Hi guys. Yesterday FedEx brought me a bunch of gems from firemountaingems.com, so naturally i spent the day making jewelry. Last night I was playing around with making bangle bracelets out of wire and i decided to share a tutorial. these are my own creations, not  inspired by anthropologie!

This is what you’ll need:

ruler
full can of soda that you don’t plan on drinking
16 gauge wire
26 gauge wire
gemstone beads of your choice (i wanted this bracelet to have a really delicate look so these are 2mm round rainbow moonstones)
ball peen hammer
surface to hammer on
round nose pliers
chain nose pliers
wire cutters

1. measure your wrist and determine how loose your want your bangle to be. I have tiny wrists (5.5″) so i cut a piece of wire that is 10″ long. By the time I make the end clasp and bend it, it should end up being about 7″ around.

2. Hammer the wire with the rounded end of your ball peen hammer so that it becomes flat and pretty uniformly even.

3. wrap the wire around the soda can to get a round shape. size the bracelet to fit your wrist, cutting off excess.

4. bend the ends of the wire to form two open loops that will hook together to form a clasp. the loops should go in different directions so that they can hook. hammer the ends so they are flatter and not sharp.

5. Cut a yard of 26 gauge wire. Wrap it around one end of the bangle 5 times to secure it.

6. add a bead and wrap the wire twice to secure it.

7. continue to add a bead and wrap twice around the entire bangle. this takes a while, so be patient.

8. secure the end with 5 wraps as you did in the beginning.