Wire Tree of Life (Tutorial)
by Rena Klingenberg. © 2003-Present Rena Klingenberg. All Rights Reserved
The wire tree of life is a popular motif in jewelry.
One of the addictive things about creating these is that there are so many ways to arrange and decorate your tree’s roots, trunk, and branches.
But beware – these trees have a mind of their own, and they may grow their own wonderful design regardless of what you were planning! 🙂
Supplies:
- Round soft wire, 16 or 18 gauge – for the frame.
I used 16 gauge soft copper wire. - Round soft 24 gauge wire – for the tree.
I used 24 gauge Artistic wire in Antique Brass color. - Beads – for the tree’s leaves.
For this size of tree, you can use any size of beads up to about 4mm.
I used size 10/0 seed beads in Green color. - Wire cutter.
- Round nose pliers.
- Chain nose pliers.
- Flat nose pliers.
- Cylindrical object about 32mm (1.25″) in diameter – to use as a mandrel for shaping the frame.
I used the top of a shampoo bottle. - Jewelry file or emery board – to smooth off cut wire ends.
How to Make a
Wire Tree of Life
1.) Make the Frame for a Wire Tree of Life:
Working with your 16 or 18 gauge wire right from the roll, wrap your wire tightly around your mandrel (I’m using a shampoo bottle lid), leaving a straight wire tail about 127mm (1.5″) long:
Cut the wire so that the second wire end is also about 127mm (1.5″) long.
Slide your wire off the mandrel.
Using the tips of your flat nose pliers, grasp one wire end right where the wires cross:
Now use your pliers to bend the wire end straight up, at a 90-degree angle:
Now we’ll make a wrapped wire loop, which will be the bail of the frame.
If you’re new to making wrapped wire loops, or if you struggle with making them, hop over to my quick Make a Wrapped Wire Loop (Video Tutorial) – and then come back here. 🙂
Use the middle of your round nose pliers to grasp the base of the vertical wire.
Bend the wire away from the wire circle:
Make a loop by wrapping the wire around one jaw of your round nose pliers, leaving a wire tail that you’ll use to wrap below the loop:
Using your chain nose pliers, grasp the end of the wire tail.
Then wrap the tail neatly around the short wire stem below the loop.
Use your wire cutter to trim off any excess wire tail, and use your chain nose pliers to press the wire tail tightly against the wire stem:
Use your chain nose pliers to grasp the remaining wire end.
Wrap the remaining wire end neatly around the wire-wraps you just made below the loop:
Use your wire cutter to trim off any excess wire tail, and use your chain nose pliers to press the wire tail tightly against the wire stem:
The frame for your wire tree of life is finished.
2.) Make the Wire Tree of Life:
We’ll start by cutting your 24 gauge wire.
Cut 5 pieces, each about 152mm (6″) long:
On each piece of wire, use the tips of your round nose pliers to grasp the midpoint of the wire.
Use your fingers to bend the wire ends straight downward, making a long narrow horseshoe shape:
Your five wires should look like this:
Now we’ll attach the first wire to the frame we made previously.
Slide the wire onto the bottom of the frame:
Now wrap one end of your wire tightly around the frame.
You’ll probably need to curve the wire so you can pass it through the frame without kinking your wire:
After one wrap, your wire should look something like this:
Keep wrapping the same wire end tightly around the frame 3 or 4 times:
Then attach the remaining wires, one by one, to the bottom of the frame, in the same way you attached the first wire:
Now we’ll start making the tree’s roots.
Swing the middle wire upward across the frame:
Still working with the middle wire, cross the two wire ends tightly, just above where this wire is wrapped around the frame:
Use your fingers to twist the two wires tightly together 2 or 3 times, right above where you crossed the wire ends.
These wire twists will become one of the roots of your tree.
Then use your fingers to straighten the two wire ends above your twists, and point them upward toward the bail loop:
Now move to one of the wires that’s next to the center wire.
Follow the same procedure you just did on the center wire – swing the wire ends upward across the frame, cross the wires tightly above the wire wraps, twist the wires tightly together about 4 or 5 times to create the second root, and straighten the wires above the twists.
Now bend the straightened wires, so that they lie across the center wires:
Just above the roots, use your fingers to bend the second pair of wires straight up on top of the first pair of wires, pointing up toward the frame’s bail:
Follow the same procedure with the remaining three sets of wires.
You may need to add some extra wire twists for the roots on the outer wires, so that the root twisting will reach all the way to the base of the tree.
Now all of the tree trunk wires are rising above the roots:
To create the tree trunk, we’ll tightly twist the entire bundle of wires together.
The trunk twists should end anywhere from halfway to two-thirds of the way up the frame, so you’ll still have space to style your tree branches.
You can use your fingers or your flat nose pliers for the twisting.
I find it easier to do with my fingers.
Either way, start by lifting the tree trunk wires up off of the frame, so you’ll have space to twist them.
With one hand, grasp the tree roots you just created.
With the other hand, tightly grasp the tree trunk wires just above the roots, using your fingers or flat nose pliers.
Twist the entire bundle of trunk wires tightly a few times:
Your tree trunk may look something like this:
You can keep your tree trunk straight, or you can put a bend in it.
If you want a bend, use your round nose pliers to add a curve to the trunk wires:
Now we’ll lay the tree back down across the frame.
It’s time to create your tree branches.
Separate the remaining un-twisted wire ends into 5 pairs of wires:
Starting next to the tree trunk, tightly twist each pair of wires to create a tree branch.
Use round nose pliers to bend the twisted branches however you like.
At the end of each twisted branch, you should have two wires that haven’t been twisted yet.
These will become the smaller one-wire branches:
On these smaller branches you can add beads to represent leaves, flowers, fruit – or just for decoration.
You can use any size of beads.
For this tree of life frame size, you may want to use beads that are 4mm size or smaller.
The tree I created here is an early Spring tree that’s just starting to leaf out, so I used tiny green 10/0 seed beads:
Whether you use beads or not, when you finish bending and styling each of your small one-wire branches, wrap its wire end tightly around the frame 4 or 5 times:
Then trim off the excess wire end and use chain nose pliers to press the cut wire end tightly against the frame.
And for the final step, you can use your round nose pliers to bend the tree roots to give them a bit more character if you like:
With this basic Wire Tree of Life tutorial, there are endless ways to design and decorate your own tree!
More views of my tree:
