Handmade Holiday 2011 - Mug Charms

Every Friday night my parents have company over for Bible study.  My mom acquired a set of mugs to serve beverages in, and because the mugs all looked the same, she tried to differentiate them by painting small designs on the handles using puff paint.  However, because the mug surface was smooth, the paint did not stick very well, and several of the designs she had painted had peeled off.  This Christmas, I thought of making wineglass rings to fit around the handles of the mugs.  These mugs had handles that were wider than a "typical" mug, so the rings had to be wider, too.

To make the rings, I used the following:

• 16-gauge copper jewelry wire (the lower the gauge, the thicker the wire)
• Charms (I picked up two packs of heart and circle shaped charms)
• Jump rings (If your charms come with jump rings or are already designed to lay flat with your wire, you may not need additional jump rings, then)
• Assorted color glass beads (make sure the hole in the bead is big enough to thread onto your wire)
• Wire cutter, ruler
• Round-nose (or needle-nose) pliers
• A small wine bottle to wrap the wire around to shape it

The wide mug handle compared to the "standard" one can be seen here:

See how the handle on the left is wider?

1. To make the charms, first cut your jewelry wire into lengths long enough to circle around your mug handle.  I first started cutting lengths of 5" wire but realized that was too big, so I trimmed an inch off and ended up using 4" lengths of wire.
2. Take a jump ring and, using your pliers, open it up just enough to thread your charm onto the ring.
   
3. Once the charm is threaded on, close up the ring.
   
4. Take your jewelry wire and wrap it around the neck of the bottle so that it takes on a round shape.
   
5. Remove the wire, and thread on your charm.  Add a couple of beads on both sides.  You could also add on more beads, if you'd like.
6. Now hold the ends of the wire, leaving space on one end for you to create a loop using your pliers.  Take the other end of the wire, and put it through the loop.  Use your pliers to create a hook to keep the loop in place.  Shape the wire to your liking.
7. Repeat for as many charms as you'd like to make.  My mom had twelve mugs, so I made a set of twelve.

I also got a jewelry box to display the charms.  My finished product looks like this:

The beauty of this project is that it's highly customizable.  So long as each charm is distinguishable, you could use whatever you want- large glass beads, gemstones, etc.