DIY Wire Heart Ring

I don't wear a lot of jewelry, but I love rings. There's just something about looking down at your fingers and seeing something pretty that just makes me smile.

While perusing Pinterest, I came across a plethora of wired rings and fell in love with pretty much everything. However, since Valentine's Day is coming up, I decided to try to make a ring with a heart theme. I tried making several Valentine's Day themed rings and finally settled on a double heart ring. I like this simple design because the ring is finished by wrapping the ends of the wire around the shank, which helps to make the ring sturdier.

Supplies:

18 gauge wire
flat nose pliers
round nose pliers
wire cutter
ring mandrel (large pen or lipstick tube)
ruler

Hold the round nose plier about 1 1/2" down from one end and curl wire around the nose of the pliers - I just use my fingers to cross the wires around the nose.
Cut approximately 7 inches of wire.
You should end up with a shape that looks like the picture above for the center of the heart. Tip: The round nose plier is tapered and you will want to wrap the wire around the top portion of the nose.

Place the round pliers on the sides of the loop and wrap the wire around. Again, use the smaller portion of the nose to make the small hearts.
Cross the wires until you get the shape of a heart.
Change to the flat nose pliers and hold the heart near the pointed end.
Take your round nose or another flat nose plier and wrap tightly around the straight wire 3 to 4 times. Use the wire cutter to cut off any excess wire and use your flat nose pliers to push down any sharp edges.
Here's where I like to wrap the wire around the mandrel to get the right size. You can also use any round object that is the same size as your finger (lipstick tube, pen, etc...).
Start your second heart center at the end of where the first heart ends - at the last wrapped wire. Repeat the steps to make the heart.
Place ring back on mandrel to reshape.