How to make a Rose Quartz Tee of Life Pendant: How To: Weekly contest by @starjewel

This is my entry in the contest How To: Weekly - created, sponsored and judged by @aoart and @roscoeh.

I will show you how to make a Rose Quartz Tree of Life pendant in 10 steps. This is our finished piece of jewelry. Lovely!

The materials that you need: rose quartz chips (sold in strings), artistic wire 24 gauge (silver colored copper), a fashion bangle 2.5" diameter (sold in dollar stores), a cutter and a pair of pliers.

Step 1 - Cut the wire. You need 10 pieces, each piece must be 20 inches long. Fold the wire in half, as below.

Step 2 - Wrap the wires. One by one, wrap each wire twice on the bangle (2 loops), at the middle point. Make it neat, be nice with the wire and the wire will be nice with you. When you finish, you will have 20 strings to work with.

Step 3 - Twist wires. Start by twisting 2 groups of consecutive wires, as shown. You will get 5 twisted bunches.

Step 4 - Now twist 2 on the left and 2 on the right, as shown. You will get 3 bunches.

Step 5 - Keep twisting to make the trunk. Be neat! Take your time and don't pull hard. The wire is soft and friendly.

Step 6 - Now the trunk is ready and you already had spread all the 20 wires. 2 by 2, twist them in 5 bunches, as shown.

Step 7 - We have 5 branches, each has 4 wires. Now we separate each branch in 2, and we twist each group of 2 separately. Please make sure you twist just a few times, you need some wire left for the beads. The result will be 20 lose wires.

Step 8 - Start beading! This is fun! Start sliding rose quartz chips on the wires. Use your judgement regarding the number of the beads, in my case 3-4 per string. Start from right bottom, then go to left bottom and work yourself up. Depending on the size of your beads, you might not need to string on all 20 wires. In my case, the wire in the middle was left loose, no space for beads!

Step 9 - Tuck in the last wire, if you have one left, like me. I connected it with other brunches, used 2 loops to secure it in place, and then cut it.

Step 10 - Tuck in all wires and cut the ends. I suggest to take your time when you do this step. The finishing is very important. You want to secure the loops and make them look neat. Cut close to the other wires and tuck the ends in, so they don't catch fabric or scratch the skin.

When you finish and you are satisfied with the look, use pliers and gently twist the branches, for a more esthetic and natural look. You can slide your Rose Quarts Tree of Life Pendant on any cord, right through the top part, or you can attach a bail or a spring ring, like I did. So here is your pendant! Beautiful!

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial. You can use this method with any beads, any frames, any wires. Use your imagination and CREATE!