Copper Wire Cross Wall Hanging

Every time I go beachcombing here where I live, on the shores of the Bering Sea, I find sea glass and tangled balls of thick copper wire on the sand. I started picking the copper up, hoping I would be able to one day figure out something beautiful and one-of-a-kind to make from it, which I now have! This copper wire cross makes the perfect Easter gift; mine looks divine on the wall of my kitchen!

Approximate Time: 1 hour

Supplies:

approximately 3 yards of copper or otherwise found wire
gardening gloves
needle-nose pliers
old towel
snips

Instructions:

Put on gloves and spread out the old towel over your work space.

Take your ball of wire and use your hands to gently straighten it out until you have long pieces.

Snip off a section of wire approximately 15 inches long.

Snip off another section, approximately 9 inches long.

Gather your remaining pieces of wire, and cut 6 equal sections off; place these next to your 9-inch cross-section.

Now cut five slightly longer pieces of wire in varying lengths; mine are (from shortest to longest): 6 inch, 8 inch, 9 inch, 10 inch, and 12 inch.

Place those five longer pieces with the 15-inch long wire.

With your remaining wire, cut into two equal pieces; snip one of those into two (so that you now have three total) and set aside from all others.

Starting with the 9-inch piece and its accompanying six, use one of the two last smallest wires from step eight to wind around and make those seven into a bundle, positioning the nine-inch piece toward the very middle of the bunch.

Using your needle-nose pliers, curl all six ends either outward or inward, working in a symmetrical fashion (see picture).

Now gather up the 15-in piece of wire and its accompanying five pieces of copper wire; again, use the other smallest piece of wire from step eight to wind around and make those six into a bundle as you position the 15-inch piece toward the middle of the bunch.

Use the pliers to once again curl the wires, this time all outward into little spirals (I staggered my curls in reminiscence of waves; see picture).

You should have two curly bundle pieces and one piece of stray wire left.

Position the shorter bundle over and at a ninety-degree angle over the longer bundle to form the shape of a cross.

Holding firmly in place, use that last piece of wire to secure the two together, wrapping in an "x" pattern until all the wire is used and the tails are tucked behind your cross, leaving about an inch on both ends to make a loop for hanging.

With the last inch of both tails, twist back upon themselves until you have a satisfactory little loop; now fold it up so that it lays flat against the back of the cross.