Birdnest Earrings and Necklaces

This may have been my first thing project I ever attempted from Pinterest when I started playing around with the birdnest jewelry way back in the summer. I made several color combinations for myself and one has turned into something I wear often since it has green and blue beads that match a bunch of my outfits.  I also decided that most of the important ladies in my life would enjoy wearing this type of jewelry too so I made a necklace for my sister-in-law and my sister and earrings for both my mommy and mother-in-law.  I would have posted about these pretty little nests earlier but I wanted their presents to be a surprise! Now that Christmas has come and gone and everyone has their bird nests I can show you how I did it.

How to make a birdnest necklace:
You need: 22 or 26 gauge jewelry wire, round beads (3 or 4 for each bird nest), pliers, necklace chain of some type or earring hooks if you are going that route

The first step is to choose your beads, I've been into choosing 3 in the similar color palettes but none of the same in one nest...you can do what you like though!  If you are doing earrings then just try to match your beads for each nest.
Once you've chosen your beads then you are ready to start creating.
Thread all your beads onto the wire and leave yourself a tail of an inch or two to twist onto the nest.
Then start winding your wire around the outside edge of your beads, as you wind try to stay close to the beads because the nest tends to get looser as you go. 
After you have about 10 circles of wire take a second to decide if you want a thicker nest or if you are ready for the next step. 
The next step is to cut the wire leaving yourself at least 6 inches or more of wire so you can wind the wire around the nest.  Sometimes I like to do 3 neat little wraparounds between each bead and the nest and other times I get a little more sloppy and make it look like a random nest.  This is totally up to you and your style. 
When you are done wrapping the nest make a small loop to attach to the chain/hooks and then trim and tuck the end of the wire. 

The thing I really love about these nests is that they look far more expensive than they are and they are really easy to create.  I've also unwound my nests more than once and the wire is pretty forgiving if you don't like your results the first time.