This casual bracelet is a variation on the traditional beaded charm bracelet, using knotted leather cord instead of chain. Use it to practice your wire-wrapping skills and get a feel for knotting leather.

Tools & Supplies List

• Side-cut wire cutters
• Round nose pliers
• Chain nose pliers
• Flat nose pliers
• Nylon jaw pliers
• Twenty-five 21 or 22 gauge silver tone headpins
• About 15 to 20 inches of silver colored or nickel silver 22 gauge wire
• At least twelve 4mm inside-diameter silver tone 18 gauge jump rings
• Around 2 feet of 2mm dark brown Greek round leather cord
• 2 silver tone 3mm x 9mm x 4mm metal fold-over crimp ends
• Pewter heart shaped toggle clasp
• The following glass beads:

  - Five 18mm olive green pressed glass leaf beads
  - Five 12mm pressed glass cup flower beads in milky amethyst
  - Five 8mm fire-polished faceted olive green glass beads
  - Five 5mm fire-polished faceted dark topaz glass beads
  - Ten 4mm fire-polished faceted iris brown mirror glass beads

Instructions

1. First, use the headpins to convert all the faceted beads into charms. String a bead onto a head pin so the flat head of the pin is up against the bead. Grasp the pin on the other side of the bead using round nose pliers.

Pull the wire to one side, bending it as shown.

Now move the pliers from the base of the bead to the bent part of the wire, up against the bead.

Pull the wire down and around the nose of the pliers to begin creating a loop. Remove the pliers and change their position so that you're grasping the top of the soon-to-be loop. Pull the wire around to finish the loop.

Gently hold the loop using flat nose or chain nose pliers. With your other hand, use round nose pliers to grab the end of the wire and slowly wrap it around the base of the loop, between the loop and the bead.

You'll probably make each wrap in two steps: First pull the wire around one side; then change your hand position to pull it down and around the other side.

When the entire little "stem" between the bead and loop is wrapped, use wire cutters to trim the wire as close to the coil as you can. Use the tips of chain nose pliers to gently squeeze the end down flat.

Complete this process for all of the round, faceted beads in the project. The completed charms should look something like this:

2. Turn the flower beads into wire-wrap charms the same way. Thread-on the beads so the pin head is inside the cup of the flower. When wrapping these beads, be careful not to wrap them too tightly or accidentally squeeze the bottoms of the flowers, which could cause them to chip. When finished, they should look something like this:

3. Now wire-wrap the bead leaves. Instead of head pins, we'll use raw wire for these. Begin by pulling the last several inches of wire through nylon jaw pliers to help remove any bends or minor kinks.

String a leaf bead onto the end of the straightened wire about 3/4 inch to 1 inch along the way. Use your fingers to bend both ends of wire up over the end of the leaf, as shown below:

Use flat-nose pliers to bend the wire back at the center point of the end of the bead. Repeat this for the other side, so that both ends of wire are bent up next to each other as shown:

Use cutters to trim the short wire 3 or 4mm from the bend. (Use the tip of the cutters, being careful not to cut through both wires accidentally.)

Use chain nose pliers to hold the two wires next to each other. The edge of the chain nose pliers should be flush with the end of the wire you just trimmed. Bend the long wire to the side just past the pliers, as shown:

Switching to round-nose pliers, hold the bent wire and pull the end around to create a loop. Create the loop using the same procedure we used above for making bead charms with head pins.

Once the loop is made, switch back to chain nose or flat nose pliers (I'm using chain nose pliers below). Hold the loop flat to prepare for wrapping.

Gently pull the wire around the double-wire "stem." (If the wire is still long, you should be able to pull the wire around in your fingers. If it's short, try holding it with round nose pliers as you wrap.)

Finish wrapping, then trim and squeeze down as usual. Repeat this procedure for all of the leaf beads. They should look something like this:

Page 2: Knotted Cord Bead Charm Bracelet Project Completion

*****

Alternatively, try substituting beads of different materials and colors, but similar shapes and sizes, using the pattern of this project as a guide.

~ Browse for Czech glass bead on eBay

~You can also find a wide variety of Czech pressed glass, and free shipping, at Artbeads.com

Chris Franchetti Michaels is a writer and jewelry artisan specializing in beaded designs, wire work, and metal fabrication. She is the author of the books Teach Yourself Visually: Jewelry Making and Beading, Beading Quick Tips, and Wire Jewelry Quick Tips. Visit her website BeadJewelry.net for more jewelry-making help and inspiration.