Thursday, December 16, 2010

Christmas Star or Snowflake Ornament

A lot of you are asking for art, being an artist this is an enjoyable task...so here you go...  This ornament is simple to create, requires only a few supplies and is low cost. I created each star differently as I made up the design. This process is simple and there is a lot of room for creativity (even error).  




Supplies

Wire about 25 – 30 inches long, 24 gage if possible, 22 will work but is more difficult (you can purchase this at a hardware store).
5 long skinny beads of a similar length. I used paper beads that I spray-painted gold (I have a tutorial for making those as well).
10 seed or glass beads of your choice.
Round-tip pliers are optional.  Round-tip do work better than needle nose priers because they manipulate the wire much smoother.






First, place a seed bead in the center of the wire and fold the wire in half.

Then add a long bead. This bead should be placed on both wires.

Separate the wires and add a seed bead to both ends.







Take one end, add a long bead and another seed bead. Wrap the wire around the seed bead so that it is just on one wire and bring that wire end back through the long bead. Repeat on the other wire.

Pick either wire, add a seed bead and repeat the above step (add long bead, seed bead and bring back through).










Add final seed bead to either wire

You should have all 5 long beads and all 10 small beads on the wire. The ends will both be loose.
(This is the part that I did differently every time.)
Take the wire that doesn’t have the final/loose bead on it and put it through the loose bead and the long bead next to it. This wire will become the hanger.

Take the other loose wire and secure tie it around the wire in the center. Hide it and cut it (any way that you can make this work is great)


Now take the hanging wire and make a large loop big enough to wrap loosely around 4 fingers. You can twist the wire around itself to secure the wire. You can take the wire back through the seed bead, long bead or both and then secure the wire in another way.
 
Variations:
If you have a lot of excess wire you can wrap it around the base of the spikes like a figure 8. This may have been my favorite way of securing both wires.



You can also vary the number of points that your star has. Add 2 seed beads and one long bead for every additional point. I wouldn’t do less than 5 if you want a snowflake or star.

For more about my art and what I have been up to check out my Felicia Follum Art and Design blog.



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