Ornamental Bead Sticks! Part Five: Leafy Wire Stems

Oh jeepers, creepers, I am having so much fun with this series of Stuff On Sticks!  Seems like you guys are really enjoying it, too.

Today, in Part Five, a fabulous variation on Part Two (Bead On A Wire).  It's a great little shortcut to make leafy wirework flower stems.

This is a great beginning wirework project.  Use as home decor or a cute handmade gift!  You can even make one into a sweet wirework pendant:

Ready to try it?  Let's begin.

Start with a length of wire and a pretty bead.  Tools needed: a wire snipper and roundnose pliers.

What size wire?  I recommend 20, 22 or 24 gauge.  (Anything thicker is too stiff for my special trick; anything skinnier isn't strong enough to support a bead perched up top.)

Cut the wire about 8" longer than you want your finished flower stem to be.  An inch or two from the top, grab the wire with roundnose pliers.  Use your fingers to twirl the wire around the pliers to make a small loop.

Add your big focal bead.  Trim any excess wire, and twist the wire down to capture the bead.

Now use your finger (or anything shaped like a finger) to make a series of larger loops along the wire.

Give a twist to each loop.  Twist 'em all the way around at least once, which locks them in place.

And - drum rolling - here comes my bestest, simple little trick for turning loops into leaves.  You will love this!!!  Ready?

Imagine each loop as a clock, with the wire stem at 6 o'clock.

With the tippy-tip ends of your pliers, grab the loop right about 1 o'clock.  Like so:

 
Give a sharp, tight twist clockwise.

It's a leaf!  And the crowd goes wild!

I should note that I came up with this on my own - but it's such an easy thing, I'm sure gadzillions of wireworkers have done it before me.

Repeat with the rest of your loops.

Yay!

Then make ten million more, because you will be addicted and won't be able to help yourself.

For the pendant, make a super short flower stem, then simply add a loop to the bottom end.

Hang upside down, using two jump rings as shown:

Alrighty, my friends - hope you enjoyed this addition to the series!

To see the rest of the Stuff On Sticks:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six 
Part Seven