The holidays are right around the corner! Would you like homemade Christmas ornaments this year? Sara shows you how to make a beautiful wreath and how to adorn a plain ornament. This year, personalize your decorations.Your personal touch will make the holiday season special. Keep following our blog, we will be doing free beading project ideas that are focused around the upcoming holiday season. From spooky to merry, we will be exploring holiday crafts.

This wonderful little wreath has an ornament hook that was made with a jig board. You can also use pliers to achieve the same effect. You can use LoopRite Looping Pliers to create the hook. Check out this video for tips on how to work with wire and pliers. In the video, Sara discusses how to make ear wires with LoopRite pliers. It is very easy to use that technique to create an ornament hook. If you would like more tips on how to wire wrap, check out our Tips and Tricks. And watch our video series about wire work: Conversations In Wire With James Browning. James loves Craft Wire and wants to share his tips.

Holiday Wreath

One of my favorite holiday symbols is a wreath. I always have one on my entrance door to welcome in my family and friends. I decided to try this in a downsized version as an ornament. I love it. This is probably my favorite ornament that I've made so far this year. I used some old wood beads that I've had laying around and a ribbon that I recycled from a past gift.

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Materials:
18g Soft Flex Craft Wire (Gold)
Wood beads in various sizes
Ribbon


Tools:
Nylon Jaw Pliers
Round Nose Pliers
Nylon Tipped Hammer
Cutters
Olympus-Lite WigJig w/ Metal Peg
Olympus Super Pegs

String your beads on the wire. I chose to use beads that graduated in size with small on top and large on the bottom.

Leaving about 3 inches of wire as a tail on one end, create a 90 degree bend on the opposite side. Trim the wire off of the spool.

Wire wrap the two ends together to create a tight circle.

Create a wire wrapped loop. Learn more about  wire wrapped loops by visiting our Tips and Tricks section!

Tie a bow around the base of the wire wrapped loop.

Create an ornament hook. Don't forget to work harden that hook!

Now isn't that just too cute? By using recycled materials, I created a very affordable but attractive ornament. Now, it is your turn! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my tutorial!

This is an easy way to make a simple ornament awesome. 

I shared this ornament idea on JTV'sJewel School. I created it in two color combinations. One is based off of the Festival of Lights Trio and one is based off of the Jingle Bells Trio.

Holiday Ornaments

Materials:
Extreme Beading Wire .019 in. - 5.5 ft (Plenty of wire in a Jingle Bells or Festival of Lights Trio) 
2x2mm crimp tubes - 25 crimps 
Seed Beads
3mm crimp covers - 25 covers 11/0 Seed Beads in 2 colors 1 frosted glass ornament 

Tools:
Crimping pliers
Cutters
Chain nose pliers
Bead Stoppers


Instructions:

Step 1: Use 6 in. of beading wire to string a crimp tube, 4 blue seed beads, 3 light seed beads and 4 blue seed beads. On the same wire, repeat the stringing pattern 4 more times. Pass the wire through the first crimp to create a circle. Leaving a little slack in the circle, clip a bead stopper on each wire.

Step 2: String 1 ft. of beading wire through a crimp tube from Step 1. Adjust the crimp to the middle of the wire and crimp the tube. Repeat for the other 4 crimps, cinching the circle so that there is no more slack. Cover every crimp with a crimp cover (see picture above).

Step 3: String 4 blue beads, 3 light beads, 4 blue beads and 1 crimp tube. On the wire to the right, string 4 blue beads, 3 light beads and 4 blue beads. Then, pass the wire through the crimp tube. Tighten the wires and crimp. Cover the crimp with a crimp cover.

Step 4: Repeat Step 4 four times (see picture above).

Step 5: String 6 blue beads, 3 light beads, 6 blue beads and 1 crimp tube. On the wire to the right, string 6 blue beads, 3 light beads and 6 blue beads. Then, pass the wire through the crimp tube. Tighten the wires and crimp. Cover the crimp with a crimp cover.

Step 6: Repeat Step 5 four times (see picture above).

Step 7: String 8 blue beads, 3 light beads, 8 blue beads and 1 crimp tube. On the wire to the right, string 8 blue beads, 3 light beads and 8 blue beads. Then, pass the wire through the crimp tube. Tighten the wires and crimp. Cover the crimp with a crimp cover.

Step 8: Repeat Step 7 four times (see picture above).

Step 9: String 10 blue beads, 3 light beads, 10 blue beads and 1 crimp tube. On the wire to the right, string 10 blue beads, 3 light beads and 10 blue beads. Then, pass the wire through the crimp tube. Tighten the wires and crimp. Cover the crimp with a crimp cover.

Step 10: Repeat Step 9 four times (see picture above).

Here it is in red, green and gold. Not shown in this picture, I actually painted the top gold to match the crimps, crimp tubes and crimp covers. Enjoy!

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Join the fun in our VIB Facebook Group today! Stay in the know. Stay up to date. From our bead shows to our video shows and sales, you can stay in touch with us. The community is full of artistic and helpful beaders and crafty people. Inspire and be inspired. Share your pictures and get the beading bug from others!

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Sara Oehler (pronounced Ay-ler) is a well-known jewelry designer living in the Bay Area. Sara is the author of several beading books, including her latest title, written with Kristen Fagan, Seed Bead Revolution. She has designed and written for numerous publications including: BeadStyle, Bead&Button, Bead Trends, Stringing, Jewelry in Fashion Trends, Simply Beads, The Flow and Today's Creative Home Arts. Currently, Sara is the Sales and Marketing Manager for Soft Flex Company.Ask Sara Bead Expert
Blog: softflexcompany.com/beading-blog
Email: Sara@SoftFlexCompany.com