Simple Wire Wrapped Crystal Pendant Tutorial

Tools and materials:

• Large bead
• Wire-wrapped loop chain (or ordinary necklace chain)
• 20 gauge half-hard round wire 
• Wire cutters
• Round nose pliers
• Chain nose pliers
• Bent nose pliers
• Ruler

1. Cut the wire

Cut some wire about 8 inches (20cm long), depending on the size of your bead.

The bead I’m using is about 1.5 inches (3.8cm) long and about 0.5 (1.3cm) wide, so you can use that as a comparison for your own bead.

Cut a flush cut on the end of your wire. That means you just use the back of your wire cutters toward what you're leaving behind, and it will make a straight cut.

2. Make a hook

Then use your chain nose pliers to make a little hook. So just hold the wire in it and then bend it forwards toward you.

Then use your chain nose pliers to press this closed.

3. Place bead on wire

Now slide your bead onto the wire and pull it down. The folded end of the wire will hold the bead on the wire.

4. Make a loop

Grab the round nose pliers, and we're going to make a loop at the top.

Hold the wire about a quarter of an inch above the bead and wrap the wire around the pliers to form a loop.

Hold the loop in the chain nose pliers and wrap it around once.

Then straighten out the bead so that the loop is on top of the stone and it's centered in the middle. Then wrap around two more times.

Keep your wraps nice and tight and lined up nicely.

5. Wrap the bead

Now we’re going to wrap the wire around the sides of the bead. Run the wire down the first side and push it into your bead.

When you get down to the bottom, wrap around one full time. You’ll end up on the other side of the bead. Then just go back up to the top again.

Push the wire into the bead so it kind of frames it. Then wrap the wire around a few times.

It might be easier for you to hold the loop in the chain nose pliers while you’re wrapping.

Go around a few times and make sure it's secure. Then make a flush cut. Use the chain nose pliers to make sure that the end of the wire is tucked in.

6. Attach to chain

So now we have this nice little pendant to hang on the bottom of our chain.

Find the middle of the chain. You could just attach the pendant with a jump ring.

But I'm going to attach the pendant with another link to give it a little more separation so that the pendant will hang down a little bit more.

To make the wire-wrapped loop, cut 3 inches (7.6cm) of wire. Then measure 1 inch (2.5cm) down from the top. Hold the wire in your round-nose pliers and make your first loop.

Since we're attaching this pendant with this, add the pendant into the loop and finish making the wire wrap loop with the pendant just off to the side.

So hold the loop in your chain nose pliers and go around once.

Straighten out the wire so the loop is centered in the wire. Then use the bent-nose pliers to help you make two more wraps.

Then squeeze the wraps together to make sure they're close together by pinching them in your chain nose pliers. Make a flush cut to cut off the excess.

And then, use the chain nose pliers to make sure that end is not poking out.

Go back to the ruler and measure 1 inch (2.5cm) from the other end of the wire and make a loop on the other end using the same technique.

After you’ve made the first loop, attach it to your chain and then continue to make the wire-wrapped loop.

Wire wrapped crystal pendant

That concludes our necklace pendant tutorial. The pendant is such a gorgeous statement feature and the wire coming down either side of it creates a fabulous look.

You can certainly wear this necklace on its own, but it looks great layered with other pieces as well.