Pea Pod Charm Tutorial

So I've seen these cute little pea pod necklaces quite a bit. I've figured out how to make them. They are actually quite simple. Here's what you will need:

Wire
3 beads that look like peas
a pair of jewelry pliers
1 head pin (about 2 in. long)
Wire cutters or an old pair of scissors

First get you head pin and wrap the wire tightly about 1/4" from the head of the pin.

Then you slide on your beads.

Pull the wire along the beads to the other end of the pin and tightly wrap the wire around pin closest to the beads like so:

Then pull the wire down the other side of the beads and wrap it around the first end. You can already see the pea pod coming together!

Now you are going to continue wrapping the wire up the sides and around the pin until you are satisfied with the results. The wires are going to try to overlap one another, so try to hold them in place when you are wrapping the wire. And make sure you stay consistent with the direction you wrap the wire around the pin (across the front of the pin, around the back then down the other side of the beads). If you don't stay consistent with the direction you won't get the pretty braided look of the wire.

When you get to the back of the beads you are going to pull the wire into place so it can cover the back. The back should look something like the picture on the left.

Now at this point you probably only have a tiny portion of the head pin sticking out of the top. It is to small to make a loop so I just used my jewelry pliers to bend it toward the back. Sorry you can't see it very well in the photo.

Now you are going to press the wire in to hug the beads with your fingers.

Now cut the wire that it attached to the top of your pea pod to about 2 or 3 in.

Wrap a loop with your pliers at the top of the pea pod.

Then you are going to tightly wrap the wire around the base of the loop 3 or 4 times until you cover up the folded-over head pin.








You can stop there and trim the wire. Or you can curl the extra wire to make a curly vine. As pictured below: 

 Slip the charm on a chain to make it a necklace or bracelet. Put it on your key chain or attach them to ear wires to make cute earrings. So many possibilities!



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