Crystal + Tube Bead DIY Memory Wire Bracelet

Hey friends!  Hope your week is off to a great start.  I’ve got a simple stacked bangle tutorial to share today that makes up quickly and adds some sparkle and shine to any wrist.  Check out today’s DIY memory wire bracelet:

The glass and etched pewter in this design make it a polished-looking piece that you can make at home in abou 15 minutes.  I got my supplies from today’s post sponsor, Happy Mango Beads.  I’ll leave links to the products I used in the list below in case you’d like to do some shopping yourself!

For this DIY memory wire bracelet, you will need:

• 3 coils of bracelet memory wire
• 6 – 44mm pewter bent tube beads
• 42 – 6mm glass crystal rondelle beads (dark teal pictured here)
• 7 – 5mm pewter spacer beads
• 2 – glue-on memory wire end caps
• Super New Glue
• memory wire shears (or other heavy utility cutters)

Note: If you would like a larger bracelet, you can continue the pattern until you achieve the size you would like.  The quantities listed are to make the exact size pictured in today’s tutorial.

First, trim 3 coils of memory wire off to work with (or more, if you’re making a larger bracelet, or if you prefer to have a longer working wire).  To one end, add a crystal bead, a drop or two of jewelry glue (anything that’s rated to bond metal to metal will work!) and then the memory wire end cap.  Hold the bead and end cap together, securely at the end of the wire.  You’ll need to keep holding it together until the bond is strong enough to hold on its own – depending on the glue type, this can take a minute or two.

Once the end cap holds, begin beading.  The pattern I used was 3 crystal beads, one pewter spacer, 3 more crystal beads, then a tube bead.  You may of course vary this pattern according to your tastes!

When you reach the end, use your memory wire shears to hold the wire without cutting it, and tighten the beads all the way to the first end to make sure there aren’t any gaps.  Then, trim it off with about 3mm excess (which I know, is not much, so handle the piece carefully at this point).  Add a few drops of glue to the wire and to the ending bead, and place the second end cap on the wire.  As with before, you’ll need to hold it in place until the bond holds enough not to fall off.  Allow the bracelet another 20-30 minutes to dry before wearing, but you can at least set it aside without it falling apart.  (Note: if you find that it does want to come undone, then the glue isn’t set yet!  Add another drop, and hold the end cap in place a little longer.)

This piece doesn’t have any difficult jewelry techniques, it just needs a steady hand and a few minutes’ patience with the glue.  I hope you enjoyed this design, and I’ll see you again soon!