Earring Kit Directions

Tools and materials you will need:

Round nose and flat nose pliers
Wire cutters
Twist ‘n Curl Standard Tool (use small skewer)
Twist ‘n Curl triangle mandrel (use pencil instead)
24 gauge wire (colored wire)
20 gauge wire (complimentary color)
Clear glue (like e6000 or goop)

Earring directions:
Pull out the wire coils. Holding ends between thumb and forefinger, pull both ends with even tension so coil is stretched to about twice its original length. Cut the coil into about 1- 1 1/2” lengths (varying the lengths will make for a more interesting finished piece)

Carefully cut the seed bead strands apart into a dish. You can mix all the colors, or use just one color per earring pair. Pick up the 24 gauge wire, make sure to keep one end attached to the spool. Thread one section of stretched out coil on the wire, then 6 to 10 seed beads. Add a pearl in the center of a group of seed beads. Continue to alternate seed beads and coil (with occasional pearl) until you have about 18” of wire covered with beads and coil. End with the wire coil.

Use the large mandrel with your Twist ‘n Curl, and follow the directions that come with it for a simple bead. (Thread the wire end through the hole in the handle and wrap tightly around the mandrel. Wrap entire length of covered wire around. End with a few turns of the wire after the end of the coil to secure the first bead section.) Push the “wire bead” up against the handle to tighten the wrap. Take the “bead” off the mandrel. Make a small loop in the wire at either end about the size of the tip of your round nose pliers.

Next use your 20 gauge wire. Feed the bead you just made onto the end of the 20 gauge wire, passing the wire through each of the two “loops” you made in the wire bead ends, then thru the hole at the top of the Twist ‘n Curl standard mandrel. After making about 3 twists of just the wire around the mandrel, slide up the bead you just made and wrap. You’ll have to twist the bead as you wrap to make the pearls stand out to their best advantage, but you’ll end up with a nice, wide orbital bead. End with a few twists after you run out of bead.

Assembling and finishing:
Take a head pin, slide on a 4mm bead, then the wire bead (first putting a dab of clear glue between the two). then another 4mm bead. With round nose pliers, “curl” the top end of the head pin into loop so you can attach it to the ear wire.

See more kitz at www.notjustpartz.com. Kit designed by Myra Anson Nicholas, Copyright 2001