Charm Holder Pendant Tutorial
by Rena Klingenberg. © 2003-Present Rena Klingenberg. All Rights Reserved
This charm holder pendant is easy to make from a single piece of wire, and it’s a lovely way to wear a collection of your favorite charms.
You can add charms to this pendant by opening the hook clasp on the right-hand side:
Supplies:
- A piece of round 16 or 18 gauge wire, 5.5″ (14 cm) long (I’m using 16 gauge copper wire in this tutorial).
- Wire cutter (be sure to use tools that are made for the gauge of wire you’re using).
- Round nose pliers.
- A jewelry file, cup burr, or knife sharpening stone for smoothing off the wire ends.
- A ring mandrel (or other cylinder that’s about 2.5″ [6.5 cm] in circumference – such as a pill bottle, chair leg, PVC pipe, dowel, etc.).
- Plastic or nylon jewelry hammer.
- Steel jeweler’s block (or other smooth hammering surface).
- Fine-tip Sharpie marker.
- Jump ring for hanging the pendant on a chain or cord.
How to Make a
Charm Holder Pendant:
Cut your wire to 5.5″ (14 cm) long:
Now use your jewelry file, cup burr, or knife sharpening stone to round and smooth off both ends of your wire:
Use your fine-tip Sharpie marker to draw a mark that’s 4.5 cm from one end of your wire:
We’re going to start by making the tall center loop at the top of the pendant.
Grip the marked spot on your wire with your round nose pliers, with the wire about halfway between the tip and the bottom of the plier jaws:
Wrap the wire around the top jaw of your pliers, till the wires cross:
Now that we’ve made the center loop, we’re going to make the loop that the hook clasp will latch onto.
Use your round nose pliers to grab the very tip of the shorter end of your wire, with the wire about halfway between the tip and the bottom of the plier jaws:
Roll the end of the wire into a loop:
Now your wire should look like this:
Now we’re going to work with the longer end of your wire, and make the loop that’s on the other side of your tall center loop.
Use your round nose pliers to grip a spot on the longer end of your wire that’s about the same distance from the tall center loop as the loop you made on the other end of the wire:
Now wrap the long end of the wire around the jaw of your pliers to form the loop:
Your wire should look like this:
Wrap the long end of your wire around the size 10 line on your ring mandrel (or other cylinder) to form a U-shape that curves all the way from one end loop to the other:
Now your wire should look like this:
At the end of your wire, use the tip of your round nose pliers to make a small hook that will fasten nicely into the loop at that end of the pendant:
Here’s how the fastened hook and loop should look:
Now your charm holder pendant should look like this:
You can use your plastic or nylon jewelry hammer with your steel jeweler’s block to hammer-harden your pendant:
Now add a jump ring to the tall center loop and hang it on a chain or cord.
Then hang some charms on the bottom of your pendant:
This easy charm holder pendant also makes a lovely gift – and you can give it with a “starter” charm or two.
