Heart Sun Catcher DIY

Now that Christmas is over, I can share this new tutorial! I made the sun catcher in the picture as a present for my mum, so I couldn’t post until now in case she saw!

This is slightly fiddly to put together – one of those projects that could do with an extra hand or two – but the method is relatively simple! 

You’ll need:

Beading wire (I used .012 diameter)

Jewellery wire (I used approx 2mm wire)

Lots of small beads and/or crystal chip beads

Large clear bead/charm for the centre

Ribbon

1 split ring

Jump rings

Crimps

Tools:

Tape measure

Wire cutters

Flat-nosed pliers

Round-nosed pliers

1. Cut a length of wire approximately 2 inches longer than you want the perimeter of your sun catcher to be. Use round-nosed pliers to bend one end around in a loop.

2. Wrap the opposite end of the wire around the base of the loop to create a bail and bend the circle of wire into a heart shape.

3. Cut a piece of beading wire 6-7 inches longer than the jewellery wire cut in step 1. a) Use a crimp to attach one end to the heart, on one side of the bail.
b) Slide the jump ring onto the beading wire and attach to the other side of the bail with another crimp.

4. Thread on your beads/crystals so there are enough to go all the way around the heart. You should have several inches of beading wire left (and maybe a few excess beads)

5. Add a crimp right on the end of the beading wire to stop the beads falling off as you attach them to the heart.

6. Cut another length of beading wire 3 times the measurement around the heart. (You will have a little left over, but it’s easier to work with a bit extra!) Attach this length of wire to the heart, next to the length of beaded wire.

7. Pull the beaded wire across the ‘front’ of the bail and the un-beaded wire around the back.
Pull the un-beaded wire to the front, between the beads, and back through the centre of the heart to the back.

8. Repeat all the way around the heart, making sure the wire falls between each set of beads (I didn’t thread it between all of the crystal chips as they were fairly bulky).

9. When you have attached the beads all the way around the heart, cut off the crimp from the end of the beaded wire and remove the excess beads.

10. Cut down both ends of beading wire so that they are the same length, approximately 3 inches long.

11. Pull both lengths of wire to the back of the heart, together, and slide on a crimp. Loop the wires around the heart on the opposite side of the bail to where you brought them to the back. Slide them between the beads and back through the crimp.

12. Pull the wire tightly to close the loop, and flatten the crimp to secure.

13. Use jump rings to attach the large charm/bead to the jump ring attached in step 3.

14. Loop a piece of ribbon through the bail and knot the ends together.

15. Hang it in the window and catch the rays of sun!

 Of course, this method isn't limited to hearts, other shapes would look great too!

Will be linking up at the parties listed below.