Wine Charms

I've always held that when you host a party or give a gift, it's the little touches that make it special. Wine charms can be one of those sweet little touches. They can be ridiculously expensive in stores, but they are so easy to make yourself. The bonus about making them yourself is that you can customize them any way you like....charms, colors, etc. I like to customize sets and give them as gifts. I've made a cupcake set, a rubber duck set, and all kinds of other cute sets for different things. I love coming up with different theme ideas (I've done Twilight and Harry Potter sets....I'm trying to figure out what charms to use for  a Hunger Games set too). Even if you don't drink wine, they are fun to use for ice tea glasses or coffee cups too. Even if I'm just home having a glass of wine by myself, I usually put a charm on the glass because it's fun.

Here's what you need to make your own wine charms:

Select your beads or charms....remember that since each wine charm needs to be different, you can use a variety of charms and have the beads on the ring be the same color, or if you want to use the same charm for the set you can just switch up the bead colors on the rings. That way people can tell which glass is theirs.

If you use charms like the ones above, then you'll need jump rings to put them on the wire. If you are using beads or charms with a hole through them, like the beads pictured, then you'll need head pins.

For the wire ring, you'll need ring-sized memory wire. This wire is stronger than normal jewelry wire, and holds its shape when you bend it to put it on or off the glass stem.

I've actually had a hard time finding the ring-sized memory wire at places like JoAnn's or Michaels. I've found it at Artco in Tacoma, but you can also order it from Amazon. You will also need a pair of wire cutters (I suggest getting a pair and designating them for memory wire cutting. Since it's such a tough material, it really dulls the wire cutters), needle nose pliers, and a regular pair of pliers. You can buy a set of these tools in the jewelry section, or just use ones from the hardware store.

Once you have your wire, tools, and have picked out your charms or beads, figure out what colors you want to put on the rings. You can use seed beads of various sizes...less than .8mm usually will be too small though.

Aren't those little beads lovely? I got the set above from JoAnn's on sale a while ago. It's a great little set to have especially if you are starting out with wine charm making.

Since you have everything ready now, the first step is to prep your charms. Since I'm using the beads, I have to make my own charm to put on the ring. I take my head pin, and slide a little seed bead onto it first, then the big bead, and then two more little seed beads.

Next, you'll take your wire cutters and cut the pin a little bit above the beads. This leaves space to create a loop so the charm can go onto the ring.

Take the needle nose pliers and make a loop....make sure the loop is tight enough that it won't slip off of the ring.

Repeat with the other beads...

Next you need to cut your memory wire. This is tough and takes some muscle. Take the coil, and cut a ring that allows the ends to overlap, much like a key ring.

Cut however many you need....I'm making a small set of four this time. Once you have your rings cut and charms made, you're ready to go.

Take one of the rings and, using the needle nose pliers, make a small loop on one end of the ring. I've found that it's easiest to do this by placing one end between your fingers, and hold it firmly to create the loop. Make sure the loop is tight so that the beads can't slide off.

Start putting your seed beads on, filling the ring about half way.

Slide on your charm...

Fill the rest of the ring with beads, leaving about half an inch at the end so you can create the end loop with the needle nose pliers.

You will still have an overlap, similar to a keyring, which is important so that it stays on the glass stem.

Finish your other wine charms...and look how cute they are!

You'll notice that these aren't perfectly even. The over lap on the purple one isn't very long, though it will still work. The blue one's charm is kinda off center....but it's ok! They are quirky and fun. And SO cute on glasses!

It's that easy. It took me some practice to get the loops on the ends of the rings just right, so give yourself space to practice. Here are some sets I've made in the past. The first pic is all the ones I've kept for myself.

 This is the first set I ever made:

 The Twilight set I made. I kept it :). Yes, I'm a Twihard. Don't judge me!

 I LOVE these leaf ones. I actually used them when we had guests at Thanksgiving. They were a very sweet touch on the table!

If you are wanting to make larger sets or multiple sets of the same charm, Oriental Trading Company has a fairly nice selection at good prices. I have tons of the cupcakes, ducks, leaves, and owls left thanks to them. The seed beads I suggest buying from Michaels or JoAnn's...they sell large amounts for pretty cheap. And you know how I love inexpensive supplies that give me leftovers! For more specific charms, like the ones I used for the Twilight set, came from a bead store. If you don't have one near you, check out Shipwreck Beads online (http://www.shipwreckbeads.com/). They are out in Olympia, WA. I have yet to go into the physical store, but I've ordered from them online and had a great experience.

Hope this inspires you to have some fun making your own wine charms. The possibilities are endless, and they are SO EASY!

Sola Deo Gloria!