Spirit Clay

Here's a fun and fabulous way to turn a jar into a gift that will remind a loved one that they have a special place in your heart.  I made this for my best bud, Lynn  and, with some simple wire wrapping techniques, you'll be making one in no time!

Materials:
1 quart jar
Aleene's Jewelry and Metal Glue
Electrical wire or 14 gauge wire
Round nose pliers
Chain nose pliers
Wire cutters
Beads
Head pins
22 gauge wire
Drill with 1/16" bit
Decorative paper

1. Clean your jar and remove any labels.

2. Wrap electrical wire around just inside the edges of the lid, twice. This will be the base of your crown.

3. Wrap 22 gauge wire around the crown base to cover it.

4. Cut a 2' piece of electrical wire. Beginning in the middle, bend the wire in small loops by crossing one end over the other. Make your loops about an inch apart and measure it frequently on the crown base. To measure, just start with the middle loop and bend the sides around the base. This will show you how many loops you will need to go all the way around. Between loops, bend the wire in a downward curve so that the wire touches the base and curves back up into the next loop.

5. Attach the looped wire to the base by wrapping it with the 22 gauge wire.

6. Slide one or two beads on a head pin and wrap the tail around a loop so the bead is on top of the loop. Add another bead and wrap the remaining tail around the lower end of the loop. Repeat for all the loops.

7. Drill 3 to 5 small holes in the lid beneath where the crown will sit. "Sew" the crown onto the lid with the 22 gauge wire. Cover the wire inside the lid with decorative paper.

8. Cut eight 6" pieces of electrical wire. Take 4 of the wires and make a loop in the center. Make a coil from both ends, wrapping toward the inside to form a heart shape with the loop at the bottom. At this point you can a charm to each heart's loop if you'd like.  Refer to the photo below to see how it should look.

9. Repeat the coiled ends on the other 4 pieces, with out the loop.  Again, refer to the photo below.

10. Lay out the pieces with every other one a heart. Orient the non-heart pieces with coils down. Use the 22 gauge wire to join all the pieces

11. Slide the whole thing onto the jar. Tighten it up by making the coils tighter.

12. Add drops of Aleene's Jewelry and Metal glue wherever the wire touches the jar.

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