 How to do A Simple
Spiral Wire Wrap Design
For Earrings
MATERIALS AND
TOOLS:
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PLIERS-
(*see note at end of blog - “How
to Choose Pliers”)
- wire cutters
- round nose jewelry pliers
- flat nose jewelry pliers
- Optional]-One additional pair of pliers- I like to have a
“chain nose” pair. These look pretty much like pair of normal needle nose pliers:
flat surface on the inside of the “jaw” and tapering at the end, but no teeth.
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A SMALL
RULER-[optional]
A FEW PRETTY
BEADS- Have beads in matching pairs by color and size so your
earrings will match, unless you rather like the unique “one of a kind” look for each
ear!
A PAIR OF
EARRING HOOKS- These can be normal hooks for pierced ears, or a
pair of clip-on findings provided they have a loop that can be opened for attaching your wire wrap
bead project.
A GOOD LIGHT
SOURCE
A NOTEBOOK
[optional]
READING
GLASSES [if you need
those!]
SAFETY GLASSES
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TIME: (varies) 20- 30 minutes if you are just getting started, and perhaps longer if you have to gather up
your materials from around the house.
GETTING
STARTED: Making the Spiral
 1.Cut two pieces of your jewelry/craft wire approximately 31/2 inches [9 cm] in
length. (Whenever cutting wire you should wear safety glasses)
Be sure both pieces are the same length.
(I hold them up to each other to be sure they are identical. I actually measure
the first piece and cut it, and then use it to measure my 2nd piece of wire.
This is also where your “optional” notebook comes in if you choose to use it. I often just estimate several
inches of wire, 4” [10 cm] or so, and make a mark on the page in the note book.
Then later after working on the spiral I add more notes to the page on what I
have done. This way I don't need a ruler at all. I can add comments like: “For this design next time make wire
a ½ inch longer - or shorter, etc...
Then the next time I make a similar pair of earrings, I go to that page, measure my wire by the marks on the
page and make other additional measurements according to these notes- like where to bend the wire
etc.)
 2. Start your spiral:
Take one of your two pieces of wire and grab the very tippy end of it with the very tippy end of your
round nose pliers. Get as close to the end of the wire as possible
Hold the round nose pliers in one hand (the pliers should now be holding the
wire pinched tightly in their jaws).
With your other hand hold the piece of wire and start to wrap it around the tippy end of the round nose pliers-
either by turning the pliers or by wrapping the wire around the end of the pliers with the hand holding the wire.
Only make one complete twist (or circle) at this stage.
You may have to release the hold of the pliers on the wire to open them a bit and reposition them to work your way
around this first tight circle.
Be sure that you avoid grabbing more than one layer or thickness of the wire with the jaws of the pliers.
Once you have one tight little circle, you can now add the beginning of the second circle of the spiral remembering
to adjust your grip on the wire so that you are only ever holding just one thickness of the wire and letting the
second “layer” lay on top of the first.
You will only be able to go part way around this 2nd layer as you will run out of “single” thickness of wire on the
inner spiral.
NOW STOP. Don't go any further or you will squish your spiral.
 3. Continue with the
spiral: Put down the round nose pliers and get your flat nose pliers.
With the flat nose pliers grab hold of this beginning spiral [like two hands holding a flat plate between them
-the pliers jaws being the hands and the spiral being the flat plate- for analogy sake].
Make sure the straight end of the wire coming off the spiral is out to
the side, rather perpendicular to the jaws of the pliers.
Now with one hand, hold the pliers which are tightly holding the spiral, and with your other hand bend the straight
end of the wire down onto the spiral so it “lays” a new layer of spiral tightly along the small beginning base of
the spiral.
Release the pliers grip on the spiral so you can now move the straight end of the wire back into a perpendicular
position relative to the pliers jaws (without “undoing” the spiral) and keep repeating this step. This is kind of
like pumping water at a hand pump.
Do this until there is about 1 ½ inches [3.5 cm]of straight wire left.
NOW STOP.
 4. Make the second spiral:
Set your work on your first spiral to the side. It now has its spiral and its 1 ½ inch [3.5 cm]
straight “tail”.
Pick up “wire two” and repeat steps 2-3 with your second piece of wire.
When finished with your second spiral, hold it up next to your first spirals and compare to see that the
straight ends on each of the wires are the same length.
