String Pendant Variations

6mm beads, 16 gauge wire

Last time I wrote about making string art pendants using coiled wire.  Here are a few alternatives to using coils.   

The first alternative is stringing beads on a wire.  The nice thing about doing it this way, is it takes almost no time to string a handful of beads on a wire.

Finding small beads with large enough holes to fit 16 or at least 18 gauge wire can be challenging. 

Coils by design have nice little spaces for the threads to go, beads do not.  With the purple beaded pendant below, the last few thread wraps were really tight. I starting getting nervous I was going to break the thread.  For the black and silver one I gave myself some extra room, but I had to sell my soul to keep the beads evenly spaced while wrapping them. The round beads on the skull pendant were a little more forgiving and even after space between them got tight, the valley between the outer edge of the beads was deep enough to hold a few more threads. 

18 gauge wire, Toho seed beads, size 8 left, size 6 right

The next alternative is to wire wrap beads around the frame.  I recommend 24 or 26 gauge for wrapping the beads.  The best part of this is being able to thread wrap at angles that wouldn't hold very well with coil. Also since the wire being used to wrap the beads is a much smaller gauge, smaller beads can be used too. 

The last alternative that I'm going to show is cup chain wire wrapped around the frame.  This is 4mm cup chain, with a dream catcher weave combined with a little thread wrapping.   

A few more tips.  Don't be afraid to add different colors or patterns together. 

If you finish a piece and decide later you don't like it, you can always add to it instead of completely redoing it.  Here I didn't like the gap, so I added the silver.

If you don't watch your thread tension you can pull your frame out of shape.  It's really easy to use a tighter tension when you begin a new color/thread, so make sure you are not pulling too much.  The fact that this was made with 18 gauge didn't do me any favors, 16 gauge is much sturdier.  Also when the frame gets out whack, the previous threads can come loose and then the whole thing unravels.  There is no shame in crying if that happens.   

One more thing I learned, looks can be deceiving.  I wanted to see how variegated thread would play out so I picked up a spool that looked interesting. The picture doesn't do it justice, but even though I now know this spool of thread only contains black, red and gold, I still see orange and fuchsia mixed in.   

I used it for the skull pendant and this lizard one. I still like it, but it's not nearly as exciting as it looks on the spool. 

One more string spider thing coming up and then I'll lay this project to rest.  

Creepmas Dream Catcher

Today I made a dream catcher for a little Creepmas spider in need of a home.  I made it the same basic way as my Halloween dream catchers, except in a winter wonderland color scheme with glitter.

The clear faceted beads are just there to look pretty only the white beads have a large enough hole to accommodate the feathers.  To really make it Creepmas, I suggest using pony skull beads, but this one is for a friend, so I toned down the creep factor.  

I won't have time to make one with skulls until after Creepmas, but I think you get the idea.  I also think it would look really cool if the tips of the feathers and yarn hanging down were dipped in red dye.  




Update:  After I finished the dream catcher above, I decided it wasn’t finished and added some sparkly holiday floral accents.  I didn’t take a picture, so you’ll have to take my word for the fact that it still remained simple yet elegant. 

I can’t say the same for the one I made for myself.  It’s big and gaudy, but I love it.  I used some of the mini salt dough skulls to accessorize. If Liberace’s skull vomited winter merriment, I think it would look a little like this. 

Halloween Dream Catcher

This is the tutorial that I used to learn how to make dream catchers, the step by step photos are very helpful.  The tutorial at  nativetech.org shows how to make one with grapevine, also worth reading is their origin of the dream catcher. Someday I'll have to make an old school dream catcher that actually looks like a spider web.

I recommend trying it once with the first method using a metal ring or embroidery hoop to learn the technique before you tackle the grapevine.  The grapevine is slightly trickier, it has some give, so it becomes really important to keep an even tension as you work your way around so the hoop doesn't get twisted. Also I find my yarn snags on the rough surface of the vine as I'm feeding it through. 

The main thing I do differently from the grapevine tutorial is to spray paint it black.  To further complicate things I like to use Fun Fur yarn. I'm honestly not sure why I think a spider web should be black and hairy, but I like the way it looks.  A smoother yarn or waxed cord would probably snag less.  It does become difficult to see what your doing when you get to the center, at that point I use a large eyed blunt needle instead of my fingers to work the yarn.  The good thing is all the wispy hairs help to camouflage any mistakes you make.

Besides using Halloween colors, skull pony beads (not pictured) add a nice touch.  I ordered a bag through the Oriental Trading Company years ago.  We use them for a number of projects and still haven't used them all. 

Of course no web is complete without a spider, and here is how I make mine. 

You can make dream catchers any size you'd like, but the smaller the hoop the more difficult it is to work. For really small dream catchers you could try using bangle bracelets with a thinner thread and for larger ones try hula hoops with a thick yarn. Using irrigation tubing you can not only make your own hula hoops, but you can make ginormous dream catchers. 

Here is an even easier version for kids at dream-catchers.org and there is also more information on their site about dream catchers.

One more website, real-dream-catchers.com shows a lot of different variations that I'll have to try in the future. 

Last I'd recommend the children's picture book Dreamcatcher by Audrey Osofsky.  It's beautiful in picture and verse. 

Update: For a wintry version check out the ones I did for Creepmas.