What can be made of wire?

Many craftsmen often wonder - what can be done from wire? Such crafts are less critical to errors, since failed sections are easy to disassemble and remake. A huge number of various crafts, both decorative and practical, can be made from wire.

The wire cannot be universal. It varies in material, thickness and stiffness. It depends on these criteria how flexible it is and will keep its shape. For various crafts, you need to pick up your wire. The material distinguishes brass wire, copper, steel (wire rod), aluminum and silver, but there are also various alloys. The wire can be either clean or with a decorative or protective coating.

There is enameled, galvanized and galvanized and even coated with plastic. Silver or gold coated wire is considered jewelry and is used to make jewelry. But floristic has a paper winding. Decorative crafts or decorations will look advantageous from colored material.

The next criterion is thickness or section. The most commonly used round wire, but the cross section can be any, for example, oval, square or wedge-shaped. And the last indicator is rigidity. Thin steel wire will have the same rigidity as thick copper wire. Distinguish between soft, semi-rigid and hard.

There are also special types of wire:

• french - in the form of a spiral, more often used in jewelry, while the thinner the spiral, the more expensive the metal from which it is made;
• tiger tail - braided wire, more often made of stainless steel with a nylon coating, used to create an "invisible" base, not suitable for winding;
• with memory effect - made of stainless steel or black steel, tough, holds its shape perfectly, but is not suitable for reuse or weaving;
• chenille - a wire covered with plush fabric, for which it was called fluffy.

Chenille wire is great for children's crafts. It is bright, soft, easily bends. It can be safely given into the hands of preschool children, but it is necessary to make it under the supervision of an adult. Interestingly, chenille was originally used to clean smoking pipes and has been used relatively recently in creativity. Beads, beads, silk ribbons and threads, coins, shells, semiprecious stones, buttons and much more, even plasticine, are used as decor.

In the craft, you can combine different types of wire cross section. For example, a thicker one is used to create a frame, and a thin one is used for winding. The appearance of the product will depend on how suitable the wire is. It is also worth thinking in advance about the places of bends and fastenings. The ends of the wire can be connected by bending, twisting, soldering, hardware or couplings. When the connection is made by welding or soldering, the ends should be thoroughly cleaned and degreased.

There are various techniques for working with wire.

• Spiraling and curls. It has its own name - Wire wrapping. Used to make jewelry, giving the craft a beautiful appearance.
• Ganutel - creating flowers using threads and various decorative ornaments.
• Beadwork - in fact, the same as in the classic version, only wire is used instead of fishing line and thread, which gives the structure more rigidity and holds its shape better.

Although the wire is considered a malleable material, it requires effort when weaving. And therefore for work tools are required:

• nippers;
• pliers;
• round pliers;
• soldering iron - some voluminous parts require soldering;
• tweezers to hold items while soldering or gluing;
• small hammer and anvil - will allow to flatten the wire;
• fine sandpaper;
• locksmiths and ordinary;
• adhesive tape or electrical tape - for temporary fastening of parts.

The set of tools can be much larger, depending on the purpose of the work and materials. For example, to connect large parts, you can use not only soldering, but also hot melt.

The wire allows you to make various items: from jewelry to furniture. Everything is limited by the capabilities of the material and the imagination of the master. As creativity, it is suitable for both children's crafts and complex professional works.

For beginners, contour crafts are recommended as the lightest. Here you can use a pre-prepared sketch, applying crafts to the sheet. The step-by-step algorithm is simple: first the outline is made, and then the internal details and decor. Some parts can be made separately along the contour, for example, the wings of butterflies, dragonflies or angel, and then wound together. In places of bonding, the winding may be more dense.

In this way, A craft from a flat one can turn into a more voluminous one if you connect parts not in one plane, but in different ones. For example, make a bicycle, phone stand, decorative cage or basket. Craft can be made from one piece of wire, just bent several times, for example, a clothes hanger or bracelet. Often children tend to complicate crafts. Do not hinder them in this.Creativity develops not only fine motor skills, but also spatial imagination.

They can be flat and voluminous. For work, you can take the same patterns as for ordinary beadwork. The wire, unlike fishing line, keeps its shape perfectly, so you can make not only bracelets and rings, but also hats, for example, crowns and tiaras. Also in this technique you can create a keychain, pendant, wreath, earrings, bow, Christmas tree toy, chandelier or lampshade, and more, and decor for interiors.

Such crafts are a great solution for inexpensive gifts or souvenirs.. From the wire with strung beads you can not only weave figures, but also wrap objects. So you can make a cup for pencils, a candlestick or a vase. For this, the wire needs to be wrapped around a plastic cup or other container, you can fix it using hot melt adhesive.

Here the fantasy is truly limitless. The main thing is to make a stable stem and fasten it with buds and leaves. To make the flower beautiful, its sketch must be done on paper, and then bend the wire along the contour. Very sharp bends are easier to do with pliers or pliers. You can fill the space of the petal with a winding of thinner wire or thread (ganutel), as well as beads or other decorative elements. Similarly, leaves are made. You can attach it by soldering or braiding the wire on the stem.

Despite the apparent complexity, in fact, such figurines are quite simple to manufacture. To do this, a frame is made of a thicker wire, and then wraps a thinner one. As a winding, you can use thick threads. In this technique, you can make a horse, cat, octopus, bird, mannequin and even a dinosaur.

Bonsai is made by the same principle. First, the main frame of the tree is made, and only then it is braided with wire. As a basis, several thick wires (5-7 pieces) are taken, they twist in the middle. The edges will imitate the roots and branches, so they need to be beautifully bent. Thin branches can be supplemented with a winding or use beads. To prevent the tree from falling, a heavy base is used, for example, stone. To do this, wrap the "roots" around it. The base can be hidden in a flower pot and sprinkled with decorative stone chips.

It is made by twisting the wire into a spiral. A product with a height of 15-20 cm will need about 0.5-1 m. Consumption depends on the angle of the spiral. The material must be stiff enough to stand upright. There are two ways to make a spiral. At the first, the wire is twisted into a spiral on a horizontal surface, and then stretched like a spring. In the second, it is necessary to stock up in advance with a conical object and wind the wire on it. You can simply twist the spiral into a cone, but then the product comes out uneven and can fall to one side.

The tree is decorated with a garland or ribbons with beads. You can also pull the green threads vertically, intertwining with rings of wire. Another interesting option is if you wire the wire into tinsel and only then twist it. It is important to remember that metal conducts current perfectly, so with an electric garland should be extremely careful. If you bend the tip of the wire vertically from above, you can put on a star. This craft is very simple to manufacture and is perfect not only for home decoration, but also as a craft to school or kindergarten.

You can also make classic Christmas balls from wire. For the form you need a balloon or a ready-made ordinary balloon made of plastic. Then it is braided with a larger wire to create a frame. The plastic balloon can be left, but the air burst and pull out.Next, you need to fill the space between the rods. To do this, you can use a thinner wire with strung beads or colored threads. The space can be filled tightly or leave gaps. It is important to consider the weight of the product..

It is better to start working with wire with something simple, for example, with the manufacture of animal contours, flowers, hearts. You can weave rings and bracelets. And in order to make the work more even, print a sketch on the printer and check it according to the process. Hard wire can be purchased at hardware stores. But for finer work, including jewelry making, it is better to look for material in needlework stores.

If there is no experience working with wire, then it is better to begin acquaintance with copper. She is more pliable for female and children's hands. In addition, small errors are easier to correct, since it does not break after 3-4 bends, such as aluminum. But for the smallest, chenille wire is suitable, because it is soft and bright.

In the next video, you will see how to make a chenille dog.