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Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant, Contemporary Wire Jewelry. Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire. These sweet little bird nests, are perfect for spring! Easy to create, simply form the shape and size of your nest using 20 gauge base wire and attach on any beads of your choice (I've chosen some pearls to represent my

Birds Nest Pendant

by Natalie Patten
  • Category: Contemporary
  • Technique(s): Wrapping, Weaving
  • Skill Level: Beginner
These sweet little bird nests, are perfect for spring! Easy to create, simply form the shape and size of your nest using 20 gauge base wire and attach on any beads of your choice (I've chosen some pearls to represent my "eggs"). There's no intricate wrapping required as this free-flow organic weaving technique will create a more natural look. Wear as a pendant or make two for earrings!

Watch the Video Here

Materials

20 Gauge Round Dead Soft .925 Sterling Silver Wire
H8-20D
  • Lesson Quantity: 24.00 inches
  • Purchase Quantity: 2.00 1FT
  • Price: $6.63
  • Gold Club Price: $4.97
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26 Gauge Round Dead Soft .925 Sterling Silver Wire
H8-26D
  • Lesson Quantity: 30.00 inches
  • Purchase Quantity: 1.00 5FT
  • Price: $6.99
  • Gold Club Price: $5.24
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Beads- 3 of your choice either round or oval
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Chain of your choice
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Tools

C.H.P Milano Italian Flush Cutter, 5 1/2 Inches
PLR-487.00
  • PLR-487.00
  • Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
  • Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
  • Price: $16.97
  • Gold Club Price: $12.73
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Acculoop Precision Round Nose
PLR-741.00
  • PLR-741.00
  • Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
  • Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
  • Price: $18.97
  • Gold Club Price: $14.23
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Chain Nose Wire Pliers
G2-508
  • G2-508
  • Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
  • Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
  • Price: $32.95
  • Gold Club Price: $24.71
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6 Step Barrel Plier - Pack of 1
G2-503
  • G2-503
  • Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
  • Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
  • Price: $14.95
  • Gold Club Price: $11.21
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5 1/2 Inch Nylon Flat Jaw Pliers with Replacement Jaws
G2-1
  • G2-1
  • Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
  • Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
  • Price: $9.97
  • Gold Club Price: $7.48
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WireJewelry - Essentials Jewelry Pliers Set with Case, Set of 5
G15-21
  • G15-21
  • Lesson Quantity: 1.00 pieces
  • Purchase Quantity: 1.00 each
  • Price: $124.95
  • Gold Club Price: $93.71
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Instructions
Step 1
Take approximately 20 inches of 20 gauge wire. (This can be adjusted to your preferred size to make your nest frame larger or smaller.)

Starting around two inches up from the tip of the wire form a loop with round nose pliers.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Form a loop
Step 2
Start to form a spiral with your fingers.

The coils of the spirals should not be too tight and close together as they need to allow a little room in between to weave through the 26 gauge wire in the later stage.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Form a spiral
Step 3
Use your thumb and finger to create a divot in the wire spiral to form a small indentation to create a shallow bowl shape.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Create a divot
Step 4
Continue to spiral the wire to the size you would like your nest to be, so that your chosen beads will fit snuggly into the center.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Continue the spiral
Step 5
Chain nose pliers can be used to make small bends and crimps in the wire to represent twigs and create a more organic look to your piece.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Create an organic look to your piece
Step 6
Start to form the wire so that it is positioned on top of the last coil.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Form the last coil
Step 7
Bring the wire back towards the inside of the nest.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Bring the wire back to the inside
Step 8
When you are happy with the size and shape of the wire nest, bring the wire back through the starting center loop.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Bring the wire back through the start
Step 9
This wire should now run parallel with the other from the back of the frame and can be used to form a bail once the nest is complete.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Form a bail
Step 10
Take a long length of weaving wire/26 gauge. You can work directly off the spool or cut a length of approximately 30 inches.

(The amount required will be dependent on the style of bail you wish to make.)

Bring the weaving wire through the center of the loop and out to the front of the nest.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Bring wire through the center and out the front of the nest
Step 11
Weave the 26 gauge wire in and out between the coils to bind them together.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Weave the wire
Step 12
The weaving wire can be placed around the nest at any point so that it travels towards the edge of the nest frame, and back towards the center, to firm up the structure and shape.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Firm up structure and shape
Step 13
Continue to weave in the 26 gauge wire around the nest to make it more rigid, these weaves need to be tight around the base wire coil, to ensure it doesn't snag, but is not required to be neat, as it is designed to give the impression of twigs and look organic.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Tighten weaves
Step 14
Position the weaving wire around the full nest, so that the frame is bound together.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Bound frame
Step 15
Travel the weaving wire back down through the coil towards the center of the nests' starting loop.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Travel wire to starting loop
Step 16
Bring the weaving wire through the center to where you would like to position your first bead.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Decide where to position first bead
Step 17
Add the bead onto the weaving wire.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Add bead
Step 18
Position the bead in place and bring the weaving wire back through the frame to secure the bead/egg in place.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Position and secure bead
Step 19
Bring the weaving wire back through the front of the nest frame and add on your next bead and secure to the frame to hold it into position.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Add and secure next bead
Step 20
Add on all of the beads you would like to include into your nest in the same way, securing them into the frame with the weaving wire.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Add final beads
Step 21
Once you are happy with the placement of your beads/eggs inside of the nest, fix the remaining weaving wire to the frame by wrapping around one of the outer framing wires three times.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Secure remaining weaving wire to frame
Step 22
Cut off any excess weaving wire on the inside of the nest.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Remove excess weaving wire
Step 23
Use pliers to tuck in the tail end to the frame to ensure that there are no sharp edges.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Tuck tail end to the frame
Step 24
The remaining tail of the weaving wire (possibly attached to the spool) should be travelling through the back of the nest and can be used to weave the bail.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Weave remaining wire into the bail
Step 25
The two 20 gauge wires running parallel up from the nest can be used to form a bail, either by making a simple wrapped loop or a woven bail of your choice.

Use the weaving wire to create a figure of eight weave or as shown here, wrapping three times over one wire, two times over both wires and three times over the other base wire.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Create a figure eight
Step 26
Use bail step/barrel pliers or round nose pliers to shape the bail into a loop large enough to attach on an earring hook or attach a chain if wearing as a pendant.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Shape the bail into a loop
Step 27
To securely close the bail, use the weaving wire to attach the bail to itself, by wrapping around the neck of the bail behind the top of the nest frame.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Close the bail
Step 28
Trim off any excess weaving wire and tuck into the underside of the bail.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Trim off excess wire
Step 29
Cut the bail wires that are travelling down the back of the nest, so that they are equal in length.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Cut bail wires to make them equal in length
Step 30
Use round nose pliers to create small curls at the end of each wire turning in towards the bail.

Fix these curls down close to the nest frame.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Create curls
Step 31
Your birds nest is now complete and ready to attach to a chain or earring hook.
Natalie Patten's Birds Nest Pendant - , Contemporary Wire Jewelry, Wire Wrapping, Wrapping, Wire Wrapping Jewelry, Weaving, Wire Weaving, Weaving Wire, Ready to attach to chain or earring hook
Step 32:
Watch the Step by Step Video

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