DIY Wire and Bead Butterfly Magnet

This week I created a sweet DIY wire and bead butterfly magnet made with different gauges of wire and lots of colorful beads.  This is a fun afternoon project and the result is a beautiful bit of color for your refrigerator!

wire and bead art from artterro

I have a tendency to collect random craft supplies and over the years, I’ve collected quite a few different beads.  This project found a great use for those random beads and makes a pretty suncatcher or magnet to brighten up your room.

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For this project you will use:

Assorted glass and plastic beads
1 large wood bead
14 gauge copper wire (thinner wire)
9 gauge wire (thick wire)
Pliers
Tweezers
Magnet
Hot Glue

I had a lot of fun sorting through the beads and coming up with an idea.  I decided to create a refrigerator magnet in the shape of a butterfly.  And since I couldn’t decide which beads I liked best, I decided to use as many of them as possible!

wire and bead art from artterro

Use the heavy gauge wire to form the wings and the large wooden bead to create the body of the butterfly.  Begin by running the wire through the bead, forming two wings on one side and then running the wire back through the bead, and forming the wings on the other side, ending inside the bead.

Use pliers to form the wings and twist the end of the wire to the top wing.

wire and bead art from artterro

Use the smaller gauge wire to wrap the beads.  Two of the small gauge wires were started by pushing one end through the center bead to add antennas at the top.

The rest of the wires were simply wrapped around the wings, adding beads as they are wrapped. Use pliers to wrap wires where needed. Such a beautiful selection of beads!  This little butterfly will be beautiful on the fridge!

wire and bead art from artterro

Finish by wrapping the antennas around a paintbrush handle or small dowel to create the twists, and then glue a small magnet onto the back with hot glue.

wire and bead art from artterro

And there you have it!  A beautiful butterfly magnet!

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