Beaded Angel Ornament

My Grandma used to make my brother and I ornaments each year. It's a tradition that I came to treasure as I got older and I've managed to hang on to all her gift ornaments and still use them on my tree today. This is one of Grandma's ornaments... it still looks good for being 25+ years old.

What You'll Need:

• 65 4mm perl beads
• 49 3mm gold beads
• 1 12mm perl bead
• 1 yard 26 gauge wire (Use thinner wire if you have trouble getting it through the beads twice)
• 8 inches silver or gold thread
• Wire cutter

What to Do:

1. Find the center of your wire and bend it into an "L" shape at the center. String 10 pearl beads onto it.

2. Slide 9 beads onto one end of the wire, keeping them near the end. Thread other end of the wire back through the 9 beads and pull tight. See the diagram below for clarification.

3. Start the third row of the dress by sliding 8 beads onto one end of the wire and pusing the other end through all 8 beads. Pull tight. Continue doing this and subtracting one bead for each row of the dress until you are down to just one bead. Use the same method from step 2 to create each row, including the last row of just one bead. You should have a triangle of 10 rows.

4. Take the longer end of the wire and thread 18 of the gold beads on it. Do the same thing with the other end of the wire. These will be the wings. Pull both ends tight and then twist them (Like a twist tie) together to secure the wings.

5. Take one end of the wire and string on the large bead. Then string 13 gold beads. Pull tightly and then thread the wire back through the large bead. Wrap the wire around the "neck" of the angel to secure. Clip both ends of the wire.

6. String 5 perl beads on one of the left over pieces of wire. Bend one end of the wire over so that the beads won't fall off. This will be the first arm.

7. Push the beads from step 6 down to the end of the wire where it is bent. Wrap the other end of the wire around the "neck" of the angel as close as possible to the beads. This will secure the "arm" onto the angel. To create the other "arm," string on the last 5 beads. Wrap the wire over the last bead to hold it in place and cut the wire.

8. Bend the arms into a "C" shape, round out the wings, and make sure the halo is round. Tie a piece of gold or silver thread inconspicuously to the halo and you're done.

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