We used to have a lot of old knob and tube wiring in our house before the electrical system was updated, so on a recent trip to the attic, I discovered a paper bag (which had rotted through) just full of the old insulators! Very very cool, huh? I happily dove into figuring out different ways to add color to them, which I'll share in June during Mixed Media month, but I digress.
The most important step, really, was to figure out how to hang them. They have holes clear through the length, but they're a bit ungainly, especially the longer ones. I wanted to create a wire fitting that would allow me to hang them as pendants. Here's what I came up with!
1. Cut two pieces of wire and turn a loop at one end of each, with a short tail left over as shown. I made my wires each 4 inches long so that I would be sure to have plenty of length. After you've made them once, you'll know how much you actually need, so use cheap wire to practice if you want to end up using expensive metal for your final piece.
2. Wrap each wire half way around the insulator, working from opposite directions.
3. Use the free end of one wire to wrap around the short tail below the opposite loop. Clip the wire off and file as needed.
4. Slip the fitting onto the insulator and wrap below the opposite loop as shown.
5. I attached chain to both loops, but you could attach to only one loop and leave the other one free for adding more beads or dangles.
6. I used a sari silk strip to finish it off. This photo doesn't show off the colors of the insulator very well, but it's got some crazy beautiful iridescence that I'll teach you in June!
Copyright 2013 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.
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