Creative Jewelry Project: A Guide for the Novice Wire Wrapper

If you enjoy the look of tumbled stones or crystals that have been expertly wrapped in wire, you might not realize how easy it is to create your own wire wrapped pieces. If you want to start making your own pieces, here is an outline of the basic steps.

Step # 1: Choose the Right Rock

Believe it or not, the center of a good piece of wire wrapped jewelry is not necessarily the wire. Nine times out of ten, the focal point of the piece will be the stone. There are many criteria that can be used to pick the proper rock for your piece. One of the most popular characteristics of a good stone is the clarity, or the ability of light to pass through the stone. Many beautiful pieces of jewelry have been created around the idea of someone gazing deeply into the depths of a crystal.

Another great characteristic for choosing a stone for wire wrapping is to choose something with a unique shape or color scheme. One of the most popular pieces that I have done was when I took some copper wire and wrapped it around an azurite stone. Azurite is a darker blue stone that is commonly seen with malachite, which is a bright green mineral. When they exist together, they often give the impression of a vibrant earth with deep blue water and lush forests. Now just imagine this visual wrapped in wire in such a way to show off the colors that draw you to the pendant.

Of course, when you choose the correct stone to wrap, it's always a good idea to take into account the overall shape of the rock. Any rock or stone can be wrapped, but ones that don't have areas for the wire to lay in have to be a bit more complicated in their design. So for your first few pieces, it's a good idea to find rocks that will allow the wire to lay on the rock with out too much slipping.

Step # 2: Choose the Correct Wire