrapping wire and helped me tremendously to wrap a few beads.
Thanks for sharing.

Laura said...

Great tip! I have all different diameter wooden dowels, cut into ~ 5 inch pieces that I use to wrap wire with all of the time! I also wrap around a few layers of blue painter's tape on these dowels, giving another diameter to wrap on from the same dowel! Don't you love the simple solutions?!

Heather Powers said...

we are resourceful bunch, aren't we? I've also seen tic-tac containers used to make wire rectangle links. So think outside the box, literally!

archdiva said...

Great tip! I've seen these elsewhere and always manage to forget it when I'm actually trying to wrap something. Thanks for the reminder :)

Cindy Lietz, Polymer Clay Tutor said...

I love the way wire looks with polymer clay. I like wrapping it around paintbrush handles and pens to make jump rings. Like the over sized ones you made with the paint bottles Good idea!

rosebud101 said...

I just threw away a plastic spool. I'm off to retrieve it!

Dale said...

I really really love simple solutions like this. I do this myself. I make jump rings with sharpie markers, and i find glue sticks work well for larger circles and are often close at hand.