Copper Wire Crafts
Copper wire comes in different gauges (the higher the gauge, the thinner the wire), but 18 or 20 gauge is best for most crafts. It's available in hobby stores or online, and it comes in spools or coils. You can even get colored copper wire. You must use wire cutters instead of scissors, because wire will destroy scissor blades. Use needle-nose pliers for bending wire ends.
Jewelry
Copper wire lends itself to jewelry projects because of its flexibility. Beginners can start with straightforward projects such as pendant necklaces, where you encase a focal bead or other item in a cage of copper wire, make a wire loop at the top, then string it onto a necklace chain.
If you're looking for more intricacy or challenge in copper wire jewelry, try crocheting with the wire. It helps if you already know basic crochet stitches before you try making jewelry, but if you've never used a crochet hook before or have never crocheted with wire before, a good place to start is a simple necklace chain. The chain stitch is the most basic in crochet. It uses the hook to pull one loop through another loop. Make loops over and over until the necklace is as long as you like, then attach clasp pieces to the ends. Once you're comfortable with drawing the loops through and keeping them uniform in size, you can advance to projects with stitches that build on each other.
Beaded Wire
Stringing beads onto copper wire makes versatile, customizable home decor accents that are easy to attach to your fixtures. The gauge of wire you use will depend on how large the holes in the beads are, but 20 gauge is a good width to start with. This photo shows a sports-themed beaded wire good for a den or a college dorm room, but if you use crystal-look faceted acrylic beads, you can make elegant accents to hang from chandeliers, sconces or drapery rods. With train engine or butterfly shaped beads, you could also make accents for a child or baby's bedroom, as long as they are for decoration only and hung out of reach.
Ornaments
Christmas is a popular time for ornaments, but you can make them from copper wire for any theme, occasion or decor. An easy way to make a specific shape of ornament is to wrap 20 gauge copper wire three times around the outside of a cookie cutter (simple shapes work best). Leave a wire tail at the beginning and end and use them to secure the three passes of wire together so they don't spring apart. Tie on a ribbon as a hanger.
You also could wrap copper wire around a pencil, flashlight or juice glass for a spiral ornament, or try your hand at free-form ornaments. If you have round nose pliers, you can make curls at the ends of the wires.
