Wednesday, July 9, 2008

My Wire Thing-ie....

A useful tip...

A great little tool that I keep my purse and you can make it yourself. It’s with me when I go to the bead store and with me when I go to the hardware store.

Now when I visit my local bead store, shopping for beads for a design, there is no longer any guessing about what wire gauge will fit into a bead hole. When I go to the hardware store, it’s easy to check wire gauges, and makes my shopping much easier, saving me a lot of time. Better yet, I can get into my bead stash and check the size of the bead holes, knowing the beads will fit the wire gauge I’ve planned on using in my design.

All you need is a simple key ring, wire, tags, and some scotch tape to make this useful tool. Using different gauges of wire, make eye pins, and label each of them with the proper wire gauge. I used scotch tape on the front and the back of the tags for stability. Quick, easy and useful…

Try it, you might like it, and find it useful….

10 comments:

Mei Tan said...

wow! this is such a great idea. I will be making for myself. Thank you for sharing Jill.
Mei

ThisThisAndThat said...

Mei
The "thing-ie" tool really has helped me to select the correct beads for my designs. Don't tend to come home with beads with the wrong size holes any longer....

Wezz said...

What a wonderful and useful idea!! Now why didn't I think of this myself huh? It's pretty obvious that this will come in handy when shopping for beads! Thanks! I'm off to create one of my own! :-))

ThisThisAndThat said...

Wezz
Actually, I'm pretty sure the idea isn't original...Someone suggested that I take different wire gauges with me when I go to the hardware store shopping for wire, so I made the wire into eye pins. The idea just grew from there. I keep them in a small 3" by 4" plastic bag in my purse, and think maybe I need another set to add to my tool box.

Inspired Designs by Teresa said...

Very cool idea Jill. Might just have to make myself one!

ChezChani said...

So clever!

ThisThisAndThat said...

Teresa
Time for me to make another for my tool box.

ThisThisAndThat said...

Not so clever, just thought it was a wonderful tip to share.

Annette Piper said...

What a brilliant idea. Thanks for sharing!

ThisThisAndThat said...

Not my idea, just took the idea a little further...