Wednesday, April 2, 2014

The final piece of the tutorial puzzle

Today is Day 3 of 22 days leading up to Earth Day.  It is also the day I finish this tutorial.  To recap, on Day 1, I took a long time finding the best way to cut five soda/pop cans so they would lay flat and be free of burrs.  On Day 2, I used my punches to create decorative pieces from the cans.

Today I've moved to my basement, where I now keep my decorative and recycled wire.

I got the "bright" idea to use the recycled copper.  Not sure what the gauge is, but it's probably about 12 or 14, which is VERY heavy.

Not only was my wire straightener too wimpy for the job, but my hands were put to the test just trying to wind the wire around a pencil.  After trying to cut the wire, I decided to give my hands a rest.

This wire was also not marked, but I suspect it was 16 ga.

It took awhile to wind the wire around the pencil, then cut it from the wire coil.

Then I started cutting each full circle, which became the links.

I did the same for three colors of 20 ga wire, too.

Finally, almost everything had been cut and I was ready to move from the basement to the main floor craft room again.

Once upstairs, I covered the backs of the metal (punched cans) with old nail polish I had been given,

then I assembled the rings and punched pieces.  Finally, I turned the completed assembly into a key chain.

A close up shows what I worked on for three days.  Now I'm going to give my hands and wrists a rest for a day or so.  Although my hands are sore, no fingers were cut and no bandages were needed in the making of this tutorial.  I hope you found this useful.  I'm sure you could adapt this to jewelry, especially earrings, but since I don't wear jewelry, this seemed more practical, especially since most people have keys.

For Day 3, I used utilized (which is my word for 2014) some wire I've had for ages, painted the backs of soda/pop cans with gifted nail polish, and created a key chain.

25 thoughtful remarks:

Nancy said...

That's great Elizabeth :) I was guessing it was a wind chime! Love surprises :)

pearshapedcrafting said...

Fabulous key chain! Such a clever idea! Chrisx

~*~Patty S said...

that certainly was a lot of wire work and I bet you ARE ready to rest your hands E!

Kudos that you came away without a slice or cut handling all of that metal too ... what you created is so colorful and looks great

oxo

BJ said...

Wow what fun, And yes I have cut metal in my Cuttlebug. I used a Tim Holtz/Sizzix steel rule die though, wouldn't want to risk it on a thin die. The metal I used was from a tomato puree tube, it is a wonderful copper colour on the inside. My October zine featured a leaf in the metal http://ccraftcorner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/october-12-months-in-view.html I guess I added some alcohol ink to it too. BJ

BJ said...

Wow what fun, And yes I have cut metal in my Cuttlebug. I used a Tim Holtz/Sizzix steel rule die though, wouldn't want to risk it on a thin die. The metal I used was from a tomato puree tube, it is a wonderful copper colour on the inside. My October zine featured a leaf in the metal http://ccraftcorner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/october-12-months-in-view.html I guess I added some alcohol ink to it too. BJ

Jo Murray said...

Aha...all is revealed...and so gorgeous too. Clever you.

fairy thoughts said...

Brilliant :-)
Janet

Claire Grantham said...

Elizabeth, this is truly amazing! I know your wrists are sore, but it seems worth it to me :) Cx #49

Craftymoose Crafts said...

Your key chain was well worth the wait! Great way to reuse and recycle!

Shoshi said...

And there was me thinking you were manufacturing chain mail lol! I saw this done on TV once, and they started off in exactly the same way! Love what you have made, and the post made fascinating reading. I must rummage through our electrical box and see if I can recycle some old cable... I'm into real frugal/recycling mode atm, probably as a result of the teabag experiments!

Thanks for your visit and your nice comment, and I am glad you like what I am doing. As for Mum's birthday, hop back to my blog and take a look to see what fun we had - a huuuuge amount of work for me but so worth it - hope the pics of the food get your mouth watering!

Happy WOYWW,
Shoshi #20

Anonymous said...

Perfect idea, but I like Nancy's comment about a wind chime, that would be fun too. Bet your fingers are sore. xox

Nan G said...

Fantastic! Careful too not to cut yourself now this piece on your keys. Did you file the edges of the punched metal? I'm few days behind in reading your tut. Hope all is well with you and Bleubeard. The Girls send their Meow's to him. :) Hugs

Krisha said...

VERY clever, love the way it all came together.

Robyn Oliver said...

Hi Elizabeth, have fun with the recycling etc thingie, so far it's looking good. Have a great week, Cheers RobynO#40

voodoo vixen said...

Your poor hands, with your arthritis I bet that hurt! Love how you made your own links though, such a clever idea and the cut out pieces look lovely on your hand made chain link.

Rebeca Trevino said...

this so great!
i have been wrecking my brain on how to make/what to use to make some fish scales . . . this is perfect! SODA /BEER cans using a punch . . .i just need to find a small punch to make the scales
thank you for the inspiration . . . i'll let you now how it goes.
ps: i love this idea for a key chain and the nail polish is genius.

VonnyK said...

That is really something. Just to be able to wind up that wire and then cut it, your hands must be really sore. I would have lost half my fingers. The cans look really effective with the nail polish on them. That is one fabulous idea.
Have a great week.
Von #48

MommaRock said...

WOW... just WOW.. love these keychains and your tut!
Hi happy woyww to you! Thanks for sharing!
hugs,
Kimmer #109 last, but not least, yet again... I think this is a record! LOL

sandra de said...

Now that is a wonderful way of using things we normal discard. Love the end result.
Sandra @79

dawn said...

LOVE LOVE THIS!! They came out so pretty and the wire is so cool and fun too!! Great job! Glad you didn't get hurt too. Rest up and take it easy now my friend.

I think my kids would like these too.

Darla said...

Great project. I like the look of the coiled wire even before it is cut. Makes great rings but I think there are possibilities for the coil as well. What those possibilities are I don't know tho. Have to put my thinking cap on.

Darla

Neet said...

Lovely picture of Bleubeard opposite where I am at the moment. Don't tell him I said so but "Gee, he is a handsome cat", well ok - do tell jim.

Thanks for the final piece of the tute, lovely idea for the keyring, could be a handbag charm as well - in fact endless possibilities abound.

Thanks
Hugs, Neet xx

Vicki Miller said...

Yes. there are loads of possibilities for these! I thought nancy's idea of a wind chime would work well too. I use old nail polish the same way. Great mind think alike

Dianne said...

oh my goodness...that is awesome! I have been wondering how I could make my own medical ID charms, and this is a possibility! Love it, and love the colored wire to make the rings...even though it looks like it was a challenge to do, I think the results were worth it!

creatorme said...

Glad I came back to this. Such a fun idea. You really have a lot of supplies to play around with. So jealous!