1)You will need a bead, a long head pin (thick or thin), some round nose, flat nose and cutter pliers
2)Thread the bead onto the headpin and grip it with the round nose pliers a third of the way up the shaft
3)Bend the headpin to a 90 degree angle over the round nose pliers
4)Turn the piers up..
5)…and flip the pin back over the top of the pliers..
6)…bend all the way around to form the loop
7/8) Grip the loop with one pair of pliers and wrap the end of the pin with the other pliers. You will be able to use your finger for thin headpins but will need to use pliers to twist for thicker headpins like the one shown here.
9/10) Snip the end, tuck it in and tidy up by squeezing with flat nose pliers
11) A fantastic wrapped loop headpin!

1)You will need wire (20 - 26 gauge – I have used 20 gauge here, experiment to get the result you want), round nose pliers, and a top drilled (not through drilled) bead of your choice
2/3) Thread a length of wire through the bead and squeeze with round nose pliers
4/5) Snip one side of the wire leaving ½ cm
6) Pull the wire over the top of the round nose pliers
7) All the way around to form the loop
8/9) Grip the loop with the pliers and with the other pliers wrap the wire all the way to the top of the bead
10) Snip the wire off as near to the bead as possible and align the cut end with the rest by pressing with flat nose pliers
11) Re-adjust the loop with round nose pliers to centre it

1)You will need tigertail, cutters, flat nose pliers, four crimp beads and a clasp with two completely closed (no gaps) jump rings or loops attached. (Do not use this method with an open jumpring the tigertail will slip out)
2)Cut a length of tigertail (9 inches or 30cm to be safe) thread on two crimp beads, followed by the clasp
3)Loop the tiger tail through the clasp’s jumpring and back through the crimps to form a loop
4) pull the end with pliers until the crimps are next to the clasp (leave some room so the clasp hangs nicely)
5/6) Crush the crimps firmly with the flat nose pliers
7/8) Thread on your beads of choice over both strands of tigertail
9)Finish following steps 2-5 and pull the end of the tigertail back through the last bead
10/11) Snip the end of the tigertail close to the beads to finish

1) You will need a pair of round nose pliers, flat nose and cutters. Two headpins, two earwires and two beads of your choice.
2/3) Thread the bead onto the headpin
4) Bend the pin at the base next to the top of the bead over to a 90 degree angle with your finger.
5) Cut the pin with the cutters leaving 1cm/half an inch
6) Using the round nose pliers, grip the pin at it’s tip, half way up the plier’s shaft
7) Hold the pin steady by pressing its head with your finger at the bottom of the bead. Now roll the pin towards you.
8/9) It May be necessary to reposition the pliers to carry on rolling the loop all the way around
10) Open the loop by twisting it sideways (as shown in the picture) do not pull it away from itself or it will lose that wonderful shape you have created
11) Now add the earwire to the loop and close it again
12) Voila! the perfect pair of earrings!

So to start with you will need:

The Clay
Butane Torch
Brass Brush
Craft knife
Rolling pin
Two playing cards
Fire-brick
A pot of water
Tweezers
Olive oil
A plastic surface of some sort.
A new, small paint brush

1) Coat your fingers in a little olive oil. Take a chunk of clay out and put the rest away in the packet, seal tightly, you don’t want it to dry out. Now don’t worry about the bit you’re using obsessively (as I did) it won’t dry out in an instant and as long as your fingers are oiled and you don’t work on the clay excessively it will keep it’s clay like consistency. If it does dry out a bit you can add a single drop of water to the clay wrap in cling film tightly for 5 minutes and it will re-hydrate.

2) Roll into a rough sausage shape with your hands and then use a plastic card to roll the sausage into a completely even shape on your plastic surface.

3) Cut the length to what you want for the t-bar with the craft knife. You can either leave the ends straight cut or smooth them with a little slip and a paint brush.

4) Make another, longer sausage in the same way. Cut the ends straight and use a paint brush and some slip to paint each end hold the ends together and create the toggle.

5) Now make two tiny sausages to make the loops to attach to both the bar and toggle for the threads with slip. Cut the ends of the tiny sausages at a slight slant for the toggle and use slip to attach them to the toggle and t-bar. Use slip to paint any areas that need smoothing.

6) Leave everything to dry over night (8 hours)

7) Place one item on the firing brick and light the butane torch.

8) Fire the clay until it flames and then glows red (see picture) Keep it like this for 20 seconds.

9)Now dip in the water with tweezers, it will hiss and it’s ready to be shined up. It will look white at this point.

10) Use the brass brush to bring it up to a silver shine. You may like to file your finished piece to smooth any areas off.

Very useful tutorial here on how to solder a jump ring. This is a really important technique if you want your jewellery to be extra secure. It’s usually more expensive jewellery that seems to be soldered because of the extra time taken I assume.

Here we have an excellent video from Jennifer Kramer. See her beautiful jewellery here.