 5.Bend wire for adding
beads:
Now with your flat nose pliers, move the jaws into the space where the straight end
of the wire comes off of the spiral and bend the straight end up at a 90 degree angle so that it looks like a
flat lollipop.
Do this with both pieces.
(I work both pieces of wire one stage at a time simultaneously so that they
have the most likelihood of being identical, instead of completing one earring then starting the second
one.)
 6. Add the beads: Now you get to arrange the
beads!!!
Experiment with several different arrangements or order of stacking beads onto the wire, taking them off, trying
another arrangement, till you get the look, and balance and color arrangement you most like.
NOTE: Often the very
bottom bead closest to the spiral will not “sit” straight and so you may need to keep trying different “bottom”
beads to see if you can find one that will works best as the “base” bead. Often I will use a “seed” bead as they
seem to not get to “off balance” in this base position.
7. Bend wire (for final loop):Once both wires have their
beads in the positions that you want, use your flat nose pliers to make another 90 degree where the remaining wire
is sticking out the top of the beads.
This bend needs to be in the same “plane” as the spiral so that if you lay it flat on a table the wire isn't
sticking up nor the spiral lying at an angle. All needs to be “flat” (with the exception of the beads of
course!)
Be sure that there is at least 1 inch [2.5 cm] of straight wire left after your beads have been added so that you
can make the top “loop”.
If you have too many beads or too large of beads then take one off or replace with a smaller one.
OR... if you like all those beads and their sizes and you don't have enough wire to make the top loop, then just
start over with 2 longer pieces of wire, making sure that you have adequate length of straight wire -- [1 inch or
2.5 cm] --after the spiral is completed so you can use all your beads and still make a top loop.
In this case, save the first set of spiral wire pieces for a different pair of earrings which will have smaller or
fewer beads.
FINISHING
UP
 8. Now to make a loop with the straight piece of wire
that you bent 90 degrees in step 7.
Use you round nose pliers. This time grab the tip of the wire with a wider
part of the nose of the pliers [about 1/3 or ½ way down from the tip where it is a bit thicker in diameter].
Start to roll the wire towards the beads until you get a nice circle.
9.Trim off any extra wire using your wire cutters.
10.Attach to earring
hooks:
Now is the time to hang your creation onto the earring hooks. Open the loopy end of
the earring hooks using your round nose pliers. (You may need to hold part of the hook with another pair of
pliers while you open the loop on the hook).
Place the loop you made in step 8 onto this open “hook” loop. Now close the “hook” loop using the round nose or
chain nose pliers.
 11.Finished pair of earrings: TA DA!
You have a wonderful pair of simple (but gorgeous) spiral wire-wrapped earrings to
wear, or to give as a gift, or to sell!
I hope this was helpful and that you had fun doing this project!
In Conclusion:
Now that I have shown you [and told you] how to make a simple spiral wire wrap
design for earrings, you can experiment with other designs on your own, or stay tuned, as I will be adding
instructions for making boxed shapes, clover leaves, triangles, and a variety of other wire wrap
designs.
* How to Choose Pliers for
Wire Wrapping and Jewelry Making
It is quite helpful to
have actual jewelry pliers as they don't have “teeth” on them like you might have on your needle nose pliers
from your “work” tool box. The teeth can leave marks on your wire that aren't necessarily
attractive.
The jewelry pliers which I have also use a spring type
handle, so they always spring back to open position and you just shut them with the pressure from your hand- a
nice feature!
Most craft and hobby stores carry a variety of jewelry
pliers. You can find them online as well.
There are various grades to the hardness of the metal used in
the “business” end of pliers. I have seen some of the low end varieties get gouges in them from cutting and
working with just normal craft wire. Not a good thing!
Also, there are a variety of “tip” sizes on the round nose
pliers. The tinier the end tip, the tinier the hole will be in the middle of your spiral. Some of the “lower
end” [less expensive] varieties of round nose pliers have rather large tips on the end, and you can't get a
nice tight little hole. That isn't a big deal if you don't mind it.
The various feature of pliers results in a large range in
prices.
I only show the 4 basic pliers which I use. There are many
other specialty pliers (i.e. crimpers, etc) that aren’t necessary for just getting started. I only have these
4, and they serve me well for all the jewelry making which I do. Maybe someday I will expand my pliers
collection, but it isn’t a high priority for me at this time.
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