Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Spirograph Ornaments






Remember Spirograph?  Don't these ornaments remind you of the designs you got from spinning your pen around inside those little wheels?






I created them from some super skinny, ultra cheapo metal bangle bracelets.


The bangles are one millimeter wide, and bendable as all get out.  Look for them at discount jewelry or import shops.  Also Indian or Pakistani grocery/gift shops, if you are lucky enough to live near one.  I bought mine online here

Want to DIY?   Sit down with a bunch of bangles and play with shapes.  Just use your fingers to squeeze and bend.




Combine multiple shapes with a jump ring at the top.  Then add an ornament hanger to the jump ring, like so:



That's it, you guys!  Really fun and easy peasy.



Allow me to demonstrate a few groovy combinations.

Combo Uno



Combo Dos





Combo Tres





Extra nifty bonus: they are light as air, and will hang weightlessly on the wimpiest Charlie Brown Christmas tree or the very tip of a delicate branch.



Tips for shaping
1. These bangles are dainty and easy to over-bend, so go easy on the little darlings.
2. For symmetrical pairs, try shaping two at the same time.
3. The tiny welds are a bit fragile - avoid a sharp bend at the joint, so it won't pop apart.
4. If you don't have jump rings handy, you could just use the ornament hanger to grab all the bangles at the top.  It's less free-swinging that way, but works just as well.

I sure hope you like this one.  Happy combining!

 


14 comments:

  1. Some look like bean pods. Haha, pretty!
    Sakura

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  2. These would look pretty hanging onto a chandelier.

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  3. I have spent a lot of time as a kid bending bangles like this and throwing them away when they finally snap..never thought you could make something useful out of it :D

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  4. Look at you doing some multilingual blogging! I cannot even read the word spirograph without smiling! There was just something so satisfying about messing with them. Your pretty ornaments look a lot more complex than they are and I love that they are so light weight. Nice job Mich!

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  5. Very nifty, and an easy peasy idea! I can see these in all kinds of colors, too! I loved my spirograph as a kid btw:)

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  6. Genius!! These are beautiful and elegant, and I loved how you used black and white images to show the bends you made. Awesome tutorial!

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    1. Jeepers, thanks for the lovely compliment, D!!! Means a lot, coming from the reigning queen of beautiful tutorials.

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  7. Thanks for the tutorial! I've got a Charlie Brown tree in need of ultra-light bling!

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  8. So cute, clever, and creative of you!! Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I could play for hours with my nifty Spyrograph. It was one of my favorites along with the Creepy Crawler machine.

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  9. It's really elegant and classy looking. Doesn't look like "cheapo" bangles at all!

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  10. How fun! I have many of these bangles in multicolor.. this idea is stunning :) thanks for sharing dear!!

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  11. These are nifty! Thanks for everything you do Michelle and I hope your holidays are as sweet and awesome as you.

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