I love to get ideas for beaded ornaments online. I have fun looking for them, especially snowflakes. I’ve reached  a point where I have made enough of them that it is becoming easier and easier for me to reverse engineer what I find.  I don’t even necessarily look for patterns anymore, although kits are a great way to get supplies and instructions inexpensively. Three dimensional ornaments I do need patterns for, so I can’t help you with those. However, it is my goal to post instructions that are easy to follow so that once you have the basic concept, you can create your own, unique snowflakes. 

   Another idea is to take a pattern that you like, and vary the beads. Sometimes that is enough to give an ornament an entirely different look. 

    Snowflakes are made in rounds. You start with the center and work your way out. Stars can also be made this way.  The big difference is that with snowflakes you want a multiple of six beads in the center. For Stars you want multiples of five. 

   I used 32 gauge wire for the following ornaments. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th snowflake ornaments are similar in style. I stuck with a basic pattern so that you can easily see the differences between the three.  The first snowflake will consist of 4 rounds.

Step One

      Step One: Start by stringing 12 beads on to the wire. I have chosen to use alternating round beads and short bugle beads so that it is easier to see what I am doing.  Leave about a six inch tail and then string the beads again so that you have a ring of beads. Take the tail and wrap it around the center wires. Once you get it good and tight, clip off the tail. You now have your center round.

Step Two

            Step two: To make the second round, you are going weave in and out of the round beads. String on 1 bugle bead, one round bead and another bugle bead, then thread the wire through the next round bead. You are going to continue this pattern all the way around until you have 6 spokes.

Round two complete

     Once you have completed the first round, you will need to position the wire for the second round. To do that, thread the wire through the next bugle bead and the round bead at the end of one of the spokes. 

Round Three

       Round Three: String two bugle beads, one round bead and two more bugle beads on to the wire. Thread the wire through the round bead on the next spoke. Continue this pattern until you have made it all the way around.

Round three complete

     In this photo the wire is coming out of the round bead from the second round. The wire needs to be positioned for the next round. I took the wire up through two bugle beads and the round bead on the third round of the snowflake.

Round 4

      A few words before we begin round 4. I love picots on crocheted snowflakes. I wish I had the patience to make more of them. I thought I could re-create the look with beads. To make a picot, you will string three round beads. Once you have all three round beads on, take the wire and run it back through the first round bead. You will want to string the wire through the same direction you did the first time. Pull it tight and the beads will loop around in to a small circle. You will only need to string through the first round bead before moving on. Also, be careful when snugging up the beads, the wire is thin and can break. (Been there, done that, I’ll show you a quick repair in the very near future)

picot

     To start round four, string on three bugle beads, and then three round beads. Make the picot by bringing the wire back around through the first round bead and pull to snug it up.

Round 4

String on one  bugle bead and three more round beads and make a second picot. String on one more bugle bead, three round beads and make a third picot. Thread on three more bugle beads and then take the wire through the round bead on the next spoke.

Round four completed! This is what your finished snowflake should look like.

     Continue on with this pattern until you have made your way all the way around the ornament.  Technically, you can finish off your wire as soon as you have threaded the wire through the last round bead. I like to make sure things are snug and secure, so I run the wire up through the beads on the next spoke, then I wrap it around the wires between two beads and trim off the excess. To hang the ornament I slipped a traditional ornament hook through a central picot on one of the spokes.

The neat thing about beaded snowflake ornaments is that they are very forgiving. You can do pretty much whatever you want with the beads in each round, as long as they don’t curve up once you pull them tight. You want the design to lay flat on the table, as if it were a coaster. If you add beads for the next round and it does curl up around the edges, don’t panic. Simply add a few more beads to your pattern and that should do the trick.

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