Technique Tuesday: Making Balled Wire Headpins

by Robyn Hawk on October 7, 2009

So many Jewelry making elements start with that tiny wire with something at the end that keeps things from falling off – the headpin

I personally feel there is nothing richer looking than a charm style bracelet chock full of gems on fat balled up headpins. Or those “orbit” style earrings with a focal and lots of tiny gem rondelles on juicy metal balled headpins.

Like these sweet little gemstone and pearl earrings by AEBDesign in her Artfire shop.

There are lots of online tutorials for this technique but my personal favorite is from Christine Geier over at How-To-Make-Jewelry. If you aren’t familiar with her site Christine also send out a newsletter called “I’m Making Jewelry In My Jammies”. Her tutorials are always thorough and well illustrated.

Balled Wire Headpins

Use a Torch to Make Your Own Headpins

balled wire headpins

Making ball head pins is sooo easy, and kinda fun! Don’t freak out about a little heat. If you can cook something on the stove, you can do this.

What is a head pin? A head pin is a little piece of wire with some sort of stopper on the end. The stopper prevents the bead from falling off.

A balled-wire headpin is a headpin that has a little ball of metal on the end of it. It’s formed by melting the wire with a flame so that it balls up.

So get out your torch, cut some wire and head on over for the rest of this and all the other tutorials on How-To-Make-Jewelry.

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Vera Meyer October 8, 2009 at 10:24 am

Try headpins made from Argentium wire dipped in self-pickling flux … bigger, prettier, smoother balls than sterling or fine silver. Really showy. vera

Taueret October 7, 2009 at 10:19 pm

thanks for posting the link!

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