How to Make a Wire Wrap Rosary Bracelet
Make a wire wrap rosary bracelet to create a beautiful piece of jewelry. A rosary bracelet has 10 small beads to represent the decades or 10 Hail Mary prayers and one larger bead to represent the Our Father prayer that is said while praying the rosary. By wrapping the wire around the bead itself, you will make a unique and intricate rosary bracelet to wear or give as a gift to your relatives or Catholic friends.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- 20 gauge beading wire
- Wire cutters
- Round nose pliers
- Bent nose pliers
- Flat nose pliers
- Needle nose pliers
- 10 round beads, 8-millimeter
- 1 round bead, 12-millimeter
- Rosary medallion
- Rosary crucifix
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1
Cut a 4-inch piece of wire. Grab onto the wire 1-inch down from one end with the round nose pliers. Set the wire 3/8 inch in on the jaw of the pliers. Bend the wire towards you with the pliers to make a 90-degree angle with the wire. Wrap the wire away from you, at the bend point, over the top of the round nose pliers to make a loop. Reposition your round nose pliers and turn the wire away from you to finish making the loop. When done correctly, the end of the looped wire will be at a 90 degree angle to the rest of the wire.
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2
Hold the bent nose pliers in your left hand. Grasp the looped part of the wire with the bent nose pliers, with the tip of the pliers facing up in the same direction as the short looped end of the wire and the bend facing the rest of the wire. Pick up the short looped end of the wire with flat nose pliers and wrap the short end twice around the main part of the wire. Trim off the remaining wire of the short end with wire cutters. Press the cut end down against the wrapped section to hide the sharp cut end of the wire with needle nose pliers.
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3
Slide an 8-millimeter round bead onto the wire. Hold the long end of the wire, just above the bead, and press the bead down against the wrapped loop end so that it sits snugly against it. Bend the top wire in the same direction as you bent the bottom wire into a 90-degree angle, towards you. Leave 1/16 inch space above the bead for the wire to wrap around. Grasp the bend of the wire with the round nose pliers and bend the wire around the pliers jaws to make a loop like before. Wrap the wire around itself two turns while holding the loop with the bent nose pliers. When done correctly, the end of the wire will be perpendicular to the looped wire end.
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4
Hold onto the free end with the needle nose pliers and wrap the wire around the bead down to the other wire-wrapped loop. Wrap the wire around the looped wire end in a complete turn around the wire. Cut the free end of the wire and bend the cut end down to close the loop.
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5
Wire wrap the other eight 8-millimeter round beads the same way. Start making the first loop of the wire, and before you wrap the end around the wire, insert the end with the loop through one of the loops of the first wire-wrapped bead. Wrap the short end around itself two turns and trim the excess wire. Connect the 8-millimeter beads together in a chain in this manner.
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6
Wire wrap the 10th bead as you did the first bead you wrapped as it will be attached to the larger bead with a jump ring. Wire wrap the larger 12-millimeter round bead the same way.
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7
Open the jump ring by holding one side with round nose pliers and the other with flat nose pliers. Bend the left end up and the right end down. Bend them apart from the sides, not from the cut ends. Slide the open jump ring onto the loop of the last 8-millimeter bead. Slide the jump ring onto the loop of the 12-millimeter bead. Close the jump ring by bending the ends back into place with the pliers.
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8
Attach a jump ring onto the other looped end of the 12-millimeter bead. Attach a jump ring onto the jump ring you added to the 12-millimeter bead to make a small interconnected chain. Add the rosary medallion and the rosary crucifix to the second jump ring.
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9
Attach another jump ring onto the second jump ring, and slide the bottom ring of the clasp onto the jump ring before you close it. Attach a jump ring to the first bead's wire- wrapped loop end to finish making your rosary bracelet.
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