Spiral Heart Wire Bracelet (Tutorial)

by Rena Klingenberg.

This spiral heart wire bracelet is pretty and charming.

It’s a simple bangle that’s created with a single piece of wire.

After you’ve made one of these, you’ll be able to whip them out quickly if you want to make more of them.

Supplies:

• Round half-hard wire, 16 gauge.
• Wire cutter.
• Cup bur / wire rounder, to smooth and round the wire ends.
• Ruler, for measuring and marking wire.
• All purpose marker (such as a Sharpie) for marking your wire.
• Flat nose pliers.
• Round nose pliers.
• Bracelet mandrel, baseball bat, PVC pipe, soup can, or other item to shape your wire into a bracelet. The mandrel should be approximately the same circumference as the wrist that will wear the bracelet.
• Jeweler’s steel block and plastic, rubber, or nylon hammer for hammer-hardening your finished bracelet.

How to Make a
Spiral Heart Wire Bracelet:

Start by cutting your piece of wire.

How Much Wire to Cut?

Wrist measurement + 9.5cm (3.75″).

Example Measurement
calculating for a 17.78cm (7″) wrist:
17.78cm (7″) + 9.5cm (3.75″) = 27.28cm (10.75″) total wire length.

After cutting your wire, we’ll use a cup bur / wire rounder to smooth and round the ends of your cut piece of wire:

Next, get out your Sharpie marker and ruler.

Mark your wire as shown below; the blue lines show where you’ll make your Sharpie marks.

Make these 3 marks on your wire:

Now your wire should look like this:

We’ll make the heart end of your bracelet first.

Grasp your wire with the widest part of your round nose pliers as shown below.

Notice that one of the marks you made is just to one side of the plier jaws:

Now bring the shorter wire end tightly around one jaw of your pliers, forming the wire into a U-shape:

Now use the tips of your flat nose pliers to grasp the shorter end of your wire, right next to your 5cm mark:

Now bend that wire, making a bend that’s a little sharper than 90 degrees; the 5cm mark should wind up in the center of the bend:

Now you’ve made half of the heart shape, and your wire should look like this:

We’ll make the spiral end of the heart now.

If you’re new to making open spirals, or have had trouble with them in the past, see my easy 3-minute video, How to Make an Open Wire Spiral.

Use the tips of your round nose pliers to grasp the tip of the shorter wire end:

Start your spiral by using the tips of your round nose pliers to make a small hook in end of the wire.

Then keep moving your pliers along the wire, making a small curve each time you move the pliers:

When your spiral is almost finished:

. . . it’s time to fold the long wire end straight upward from the heart.

Use your flat nose pliers to grasp the long wire, with the pliers right next to the Sharpie mark as shown:

Now bend the wire so that it will point straight upward above the heart:

Use your flat nose pliers to bend the bottom of the heart until the spiral end touches the long wire:

You may also need to use your round nose pliers to adjust your spiral so that both of the sides of the top of the heart look even.

Now your wire should look like this:

Next we’ll use a jeweler’s steel block and a nylon, plastic, or rubber hammer to hammer-harden the wire heart, making it sturdier.

Hammer every part of the heart on one side.

Then flip the heart over and hammer every part of the other side of the heart:

Now we’ll turn the wire into a bracelet by wrapping the wire around whatever you’re using for a bracelet mandrel.

I’m using this sturdy, hard plastic vitamin bottle for a mandrel:

Use your fingers to wrap the wire tightly around the mandrel – from the bottom tip of the heart, all the way to the other end of the wire:

Now, holding your wire tightly around your mandrel, use your nylon, plastic, or rubber hammer to hammer the wire all the way around the mandrel:

When you remove your wire from the mandrel, it should look something like this:

Now we’ll make the hook clasp at the other end of the wire.

Use the tips of your round nose pliers to grasp the tip of the wire, and make a small 90-degree bend in the wire, bending the wire away from the heart:

Now use the middle of your round nose pliers jaws to grasp the wire just above the Sharpie mark you made there:

. . . and bend the wire around one jaw of your pliers, bending the wire end away from the heart:

Now your wire should look something like this:

And now you can remove the Sharpie marks from your wire, using a few drops of rubbing alcohol on a scrap of paper towel.

Your finished bracelet may look something like this: