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Mixed Shell Bracelet

This bracelet reminds me of a rich pot of soup where you just keep adding ingredients.  That’s what I did here.  Feel free to mix in different bead sizes, shapes, and colors to make this project.  I threw some silver leaves and chain into this creation which resulted in a colorful, eye-popping bracelet.  Wrapped loops add to the silver accents.  The irregular shaped shell beads came from a big necklace in the discount bin at Kohl’s!  I took it home for less than $8 with this design in mind.  You can find similar beads on a string at JoAnn’s.  Unlike some of my projects, this one will require a bit more time and maybe patience, if you’ve never created wrapped loops before.  A beautiful and unique finished bracelet is well worth the effort.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN 

HOW TO MAKE WRAPPED LOOPS


  1. 1. Cut the piece of chain to fit your wrist and attach one half of a toggle clasp to each end with jump rings.

  2. 2. The individual dangling shells are made by stringing a silver seed bead onto a nail head wire, followed by a shell bead.  The piece is finished with a wrapped loop which is attached to the silver chain with a jump ring.

  3. 3. This 6.5” bracelet was created with 11 sets of shells.  Each set is made up of one large (or long) shell bead followed by three smaller ones.  I alternated the sets and colors as follows:

  4. - Large purple, small green, small earthtone, small blue. 

  5. - Large earthtone, small green,small purple, small blue. 

  6. - Large green, small blue, small earthtone, small purple. 

  7. - Large blue, small green, small earthtone, small purple.

  8. I attached each wrapped loop to one link of the chain with a jump ring.  Each time I added a loop to the bracelet, I also attached a silver leaf to the same jump ring.

  1. 1. Using needle nose pliers, hold the wire firmly above the bead.

  1. 2.Create a 90 degree bend in the wire by pushing against the pliers with your finger.

  1. 5.Seat your pliers snugly into the curve you just created, grasping the top of the loop.

  1. 3. With round nose pliers, grasp the wire inside the angle.

  1. 4. Bend the wire over the top of the round nose pliers using your hand.  This will create one side of your loop.

  1. 6.With your hand, bend the wire straight down to curve around the shape of the bottom pliers.

  1. 90 degree bend

  1. 7.Pull the tail of the wire past the 90 degree angle.

  1. 8.Hold the loop securely with flat nose pliers.  Use another pair of pliers to wrap the tail around the wire.  For a better view, the photo shows the tip of the pliers at the end of the wire.  But the ideal position is to place the broader part of the pliers close to the wrap to make it easier to work with.  If you try to wrap as pictured here, you may end up with small bends in the wire.  Also, don’t try to wrap around in one motion.  Move the needle nose pliers from one side to the other as necessary.

  1. 9.When the wrap is complete, you will have a wire tail that needs to be trimmed.

  1. 10.Use wire cutters to snip off the tail as close to the wrap as possible.

  1. 11.Use a crimp tool or needle pliers to flatten the cut end of wire to the wrap.

  1. FINISHED WRAPPED LOOP

What You’ll Need/

Where To Buy It

  1. •11 large shell beads

  2. •33 small shell beads

  3. •44 silver seed beads

All shell and seed beads are from a necklace purchased at Kohls


The following Items are available at Joanns

  1. •44 silver leaf beads

  2. •chain 

  3. •toggle clasp (not pictured)

  4. •jump rings

  5. •nail head wires

  6. •optional crimp tool (5)

  7. •needle nose (1), round nose (2), flat nose (3) pliers

  8. •wire cutters (4)

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