Diamond coated bits are good if you are drilling something harder, such as glass or a harder metal. I get diamond bits from jewelry supply companies like Frei and Borel (which is local for me) or Rio Grande by mail order. You can also use diamond bits to drill soft metals, but they tend to cost more than hardened steel bits.

Drill bits last longer and work better if they are lubricated. My favorite way to lubricate while drilling is to have a small dish of water nearby and start with a drop of water on the spot I’m going to drill. I dip the bit in the water, and whenever it starts to dry up, I dip it again. This also helps prevent dust from getting into the air, so it makes the process safer, and it keeps the bit and the metal from overheating.

I use a pointy object to make a little dimple in the metal right where I want to drill, which makes it a lot easier to get started.

• First, you need two earwires. You can buy them, or make your own.
• Then, you need two head pins with one or more beads on each. You can make your own head pins, or buy them.
• Make a simple loop or wrapped loop as close as you can to where the beads are on each head pin.
• Using flat nosed pliers, open the loop on your earwire, and slip the dangle you just made onto the loop. Use the pliers to close the loop. Make sure you’ve closed it tightly enough that the dangle can’t accidentally slip off.

That’s it! Now you have your very own handmade earrings.

Cut two pieces of wire the same length (1 1/2-2 inches will work)

Smooth both ends of the wire using a file

Make a loop at one end of the wire using round nose pliers

Wrap the wire around a pen or chapstick, or anything about that size that is round

Curve the end of the wire (optional)

You can choose whether you want to curve the end of the wire or not, depending on the look you want. If there is excess wire, trim it off & again smooth out the end using a file or sandpaper.

If necessary, use flat nose pliers to straighten out the loop

To harden the earwire so that it will stand up to wear, place it on a hard flat surface and whack it a few times with a rubber mallet, or other no-metal hammer. (not shown)

Finished earwires, one with a curved end and one without

If necessary, polish the earwires using any method you like (polishing cloth, tumbler, etc.)

• Piece of wire about 2″ long (or a head pin
• Flat or chain nose pliers
• Round nose pliers
• Wire cutters

And here is my photo tutorial:

Step One: Bend the wire at not-quite 90 degrees using flat or chain nose pliers

Step Two: Bend the wire around one jaw of round nose pliers

Step 3: Bring the wire end past the bend and begin wrapping it around

Step 4: Holding the loop with flat or chain nose pliers, wrap the wire end around a couple times

Step 5: Snip off excess wire as close as possible to the end of the last wrap. Use flat or chain nose pliers to tuck the end in close so it won't snag

In the photos, I made my wrapped loop on a head pin strung with a handmade felt bead and a small garnet bead. It made a nice dangle which I used for a pair of earrings.

What you need:

• head pin, eye pin, or about 2″ long piece of 22g wire
• flat or chain nose pliers
• round nose pliers
• wire cutters
• bead(s) that fit on the wire

Here’s how you do it:

1. Using the flat or chain nose pliers, make a not-quite 90 degree bend in the wire/head pin/eye pin, a half inch or so from the end
2. Using the round nose pliers, grasp the wire near the bend and wrap the wire around one jaw of the pliers
3. Using the wire cutters, snip the wire end off so there is just enough to close the loop
4. Using your flat or chain nose pliers again, bend the end of the wire in just enough so that it touches the bend, and you have a loop that is closed

That’s it! With a little practice, you’ll be making lovely round loops in no time. Tip: string a bead or two onto a headpin, make a simple loop, and you have a homemade charm. If you are more of a visual learner, here are a couple of pictures of me making a loop. I actually ended up making a wrapped loop so there isn’t a picture of me snipping the wire end, but I think you can get a basic idea from seeing the first two steps demonstrated. In the photos, I am making a loop on a head pin that has one of my handmade felt beads on it.

Step One: Bend the wire at not-quite 90 degrees

Step Two: Bend the wire around one jaw of round nose pliers

Jewelry Making Info, Techniques, and Projects:
Tools for Wirework
Pickle
Wire Gauge
Making Headpins
Seed Bead Sizes
Finishing Wire Ends
Flux
Felt Bead Earrings

Crochet Projects:
Bobble Cuff
Easy Crochet Flower
Easy Crochet Pendant
Crocheted Mesh Scarf

One thing I would add to her directions is this: wear a ventilator mask and work in a well ventilated area. Fumes from flux, solder, and your torch are things you probably don’t want to be breathing. You can find ventilators at hardware stores. At my local hardware store they are right near the torches – very convenient!

You can make beautiful jewelry using only wire and beads, but it helps to have the right tools.

In a previous post I talked about finishing wire ends. It is important to have files or another tool, such as a sharpening stone, for smoothing out wire ends. This makes the work look much more professional, and also makes the jewelry more comfortable to wear. Imagine trying to put on an earring that had a sharp or jagged wire end – ouch – so if you plan to make your own earwires, this is doubly important.

You also need some wire cutters. I use cheap wire cutters for all my wire up to about 18 gauge, and for wire thicker than that, I use metal snips. After cutting the metal, I always smooth the ends quickly using a file.

Finally, you need tools for forming the wire into the shapes you want. Two pairs of pliers are enough to get started: flat or chain nose pliers and round nose pliers. You can use the round nose pliers to form loops, and the flat or chain nose pliers to make 90-degree bends in the wire, as well as to grip the wire firmly while wrapping. I sometimes use two pairs of flat nose pliers at once – one to hold my work and the other to wrap.

Some other tools that are nice to have include mandrels and/or jigs for making shapes, a bench block and a mallet for hardening wire, a metal hammer for texturing/flattening, and a torch (plus soldering block, flux, and pickle) if you want to start making ball-end headpins or soldering things like jump rings. A jeweler’s saw is also nice if you want to cut your own jump rings. However, you can definitely get started with just the pliers, wire cutters, and a file or two.

I use a product called Ph minus for pickle, which is an acid that lowers the Ph level in pools and hot tubs. I dissolve a little of this in water, and it works well for me. I don’t bother heating it, since it works fine cold, just takes a bit longer.

Other DIY versions of pickle that I’ve heard of include using Simple Green (the household cleaning product), lemon juice, and vinegar. I can’t vouch for how well these work since I’ve never tried them, but they are all inexpensive and safe, so they might be worth a try.

To use pickle, drop your oxidized metal in and wait for the oxidation to come off. Avoid touching the pickle in any way with steel (such as steel tweezers) because this will automatically copper plate everything you are trying to clean. Copper tongs are available for dropping items into pickle and then fishing them out later. Since pickle is an acid, even if you use one of the milder at-home versions, you might not want to get it on your skin, so copper tongs or even some wood chopsticks are useful to get your jewelry in and out of the pickle.

One of the most common sizes is size 11. If you look at the wall of seed beads at your local bead store, there will probably be more size 11 beads than anything else (if your local bead store is anything like mine, anyway).

As the number gets bigger, the bead gets smaller. Size 12, 13, 14, and 15 are fairly easy to find, and although sizes smaller than 15 exist, they are not nearly as common. In my experience using seed beads, you need an extremely small needle or very find beading wire to work with size 14 and smaller seed beads. Size 15 beads are maybe half the size of 11s.

As the number gets smaller, the bead gets larger. Size 8 and 6 are common sizes. A size 6 bead will be much larger than a size 11, with size 8 being somewhere in between.

Combining different size beads in a beadweaving project can create very interesting textures. I used to make bracelets and necklaces using peyote stitch (a kind of needle and thread method of weaving seed beads together) and by using a variety of beads from size 8 down to size 15, I was able to get interesting textures and sculptural details on my beaded fabric.