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Enchanted Bubble Blowing Wands (Tutorial)

by Rena Klingenberg. © 2003-Present Rena Klingenberg. All Rights Reserved

These enchanted bubble blowers are lovely as gifts, wedding favors, birthday party favors, package decorations, Easter baskets, and more.

They’re easy to make – first you create a wire bubble wand, and then add beads or whatever magical embellishment you wish:

The bubble wands shown above are two different sizes:

• the small copper bubble wands are approximately 1.75″ (4.5 cm) long
• the larger brass bubble wand is approximately 3.5″ (8.9 cm) long.

Supplies:

• A piece of 16- or 18-gauge round wire:9″ (23 cm) long for the larger bubble wand, OR
  6″ (15.25 cm) long for the smaller bubble wand.

  I used copper and brass wire; you might also try Artistic wire.

• A 6″ (15.25 cm) piece of 24 gauge round wire, for attaching the beads to your bubble wand.
• Colorful seed beads (or other beads / embellishments you want to add to your wand).
• Wire cutter.
• A file, cup burr, or knife sharpening stone for smoothing off the wire ends.
• Round nose pliers.
• Flat nose pliers.
• Chain nose pliers.
• Ring mandrel (or a dowel, PVC pipe, pill bottle, chair leg, or other cylindrical object that’s about 0.75″ to 1″ [2 to 2.5 cm] in diameter).
• Ultra-fine tip Sharpie marker.

How to Make Enchanted
Wire Bubble Blowing Wands:

These instructions show making the larger (3.5″) wand size.

First, cut your 16- or 18-gauge wire to the desired size:

Use your cup bur, file, or knife-sharpening stone to smooth and round both ends of your wire:

With your ultra-fine tip Sharpie marker, make a mark about 2″ (5 cm) from one end of your wire:

Now we’re going to make the bubble-blowing hoop at the top of your wand.

Of course, you can make it any shape you like – circle, heart, square, oval, triangle, etc. – but I find that the bubbles blow most easily from a circle.

Leaving that 2″ end of your wire straight, wrap your wire around the ring mandrel to form a nice circle (I used ring size 15 on the mandrel):

Now with your flat nose pliers, make a bend in the main wire stem below the circle you just made.

We want to center the main wire stem under the circle, like a lollipop:

Now your wire should look like this (see how the 2″ end of the wire is straight, and the stem is centered below the circle):

Now we’ll wrap that straight 2″ end of wire around the main stem of your wand, right below the circle.

(If you’re new to making wrapped wire loops, or you’ve had trouble making them previously, see my 3-minute video, How to Make a Wrapped Wire Loop.)

Use your flat nose pliers to grip the circle firmly, and use your fingers or chain nose pliers to wrap the 2″ wire end around the stem of your wand:

Now use your wire cutter to trim off the excess wire.

Place the flat side of the cutter blades as close as you can to the wire wraps you just made, and snip off the extra wire:

Use your chain nose pliers to squeeze down that cut wire end, so it won’t catch or scratch anything:

Now your wire should look like this:

Now we’re going to make the handle at the other end of your wand.

First, find the mid-point of your bubble wand’s stem, and mark it with your Sharpie marker:

Place that midpoint of your wire against your Sharpie marker, and wrap the end of your bubble wand stem around the marker, making a teardrop shape:

Use your round nose pliers to bend that teardrop loop enough to center it under the main stem of your bubble wand:

Now your wire should look like this:

Now for some creative fun!

Use the leftover long end of your wire to design an enchanted look for your bubble wand.

You can make any kind of spiral, swirl, squiggle, etc.

I loosely twined my wire end around the stem to make a magical vine:

On the smaller wands, I just made a small curling handle:

Now embellish your bubble wand!

I used 24-gauge wire and a seed bead mix to add sparkle and color to my bubble wand:

When you’re finished embellishing, your bubble wand is done!

You can use a commercially-made bubble-blowing solution, or make your own (see recipe below).

Homemade Bubble Blowing Soap Recipe:

3/4 cup water
1/4 cup liquid dishwashing soap
5 drops glycerin (OR 1 tsp sugar if you don’t have glycerin)

Optional: Add a couple of drops of food coloring for extra magic.

Mix all ingredients together, and store in a container that’s a good size for dipping your enchanted bubble wand into.