How to Bead a Wine Glass Stem

Add some flair to plain wine glasses.

Impress your guests not only with the exquisite wine you're serving at your next dinner party but with the stylish stems your serving the wine in. With a little time and creativity, you can create stylish wine stems that will bring a flare to your dinner table that can't be replicated at anyone's dining room in town. It's time to let your artistic side shine and show your friends what you can do with your wine glasses. Does this Spark an idea?

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Wine glass
Beads with large enough holes for wire
18-gauge color wire (artistic wire)
Ruler
Wire cutters
Pliers

Instructions

Bead a Wine Stem
- 1
  
  Cut a yard of wire. Straighten it out by pulling it out with your fingers. This will warm it up too making it easier to work with when you're manipulating it around the stem.
- 2
  
  Coil the end of the wire into a shape similar to a snail. Make a loop and loop it on the base of the stem. Wrap the wire around the stem with the pliers and then string a bead on it.
- 3
  
  Use the pliers to wrap the wire around the stem and make coil, or loops outside of the stem for placing beads. Do whatever you feel like. Make it fun and be creative.
- 4
  
  When you have a little bit of wire left, crimp the end of the wire. Taper the end of the coil with your pliers.
- 5
  
  Inspect your work and look for any wires that don't look right. Fix them with the pliers and re-position the beads.

Tips & Warnings

Try different colored and size beads.
Use different lengths of wire for more or less loops.
Use charms instead of beads.
Take a small piece of wire, place small beads on it, and place it on the stem and crimp it. Repeat this step to make many rings on the stem as an alternative.