Instructions

Making the Wire Form

1. Make a homemade jig (figure 1) using peg pattern 3, or set up your commercially made jig with pattern 1, shown below.
    
   
2. Cut a 9" (23 cm) piece of wire. Working with peg pattern 1, center the wire above the top peg and crisscross the wire underneath the peg. Curve the left-side wire under, around, and down the inside of the bottom left peg. Curve the right-side wire under, around, and down the inside of the bottom right peg (figure 2). Use the awl to gently tamp down the wire flat to the jig.
    
   
3. If you’re using a commercially made jig, add pegs as needed to make pattern 2. Curve the left-side wire counterclockwise around the left peg on the bottom row of pegs. Use chain-nose pliers to tighten the wrap. Curve the right-side wire clockwise around the right peg on the bottom row of pegs. Tighten the wrap.
4. Curve the left-side wire clockwise around the center peg on the bottom row of pegs and tighten (figure 3). Curve the right-side wire counterclockwise around the same peg and tighten.
    
   
5. If you’re using a commercially made jig, add a peg to make pattern 3. Move the left-side wire so it curves around the right side of the remain­ing center peg. Move the right-side wire so it curves around the left side of the remaining center peg (figure 4). Use the awl to tamp the wires into place.
    
   
6. Carefully lift the wire form from the pegs. If you’ve firmly tamped the wires down while forming the component, you should be able to lift it off in one piece. On the commercially made jig, you may remove a few pegs to remove the wire form.
7. Use nylon-jaw pliers to firmly grasp the form so only the top loop shows. Use chain-nose pliers to wrap one wire end tightly around the crossed wire beneath the loop. Repeat with the remaining wire end, wrapping in the opposite direction. Use the wire cutters to flush cut any excess wire close to the wrap. Use bent chain-nose pliers to gently squeeze the wrap, tucking the wire ends in.
8. Adjust the form as needed, flattening wraps with the nylon-jaw pliers and reshaping loops with the single jaw of round-nose pliers.
9. Repeat steps 1 to 8 to make a second wire form.

Making Ear Wires

10. If you’re using a commercially made jig, position one regular peg and one large peg one peg hole diagonally away from each other on the board.
11. Cut a 2-1⁄2" (6.4 cm) piece of wire. Use round-nose pliers to form a loop at one end of the wire that will fit onto a regular peg.
12. Place the loop on the regular peg on the board, and wrap the extra wire around the large peg (figure 5).
     
    
13. Cut any excess wire and file the wire end smooth. Use chain-nose pliers to make a slight bend in the wire away from the loop, about 1⁄4" (6 mm) from the end.
14. Repeat steps 10 to 13 to make a second ear wire.
15. If you aren’t using a commercially made jig, start with step 11. Hold the dowel in one hand and the wire loop in the other so it’s perpendicular to the dowel. Wrap the straight end of the wire around the dowel to get a nice curve. Finish as in step 13.
16. Repeat to make a second ear wire.

Making the Dangles

17. Use one head pin to string one polygon bead, two spacers, two opaque aqua 4mm bicone beads, one spacer, one denim blue 6mm bicone bead, and one golden champagne 3mm bicone bead. Make a simple loop to secure the beads and set aside. Repeat to make a second long dangle.
18. Use one head pin to string one opaque aqua 8mm round bead, two spacers, one denim blue 6mm bicone bead, one opaque aqua 4mm bicone bead, and one golden champagne 3mm bicone bead. Make a simple loop to secure the beads and set aside. Repeat to make three more medium dangles.
19. Use one head pin to string one opaque aqua 4mm bicone bead, one spacer, one denim blue 3mm bicone bead, and one golden champagne 3mm bicone bead. Make a simple loop to secure the beads and set aside. Repeat to make three more short dangles.

Assembling the Earrings

20. Attach the long dangle to the center bottom loop of one of the wire forms. Attach one medium dangle to each of the outside bottom loops of the form. Attach one short dangle to each of the outside bottom loops so they sit toward the outside of the form, away from the medium dangles.
21. Attach the ear wire to the top loop of the wire form.
22. Repeat steps 20 and 21 to assemble the second earring.

Variation