I HEART Myself

I am digging the necklaces I keep seeing on Pinterest that are words written with wire such as "love"and "ohm". Every time I see one I say to myself, "I need to make that!" So, I am getting off my butt and making one. If it was not for this blog I would still be scrolling through Pinterest envious of all the things others are doing while I sit on my ass admiring those things and drinking wine.

I already have the gear.

Gear:

• 26 Gauge Copper Wire
• 18 '' Sterling Silver Chain Link
• Sterling Silver Clasp
• Sterling Silver Jump Rings
• Wire Cutters
• Needle-Nose Pliers
• Round-Nose Pliers
• Hammer
• Block
• Measuring Tape
• YouTube Iron and Wine's Flightless Bird, American Mouth - my nice made me watch Twighlight Breaking Dawn this past weekend. :)

Choose a Word:

The word I am using for my necklace is "heart". The reason I have chosen "heart" is because my intent for the winter season is to follow my heart, hence the title of this post, "I HEART Myself". You will need to pick a word to represent yourself. I like to think of Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love when she finds her word - "Attraversiamo" - meaning "Let's cross over" in Italian. Beware, you may want to choose a word with fewer letters or the necklace will spread from shoulder to shoulder. I like dainty jewelry and the word "heart" is a bit large to me, but I am sticking with it because I need a constant reminder to follow my heart. I intend to find myself this winter - like Iron and Wine and Liz Gilbert. I better not make my spring intent "responsibility" or "compassion" or I will end up looking like the New Age Flava-Flav!

How to Write Your Word Using Wire:

Bending wire to create a word is not as easy as it looks - for me anyway. Here are some tutorials I have followed to help me figure it out. It has taken me several tries to get to a point where I am satisfied with the result. Some of the examples are very beautiful and I think with practice are attainable.

Video:



On Paper:

1. Write down the word in cursive on a piece of paper to create a template.
2. Begin shaping the wire over the word you have written down.
3. Bend the wire with your fingers or with your pliers.
4. Tape the beginning end of the wire to the paper if you want to hold it in place.
5. Feel free to pick up the wire and bend it if it is not co-operating. Do not be afraid to man-handle it to get it to do what you want!
6. When the word is complete, harden the wire.

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How to Construct the Necklace:

1. Measure your sterling silver chain link and cut it in half with the wire cutters.
2. Add a jump ring to both ends of one of the chain links.
3. Repeat step 2 on the other chain link.
4. Connect a jump ring on one of the chain links to the "h" in the word heart.
5. Connect a jump ring on the other chain link to the "t" in the word heart.
6. Connect the clasp to one of the remaining jump rings.
7. Make sure that the way you attach the clasp will allow you to easily put on the necklace.

Yay! I HEART my new necklace!