01/04/2012 - Aluminum Tab Ring

These bigger aluminum tabs are from the tops of cat food cans and I thought they would be interesting to use for projects because of the gold-ish color. I ended up using more beads that I intended so it is not as much recycled content as I wanted but I am happy with how it turned out.

Recycled Material: aluminum tabs from cat food cans
Other Material: transparent green beads, jewelry wire
Tools: long nose pliers with clippers

How I did it: The first thing I did with the tabs was to make sure there were no sharp or ragged edges on the part that gets pulled of the can lid. I arranged 5 tabs so that the bottoms overlapped (when working with tabs I refer to the tops as the smooth side that is pulled and the bottoms as the part that is attached to cans) and arranged the tops like flower petals and wrapped copper-colored wire around the 5 bottoms to hold them in place. I used one long piece of wire and then strung (stringed?) 10 beads on the same wire used to hold the tabs in place. Then made a circle with the bead/wire to cover the bottoms of the tabs and wrapped the excess wire every 2 or 3 beads to attach it to the tab bottoms. Next I took another tab and used the pliers to snip off the bottom leaving about 1/8" to bend so that I had an oval and no jagged edges. Then I attached the oval ring on top of the other tabs and the beads, again using the same piece of wire. I ran out of my long piece of wire at this point and used a new piece and strung 5 beads and again circled them to cover the oval ring then pulled the wire down the center and pulled it around on two opposite sides. With the remaining wire I pulled it down the center again and wrapped it around the other pieces of wire to hold it and tucked the end in with the pliers so it wouldn't poke out. For the final step I strung one bead and bent the wire so I could pull the two ends down the center. Then I wrapped one end in a circle three times for the ring base. I used my finger as a guide for sizing. Then I wrapped the two ends between the base and the top, again tucking in the ends.

What I would do differently: First of all, I need to practice my wiring, beading and jewelry making, but overall I am happy with how this turned out.