YOU ARE AT MY DESIGN STUDIO Click Page Links At Right To Navigate >>>> CREATING WITH IRON WIRE In addition to working with oxidized brass and victorian design jewelry (see links at right for jewelry design ideas and instructions :), I also love to work with iron wire. These candle holders (pic at left) can also be used as hanging displays for photos or special crystal & rocks. I just use tiles as bases. Start by wire wrapping the tile so that it is held securely, then just start adding other parts/dangles. Finish by adding a hook to the top for hanging. In these examples, I used a piece of damp sponge to dab copper paint over the iron wire to give them an aged copper look. Iron wire is so fun to work with as you can create virtually any shape/size item you can dream up!
	EASY IRON WIRE VOTIVE CANDLE LANTERNS I designed these (photo at left) about 12 years ago. At the time, I was making these simple but cute candle lanterns by the hundreds and was wholesaling  them to many shops in Sedona, Arizona and throughout USA. One of my largest customers was Lotions & Potions (some of you may recongnize them as they were in many malls :) Anyway, after about a year of making them, I went back to jewelry designing and put my leftover parts in storage. I still have a pretty good stock of the frames left (see photo's below) and am selling my remaining stock at my etsy shop at www.VintageBeadShop.etsy.com The frames will basically fit any standard size votive cup. Also, you can bend the frame into just about any shape you want :) As you can imagine, there is just a ton of design possibiliies with these. I have made probably 30 or 40 very different designs with these but sold most of them so I don't have photos to show you. But i think you get the idea............
BASIC VOTIVE FRAME This is the basic votive frame. I am showing it here with a small votive cup that i spray painted :). If your cup is a little small, you can just bend the wire (around the cup) to hold it more securely. If you take a frame with you down to Walmart or Michaels, you will find lots of cups that fit this frame perfectly. I just wanted to show with a small cup so  you know how to work with a cup that doesn't fit perfectly :)	FINISHING THE BASIC FRAME When you receive the frames, the top and bottom wires will not be bent into loops (see photo at left). This photo shows how you bend these wires so you can add dangles to your frame. Notice how the wire ends are bent into loops at the top, middle and bottom of the frame.
	MAKING DANGLES TO HANG ON YOUR FRAME I also have quite a few spools of iron wire left that I also am selling at my etsy shop at www.VintageBeadShop.etsy.com This is strong 16 guage wire so you will need some heavy duty cutters and needlenose pliers as shown in the photo at left. Just bend it, shape it....anyway you want it...it's alright! THERE'S NO RULES...JUST GO FOR IT :)