Introduction: Wire Star Bracelet

By Engineering Portfolio
About: In which I turn the thoughts from my head into objects in my hands

For my senior prom, I wanted to make my own bracelet rather than buying one that's run-of-the-mill and detrimental to my wallet. I got a lovely midnight blue prom dress (squeal) for free due to a local program in which high school students can try on and pick out dresses. The program also provided one matching accessory, and I chose a necklace with a star pendant (shown in the title picture). I wanted a bracelet to match this pendant and my dress, hence the star links and dark blue bicone beads.

Step 1: Materials

  • wire (I used 20 gauge silver-colored copper wire.)
  • cylindrical object for making jump rings if you don't already have them
  • pliers
  • beads (I used these bicone beads here.)
  • OPTIONAL: clasps (or you can follow my steps for making them ^^)

Step 2: Star: First Point

You'll need to make each individual star, and here's how to do it:

Begin by using your pliers to make a sharp bend about 3mm from the end of the wire (I wanted my stars as small as possible.). Then make another one about 3mm from the previous curve, bending the opposite way this time (I'll call this outward from now on because this is "outward" away from the center of the soon-to-be-star). You should have something that looks like a triangle without one side.

Step 3: Star: Second Point

Bend the wire inward about 3mm from the previous bend, and then outward again about 3mm from that curve. See picture number 2 above to see how things should line up.

Step 4: Star: Third Point

Again, bend the wire inward about 3mm from the previous bend, and then outward about 3mm from that curve. See the second image above to see how things should line up.

Step 5: Star: Fourth Point

Can you guess what you have to do this time?

That's right; bend the wire inward about 3mm from the previous bend, and then outward about 3mm from that curve. See the second image to see how things should line up.

Step 6: Star: Fifth and Last Point

Instead of repeating the same thing, this time you only have to bend the wire about 3mm from the previous curve ONCE to finish off the last point.

Then cut the wire so that you have some excess as shown in the second picture.

Step 7: Star: Center Loop

Use your pliers to make a small loop using the excess wire that you left in the previous step. Make sure that no wire in the finished star overlaps (as in the loop's end overlaps with other parts of the star, etc.).

That's one star! Now go ahead and make a couple more, depending on your wrist circumference. I just made eight and decided to just make more when necessary. I ended up exactly all of them (hooray for no waste).

Step 8: Clasp: Part 1

To make the clasp, first bend 5" of wire in half so that the the resulting length was 2.5". Then curl one end (the side without cut ends) of the bent wire into a little loop. A bit further down, make another bend (see picture 4). Cut the cut ends to even out the two parts of the wire before bending that end into a little loop too. Check picture 6 to make sure that your loops and bends are in the right direction.

Step 9: Clasp: Part 2

Use your pliers to make a loop, and this will be the other half of your clasp.

Step 10: Making Jump Rings

I didn't have pre-made jump rings so I made my own using my wire. To do this, I just wrapped the wire around a cylindrical object (paintbrush, in my case) and cut off the cylinder of loops. Then I cut off jump rings whenever I needed one (I made plenty extra for future use.).

You'll need the jump rings to attach the clasps, so set this aside for later.

Step 11: Beaded Links

Start by inserting your wire through a bead. Cut the wire so that there is enough wire on either side of the bead to make small loops (My length ended up to be 2.5cm.) Then, as you may have guessed, curve the wire on either side of the bead to make small loops.

Make <number of star links> - 1 (so I made 8 - 1 = 7).

Step 12: Connecting Links

Open a small loop on a beaded link and slide a star onto the loop before closing it. Rinse and repeat until all your stars have been connected by the beaded links. Add the two parts of the clasp to the ends to finish this off.

Note: You may want to ensure that all of the stars' small loops face the same way.

AAAANNNNDDDD voilà; you're done! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and have fun!