Wire Wrapped Key Brooch Tutorial

Wire Wrapped Key Brooch Tutorial By Kimberlie Burkhart Kohler Emerging Creatively Tutorials www.KimberlieKohler.com This is a fun and easy project that uses an old flat key and beads. I love the look of the flower and leaf beads, but you can use any beads or charms you would like to achieve the look you want. tried to make a brooch with a skeleton key, but it’s probably possible. Let me know if you try it out it works out!) . Beads (I used 1 side-drilled flower key and 1 side-drilled leaf bead. You can use seed beads or any other kind of beads as well.) . Wire (22 or 24 gauge about 3 1/2 feet) Materials and Tools: . Pin finding . Wire cutters . Old Key (I think the keys I like . Pliers (2 pair are pictured, but best for this are old house you really only need 1 pair) keys. They are flat. I haven’t A note about design: Whatever beads you choose to use are going to need to be side- drilled, or they will be on their side. Most regular beads or seed beads will work out just fine, but if your bead has a shape (such as my flower and leaf beads) you will need to do a little planning and give some thought as to the beads. Step #1 Pick out a key. Really, any key will work as long as it is flat (so that the pin will lay flat against it (see subsequent steps.) Look at both sides of the key and decide what will be the top and the bottom of the brooch. Step #2 Cut off about 3 1/2 feet of wire (about 42 inches). I used 22 gauge silver plated copper for this project. 24 gauge would be fine, too. You may need less than this amount of wire, but it’s always better to have too much and cut off the end. Step #3 Start wrapping around the bottom of the key. With the shorter end, wrap around the key. Step #4 After going around once, use your pliers to put the wire tightly and make sure it’s secure. Step #5 Then take the longer end and “catch the shorter end. Make sure the short side ends up in the front in about the middle of the key. Do not cut off the longer end. NOTE: I didn’t use my pliers for any of the wrapping in this project, with the exception of pulling the wire tight at the beginning and pulling it tight and tucking in the wire at the end of the project. If you feel more comfortable using pliers, do whatever feels most comfortable to you. Step #6 Open the pin finding. Position the pin finding on the back of the key. At the end of the pin finding, it bends up a bit. Position that part over where you just wire wrapped. Step #7 Holding the pin finding tightly to the key, start wrapping the pin onto the key. Continue, keeping the wraps as close as possible, as straight as possible and as tight as possible. (This is difficult when going around the teeth of the key! Just do your best.) Step #8 Slide a bead onto the wire. If you are using the flower and leaf beads like mine, slide on the leaf. Step #9 Continue wrapping, pulling the bead flat against the key. Wrap a few more times around. The wraps should go under the bead or next to it. (not on top of the bead.) Step #10 Wrap around a few times. Step #11 Add another bead to the wire. I added my flower bead. Step #12 Follow steps #9 and #10 again, wrapping around a few times between the beads and beside the bead. If this is your last bead, wrap a few extra times and make sure you have the pin finding completely wrapped onto the key. Step #13 Cut off the excess wire, leaving enough to wrap around to about the middle of the front of the key and tuck in. Step #14 Using your pliers, tuck in the end between the beads, making sure it’s secure. Step #15 Enjoy your new key brooch! Here are some ideas for wearing/using: . Wear as you would any brooch/pin . Close a shawl or sweater with it . Adorn a scarf . Put it on a hat . Pin it on your purse . Put it on a thick, strong necklace or chain . Attach it to a headband or hair tie and wear it in your hair! 8 Ways to Make it your own: 1. Experiment with different beads, different colors of wires, adding in unexpected or unusual embellishments. 2. Try weaving in novelty yarn with the wire. 3. Add a stone or other special item. 4. Add charms as your wrapping. 5. Add a special vintage brooch – just thread the wire through the pin as you are wrapping. 6. Add some bead dangles. 7. Think of it as a 3D collage or sculpture and let your imagination run wild! 8. Use seed beads and add tons of them to the wire as you are wrapping. Try doing rainbow colors, or just pick your favorite color. Make a Wire and Yarn Wrapped Key Pendant Materials and Tools: . Key . Wire (22 gauge) . Yarn . Butterfly charm . Heart charm . Scissors . Wire cutters . Pliers Instructions: Follow the instructions above for the Wire Wrapped Key Brooch. While wrapping the wire, wrap the yarn with it. Go around one more time with the wire and add the charm, then finish using the instructions for the Wire Wrapped Key Brooch above. I made a pendant and not a brooch. To make a pendant, just omit the pin on the back and wire wrap a bail on top. © 2012 Kimberlie Burkhart Kohler and Emerging Creatively Tutorials Terms of Use: Please feel free to use this tutorial to make projects for yourself or to sell. You can teach this tutorial in a workshop; however, if you know another teacher who would like to teach this, please have them get the tutorial directly from me. You DO NOT have permission to sell or distribute this tutorial. Any questions, please feel free to contact me directly. xoxo, Kim Email: [email protected] P.S. Do you want even more wire wrapping tutorials and want to delve deeper into making wire wrapped jewelry? You don’t want to miss my Wire Wrapping for Beginners eBook, which will be released soon! Make sure to check out www.WireWrappingForBeginners.com to find out when it’s available. .

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