Beaded snowflake help pls!

ethansmum

I bought my beads, got my pipecleaners all ready for our school fayre, only one problem..... the beads don't fit on to the pipe cleaners! I don't fancy getting the snowflake forms because I've heard that they are tough to bead, so I'm going with wire.

Heres my problem what gauge do I need? I see everything from 20 gauge to 32, but with buying on ebay i can't see how 'bendy they are. Please could anyone tell me what they use for these snowflakes? is florist wire okay? thank you!

Jo.G

I used the wire snowflake forms when I did mine last year so not much help! The only slightly difficult part was bending the end of the wire as it is quite hard but manageable with some pliers. I've only bought beadlon for necklaces which wouldn't work as a snowflake. How are you planning on making the wire snowflake stay in shape? I'd just stick with the snowflake forms to be honest!

angelcake89

It depends on what size beads you've got really and how 'solid' you need them to be.

ethansmum

I've got size 4mm, 6mm and 8mm. Each has a 1mm hole, stability is not too great an issue, but not too soft and beady and not too hard. What would you suggest?

Mayflower10cat

I've just a look through my jewellery wire stash and IMHO, if I was making snowflakes from scratch, I'd use 0.90mm brass wire (20g) which is sturdy enough not to be too flimsy, but will bend with pliers for you. If you're looking for something on eBay, I know it can be so confusing. But I think any wire described as 'dead soft' would be too flexible so if it specifies, try 'half hard'. I'd cut three pieces of wire of a little longer than the finished diameter of the snowflake, and bind them together in the middle with fine wire such as 'artistic wire' or the very thin florist wire that comes on a spool or even fuse wire would do. Bend the cut ends in with pliers and pinch in any sharp ends. Then fan out the arms into a six pronged snowflake.

LJM

try your local craft shop mine stocks wire and they should be able to help