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"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up."

Deuteronomy 6:5-7

Monday, May 7, 2012

Making Your Own Mother’s Day Gift

Mother’s Day is right around the corner. I thought it would be a perfect time to share a little craft I made this last week.

I’ve been on a jewelry making kick these last few months. For my 6 year olds superhero birthday party, I made bottle top superhero pendants as a party favor. When my mom and sister came to visit, Nathan and I made beaded bracelets for them.

This weekend, with church friends, I was celebrating some new babies and their mamas and I wanted to make something special for them. I saw this tutorial online and thought it was a perfect gift. I’ve really been inspired by birds and nests lately (see this post). So I created my own bird’s nest necklace for my friends. It’s so easy, you can make your own too.

You will need these items:

Assorted beads, I used pearls and glass beads

Jewelry wire, I used 24 gauge

Jump rings

Necklace chains

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The first step: Cut off a long section of the jewelry wire and arrange the desired amount of beads at the end of the wire. As an extra precaution, I tucked the end of the wire into the last bead on the end.

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Second Step: wrap the wire around the beads. The first necklace I made I wrapped them tightly and it turned out okay. I liked the look better when it was wrapped looser and in more of a circular fashion.

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Third Step: loop the wire around the created “nest” in desired sections. When I used 4 beads, I made 2 sets of loops. When I used 3 beads, I created 3 sets of loops. You can loop them twice or 3 times. I liked the exaggerated look of 3 loops. When I finished the loops, I cut the wire and tucked the end into the “nest”.

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Final Step: add a jump ring. I used one of the wires from the “nest” but you could also create an extra support by adding a twisted loop on the back of the pendant.

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Add chains and the necklaces are finished! Easy right?

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A perfect gift for the mothers in your life. Or, if you’re like me, and have 4 small boys, you make your own Mother’s Day gift Smile

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