Connie Crystal Sun Catcher

I love the way Connie Crystals catch the light.  I have created a dazzling sun catcher to hang in one of my favorite places.  I used:

Silver tone metal rings - 1- 3" and 1- 4" - found near the macrame and kid craft area of Hobby Lobby
20 gauge metal wire
4 - Connie Crystal Octagon Crystal Beads - 1 each: Aqua, Purple, Grey and Crystal AB
3 - Connie Crystal Clear Square Crystals
2 - Connie Crystal 8mm Round Clear Beads
1 - 40mm Sunburst Crystal - from Connie Crystal

I began by laying the rings and crystals out to figure out spacing and then took a sharpie marker to mark approximately where the holes from each bead were on the inner ring.

I cut off about 2 feet of wire and strung a square crystal to the center of it.  I gave the wire a couple twists right above the crystal.  This is the center crystal, so I placed it at the center marking and began wrapping the wire around the metal ring to the right and left until I got to the next sharpie marks.

I worked up the right side first, adding a crystal bead at each sharpie mark.  Then I came back and did the beads to the left the same way.

 

I created a hanger by making a larger loop for hanging and then a smaller loop at the bottom that will eventually hold the large focal crystal.  I then wrapped this wire piece around the two metal rings to connect them and hold them in place.  

To further secure the two rings together, I added an 8mm round bead to each of the lose ends of wire and then wrapped the wire around the outer ring several times before trimming the excess off.  The final step was to create a wire loop for the large sunburst.  I then used a small jump ring to hang the crystal from the wire at the top.  

Please visit the Connie Crystal Blog to see more tips, tricks and inspiring projects using Connie Crystals.