When I saw the colorful photos that Erin Prais-Hintz shared for the September Pretty Palettes, I knew I wanted to make something that had the same party and celebration vibe. I used the exact same salmon pink seed beads from Michaels that Erin chose. I even used her travel theme, although you'll see that I ended up somewhere quite different than Seoul!
How To Make This Beaded Bangle Bracelet
1. Use 12" of a heavy gold Artistic Wire (14-gauge) for the bangle base. The nice thing about using such a thick, heavy wire is that it is already in the perfect circle shape right out of the package. Curl the ends of the bracelet with the widest part of your round-nose pliers.
Design Tips
- While you could join the looped ends now, it's easier if you leave them open until you've beaded the bangle.
2. Wrap the 20-gauge Artistic Wire several times around the base near one looped end. Tuck in the wire end.
3. String several size 6 seed beads and wrap them once around the base. Repeat, making sure that the second beaded strand is close to the first. Repeat until you've covered the entire bangle, adding wire as needed.
Design Tips
- The seed beads are different sizes. If you want to use the same number of beads for each wrap, you'll need to sort them by size first and only use ones that are similar in size. I found it easier and quicker to simply add however many beads were needed for each wrap.
- Since it can be difficult to work with extremely long pieces of wire, think about how you are going to add each piece of wire. I decided not to hide the transitions to the new wires. I used three pieces of wire: a strand at each looped end and one in the middle. You can clearly see the plain (not beaded) wire wraps where I made the transition.
4. Join the looped ends of the bracelet.
5. Add charms to one of the looped ends. I added these cute gold charms with the Eiffel tower and a sun.
Design Tips
- Instead of adding a single charm, add two or more charms to tell an entire story. (Is it sunny in September in Paris? I've never been, so you'll have to tell me. It's definitely a sunny September day in my imagination!)
- Make a stack of these bangles in different colors. They would make great gifts or bracelets to sell at a craft show since they just slip over the wrist and don't need to be precisely sized.