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by: Dwyn Tomlinson

These large crimp tubes and heavy, decorative wire make it easy to make bangle bracelets.

Cut about 10 inches of wire, and thread on the beads. Check the length - making sure that it will pass over your wrist. A bracelet sizer is a handy tool at this point - you can measure an existing bracelet that is the right size and compare to that, or make a practice piece out of scrap wire or string and tweak the size until it is perfect, and then
measure that.

I admit that I pulled beads out of my bead soup, so the colour pattern isn't as symmetric as it would be otherwise.

When you are ready to secure the ends, slide the crimp tube on halfway onto the wire and crimp. Put the indented side of the pliers on the inside for a cleaner look. No need to fold and re-crimp, just a single, hard squeeze should do. Ok, squeeze it again, it will make you feel better.

Now insert the other end of the wire into the uncrimped and empty half of the tube, and crimp that.

Et voila! So easy - you'll want to make a bunch!

The colour I used is, of course - discontinued now, but try any of the 18 mm Swarovski Graphic Beads. You'll need 6 plus 11 of the 10 mm

Alternately, you could use the 12 mm Graphic beads for a more subdued, but still rich, effect.


The Spiral Helix beads (article 5020) in 10 mm are a great complement to the Graphic beads. Or choose the smaller 6 mm or 8 mm beads if you are using the smaller graphic beads. Overall - you are looking for about 220 mm of beads. So if you wanted to use 12 mm Graphic beads, you could use 10 x 12 mm = 120 mm. 220 mm overall - 120 mm = 100 mm to fill up - so if you went with the 6 mm beads - you'd need about 16-17 depending on how exact you got the length of the bracelet. For every 12 mm bead you add, subtract 2 of the 6 mm beads. If you like math, you can have a lot of fun with this. Or you can take my approach, and just stick beads on until it looks good!

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Components Clicking on components links will open a new window so that you don't lose this page.
	Qty: 1	74703006-11 Craft Wire - 16ga - Braided Wire - Non-Tarnish Brass (Artistic Wire)	Price: $ 10.75 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.
	Qty: 1	helezb3 Design Tools - Tools - EZ Bracelet Mini -	Price: $ 12.95 per	Sorry, Out of Stock
	Qty: 1	24012003-04 Findings - 16ga Crimp Tubes for Wire - Brass (Pack)	Price: $ 9.95 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.
	Qty: 11	27750205050001 Swarovski Bead - 10mm Spiral Helix (5020) - Crystal AB	Price: $ 2.75 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.
	Qty: 6	27755201050001 Swarovski Bead - 18mm Graphic (5520) - Crystal AB	Price: $ 4.35 per	Sorry - this item is unavailable.