Handbag Charm

This is our first project from the New DT . We hope you like it and want to thank Lynne (Beadmad) for submitting such a lovely piece of work…Watch out for regular DT postings .

At the weekend my daughter and I went shopping. She has a thing for handbags. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but lots of them come with charms or you can buy them. They are often expensive too. I decided to make her one.

You will need:For the Bag charm
a key ring or large clasp.
a focus bead (in my case a dolphin)
some accent beads
Jump rings
Head pins
DMC Desire memory wire (comes with the wire winder starter kit)
Chain
wire winder
needle nose pliers
diagonal wire cutter

For the Gift Box:
shape cutter plus
cutting mat
large flower squeeze punch
round eyelets
eyelet setters
Box 1 template
embossing tool

Thread your focus bead onto the DMC memory wire and using the template of your choice ( I choose a design from sheet 3 in set 1) start to wind the wire around the pegs. Before completing the twist on the bottom peg push your accent bead into place. Continue winding until you have completed the design. Cut the wire leaving a tail of about 5cm (2″). Using the tail wind it tightly around the top loop to create a spiral. Cut and add a spot of strong glue to seal it in place. As my accent bead was quite heavy I added a twist to each loop to hold it in place.

Cut a length of chain and using a jump ring attach it to the keyring.
Using another jump ring attach the focus bead to the bottom of the chain.
As I chose a dolphin I thought some shells would look nice so using some silver wire I attached them to the chain in various places. (The shells came from a necklace I bought in a charity shop, a great place for finding cheap beads. You can ask them to save broken necklaces for you)
Using head pins I added to square beads to finish the charm.

After making this I thought they’d make lovely little gifts so I made a box to put it in.

Using a box template ( there are several to chose from) cut out your shape, score and assemble.
Cut out the oval and ink the edges,to use as a tag.
Cut 2 flowers using the large flower squeeze punch.
Layer them slightly offset and using the tiny round eyelets create a design in the centre of the flower.
Stick the flower onto the oval and then onto your box.

Do have a go at making one, they are great fun.