Husband and I made this rosary for our goddaughter's baptism, him creating the olive wood cross and me doing all of the bead work. We don't usually do joint crafting projects but this rosary was a perfect alignment of our skill sets and the need for a special and religious gift. I can honestly say that this is one of the best things I've ever made.
While I've done quite a few wire projects previously, this one has some special details that make it stand out. First, I used a different wire than normal: stainless steel. Not only will this wire not tarnish, but it's also strong enough to stay in place without needing the more complex wrap for each loop. (With well over 100 loops to make, doing a simpler wrap saved me so much time.) The other detail I love is the Y-connector near the cross, which has the Virgin Mary on one side and Jesus on the other. It was pure luck to find it at the bead shop as it's the perfect connector for a rosary.
This rosary is also the biggest wire project I have done to date. It took several evenings to put together but I found the work quite meditative. Thankfully, I have plenty of beads leftover from my trip to the local bead shop, so I'm looking forward future evenings of meditative wire-work.
My goddaughter is still a little too young to appreciate this gift, but I hope she grows to love her rosary in time. And I'm also hoping that some day she will hang out with her godparents without crying.
3 comments:
Hey Kristin!
What gorgeous work and what a wonderful gift for a godchild!
I've been wanting to make a rosary for ages, and I've been wanting to connect the beads with wire...but I don't know where to begin!
What sort of tools and wraps did you use? Are there any diagrams or anything online that you followed?
Thanks a million,
Mary
Mary,
My standard wire tools are a small pair of pliers, a round-nose plier, and wire cutters. You can get a set at your local craft store in the bead aisle. I use the round nose to make loops and the other pliers to help hold stuff.
Here's a tutorial for making a simple loop, which I did on both sides of each bead for this project. I used a harder wire, 22-gauge stainless steel, for this rosary. If you're using a softer wire, you'll want to use a wrapped loop, which is stronger (but takes more material).
I learned wire wrapping from this Craftsy class, but there are plenty of basic wire tutorials online.
A rosary is actually a fairly simple wire project, as you are making a bunch of simple loops. With a little looping practice, I have no doubt that you can make one.
Hope this helps and good luck!
Oh my gosh, Briney. that is so beautiful!
I'm wordless. You two did an amazing job on this collaboration. I am so impressed.
Now you're making me want to learn wire wrapping.
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