Nest Tutorial- How to Make a Bird's Nest Necklace

This Tutorial is for a wire bird's nest necklace.

I had a request to do a tutorial on a necklace, so I decided to chain the nest instead of earrings. It is just as easy to make two and put them on earring hooks. I love this project because eggs in a nest has such a wonderful meaning to a mother. 

So lets get started!

Supplies needed- 

-About 2ft, 26 Gauge wire

-3, 4mm round stones

-18" Chain

-1 Jump ring

-1 Spring clasp

-Wire snips

- 2 pairs chain nose pliers

To start, take your 3 beads (I'm using 4mm Charoite on solid sterling silver) and place them about 1 inch in on your wire.

 Curve your wire and beads to make a circle, and twist it closed. Tuck your end under on the side you want to be the bottom.

 Begin wrapping your wire around the 3 beads. This will form the base of the nest.

 When you have about 6-10 wraps, take your wire and connect your outer ring to your bead ring, by weaving the wire around the outer ring to the inner ring with the beads.

 Once you have 3 or 4 wraps connecting your base to your beads, begin working on the bottom.

Twist the wire round and round in circles. Make sure your circles are all different sizes so that they cover the whole bottom. 

 When it is decently covered weave the wire around the base and the beads like before, making sure to come through the bottom so that it is connected to the top. Do this 3 or 4 times.

 Your nest should then look similar to this.

 Now it is time to make the top of the nest. Kink the wire a bit and begin wrapping it in a circle on top of the base. Do this about 10 times.

 Then begin weaving the nest like before, connecting your top to the rest of your nest.

 Keep weaving around and around sloppily until your nest is full or you have about 3" of wire left.

 Create one last weaving loop, but leave part of this loop up and pinch it together close to the base. This will create your bezel.

 Bring your wire end up and wrap it around your pinched base until secure.

 Snip the loose end and pinch it down with your chain nose pliers.

 It should then look like this.

 Now to put our pendant on a chain! This part is really simple.

 Open the ring of the spring clasp by using your 2 pairs of pliers to grip the ring and turn them away from each other to open it.

 Place your chain on the clasp.

 Turn your pliers towards each other to close the opening.

 Open your jump ring, add your chain and close the same way you did with the spring clasp.
( If your spring clasp ring does not open, you will need a second jump ring to connect it to your chain.)

 And that's it! Your very own bird's nest necklace! You can customize it any way you like!
Birth stones, more eggs, less eggs, different metals...It's all up to you!
Sorry the picture is slightly blurry...I tried to enlarge it a bit...

Next Week's Project-

Basic Bracelet

Enjoy!!

<3 Cassandra

Back in Ohio, Invigorated and Refreshed

Amazing! That is all I can say about my trip to New York.

First thing Patti and I had to look forward to upon arriving was seeing our dear friend Val. She came to Ohio after A.L. was born and took care of us for 10 days so I could focus on getting to know my little one and recuperating. So Lord knows, I was excited to see her! The first thing we enjoyed together was BIRTH! The play. I can hardly begin to describe how wonderful every woman fit her part, taking on the persona of the birthing women as if it was their own stories they were sharing. I laughed, I cried, I related, and felt a connection among all the women who were there. We all shared a passion for birth and a respect for process of giving life.

Photo Courteous of Heather Haywood

It touched my heart. Now all I can think is, how do I get this play to Columbus, Ohio? I've got some figuring out to do, but I will. I met a lot of great women was grateful for my opportunity to vend and finally meet in person one of the ladies who helped me on my journey to VBAC, Chris Goldman.

Overall the play was amazing! I want to thank the ladies who put on the performance,

Danielle Synborski, Aimee Brill, Rosmyn Squitieri, Sarah Oakley, Meghan Wilson, Taylor Davis, Melissa Pavlus, Mandy Brown Walters, Sarah Eiley Cowherd, Meg Tobin, 

Kari Gardner,  and Danan Tsan 

and the few brave hubby's and children who made special appearances.

I also want to thank all the people behind the scenes who made this play a possibility and to all the people who contributed to this awesome event!

The day after the play we decided to relax, and where better than one of the most beautiful places I know? Fillmore Glen. 

Enjoy the pictures...

From there we went for Pizza at my favorite place in Auburn NY, 

Angelo's 17 Inch Delicious Pizza

They make everything homemade, the sauce, the crust, marinaded mushrooms...YUM! Best Pizza in Auburn!

I then went shopping at Maurices with my dear friend Amie, and she finally got to meet my little guy! That night we ate, relaxed, and played Yahtzee. :)

The next day it was time to go home, I was bummed because I felt my time there went way to fast but Patti, A.L. and I, got in one more adventure and stopped at the Montezuma Winery on our way out of town for some tasting. (I highly recommend trying their Diamond, So Good!)

I had such a great time! I was so blessed to see my friends and am thankful for ALL the awesome people I could share this time with.

<3 Cassandra

Get Ready NY, Because Here I Come

This Thursday is the long awaited BIRTH! The Play in Syracuse, NY. I can't begin to express my excitement to be apart of this event! If that was not enough to be excited for, my friend Patti is going with me and we are staying with another friend and taking a mini vacation. Ahhh. If there is one place that I think is absolutely gorgeous, it's the Finger lakes. We're going to go hike in Filmore Glen along the waterfalls, eat an organic, 5 star meal, in the middle of the country at Elderberry Pond, Tour the Montazuma Winery.... While I love Ohio and being so much closer to my family, I can't help but miss the beauty of Central New York.

I have so much to do before the trip, cleaning, packing, getting the boys ready to go camping, making pendents and getting ready to vend. Especially prepping to vend. I have so many abstracts left to make, make all their chains, and package them. I am going to sell both silver and bronze.

I am using a new packaging style for easy vending. Just praying that they do well at the play to help cover the cost of my trip. Maybe the cute infant in the Moby will help attract people over my way. ;)

Speaking of trips, I've got my eye on another place to go at the end of the summer... If I am going to become a midwife someday, where better to go enjoy a weekend then the hub of Spiritual Midwifery... The Farm <3 But I'll go on more about that another day.

<3 Cassandra

Ring Tutorial- Beaded Wrapped Stone Ring

This tutorial is for a Spiral wrapped Beaded Stone Ring.

This ring is one of my favorites to make. It's pretty, elegant, versatile, and relatively easy to make. 

So lets get started!

Supplies needed- 

-2, 8 to10 inches 20 Gauge wire

-1, 4mm round stone

-6, 2mm or 3mm beads

-A ring mandrel (or some type of rod)

-Wire snips

-Chain nose pliers

To Start, take your lengths of wire and lay them across the number of the size that you need your ring to be. Place the 4mm stone in the center of your top wire.

Wrap both wires around the mandrel once.

Turn the top wires down and the bottom wires up.

Add 3 of your smaller beads to the very top wire and round the wire down.

Repeat with the very bottom wire, adding stones, and round the wire up.

Remove your ring from the mandrel.

Begin wrapping the wire ends around the base of the ring, like so...

Once Wrapped 2 or 3 times, give the wires a snip. Be sure that the snipped wires are on the top of the ring and not near the skin.

Press down your loose ends.

Repeat to the other side.

Once done you can manipulate the wires a bit to lay nicely next to the stone.

Then admire your finished ring!

I usually charge about $10 for these rings. They are wonderful for vending!

I hope you enjoy this tutorial! If there is a project you would like to see a tutorial on, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments! ^_^

Next Weeks Project-

Tiny Bird's Nest Earrings

Enjoy!

<3 Cassandra