Wire Wrapped Pendants! Petrified Wood!

Wire Wrapped Pendants!

To make these awesome pendants you will need some earthy treasures.

I went to Arizona to visit my sister...who by chance, lives in the same latitude as Petrified Forest...but not close to it.  I guess the stars align and there are the perfect elements to make the trees turn to stone, because quite by chance we found some while hiking (not in the National Park).  

We hiked an open trail right off a dirt road, right off the hiway and stumbled upon millions of pieces of petrified wood!  Again, we were not in reserved land...so I took some.  So sue me. :)  Don't tell me you've never loaded pockets with rocks before.  Okay, I loaded my purse with pieces...about 20 pounds worth!  Alright, it was not even 20 pounds, but everything feels heavier on a hike.

 (am I the only one loading up on rocks during a hike?)

I got some big chunks, but I wanted some crystal shards to make into necklaces!  It's gorgeous and sparkles in the right light.  Please don't take rocks from protected lands, they are there for all the visitors to enjoy.

(You'd love my trove of hate mail for this post alone...why is it that people have no problem commenting mean things, but not nice things?...oh well, let's make this necklace!)

So, let your children pick up rocks, shells, driftwood, etc. from your summer vacation (unless you are on protected land) and make it into a necklace they can treasure!

 Supplies Needed for Wire Wrapped Necklace:

Rocks, crystals, shells, driftwood, etc.

20 gauge gold wire

jewelry and needle nose pliers

charms or beads (optional)

Leather cord for necklace

I used about 8-10 inches of wire for each pendant,

depending on the amount of decor wire I wanted to play with.

Start by making a loop in the center of the wire.

Twist the loop twice.

Place across the top of the rock, mark with a pencil where the edges of the rock are. 

Bend the wires with the pliers to fit around the top of the rock (at your pencil marks)

Hold the wires on the side of the rock.

Bend the wires at a 90* angle...one going one direction, the other the opposite.

Wrap the wires around the rock and twist them through the wire on the other side.

I pulled the rock out momentarily to interlock the wires.

Then slid the rock back in.

Now pull the wire in the opposite direction.  It makes a tight pull here and keeps the rock in place.

The remaining wires can be wrapped around for extra support or swirled for decoration.

And, trust me, you'll want to make a bunch!

Which one is your favorite? 

I hooked a little key charm on one of them...but it's not necessary.

I love this one.  I call it the Utah rock because of that notch in the top!

Just bend the wire to follow the  shape of the rock!

I finished it off with about 30" of leather cord to complete the look.

I love the earthy and gold combo.

Works for chokers or full length,

boys or girls, kids or adults.  All people love these.

 

Keep this simple technique in mind when you are pulling rocks or trinkets out

of kids pockets before doing laundry...

Or is it just my kids that hoard rocks?