This is a tutorial for how I created my Golden Snitch ornament. The base is very simple, but the wings take a bit of effort. The end result is a very sparkly and pretty snitch! The friend I made it for loved it, and the rest of my friends started asking me for more! It took me about 3 hours total, but that was because I had to make several attempts at the wings before they looked the way I wanted them to. Good luck!

Materials:

Clear round ornaments (mine were glass)

“Glitter-It” glue (or substitute of choice)

Ultra-fine gold glitter

Silver wire, 2 gauges: 16 mm (for stringing beads) 26 mm (for wing structure)

Silver beads of choice (I bought mine at Hobby Lobby)

Wire cutters/pliers

Large round tube (I used a big Sharpie)

Drawing of Snitch wings (or use mine, which you can view here or here)

Something to hang your snitch with (I used the 16 mm wire and created a double-spiral, but you can also use paper clips, ribbon, or pre-made hangers)

Step One: Making the Gold Ball

First things first: make the golden ball! If you want, you can use a different method than mine. I saw some cool ideas on Pinterest that use hot glue and spray paint to create a more antique look, but my wings were going to be sparkly, so why not the whole thing? Using Glitter-It (or substitute), I poured a little bit on the inside of my clear glass and swirled it around until the entire thing was coated in glue. Then I drained the glue into a cup (which you can re-use) and let it sit for half a minute. After the coating was smooth, I poured my glitter in. Can’t tell you how much, since it depends on how much glitter you want. If your glue dries and you find that there isn’t enough glitter, you can always add a second coat once the first is dry. I let the ball dry overnight, but you probably don’t have to do that either.

Step Two: Framing the Wire Wings

This was one of the trickiest parts for me. I tried several ways of bending my wire in various shapes before finding the perfect one for my snitch. For this part, first determine how wide the mouth of your ornament is (from outside to outside). You need to know this for bending the wire in a circle that fits around the mouth. It just so happened that a fat Sharpie worked well for sizing, but I had to make a few adjustments after finishing the wire wing frame.

If you are using my drawing of snitch wings, you can scale it so that it is whatever size you want. Measure the length of the wings on your drawing, and cut two pieces of 16 mm wire that is twice the length, plus about 5 inches. So for example, if your wings are 4.5 inches, cut 14 inches of wire out twice. You may want to cut a bit more, depending on your drawing.

Starting at the middle of your wire, bend it around the Sharpie (or other circle) until the two ends of the wire are parallel to each other. Remove this wire and do the same with the second piece. You should have two identical pieces of wire at this point.

Once I had my two bent pieces of wire, I placed them both around the Sharpie so that their ends were facing away from each other (one over the top of the other). This creates a loop between the two wires. Using your pliers (or your fingers…I actually didn’t use my pliers here), twist the two ends on both sides of the Sharpie together three or four times, creating a loop with four loose ends sticking out on either side.

This loop is what fits over the mouth of your ornament. At this point, you should test it out to see if the loop fits. Mine needed to be loosened the tiniest bit, which you can do with the pliers. Untwist a little bit from either side, and if you need to, twist the outsides again (or do the opposite if your loop is too loose). It should be a little snug, but don’t force the wire over the lip of the ornament or you will break the glass.

Once your loop is the right size, it’s time to build the wings! Using your image of snitch wings (I just did a Google search and re-drew the wings, but you can also print out wings or draw your own, or use mine), bend your loose wire ends in the shape of the wings. The top should be perpendicular to the circle you made, but you can twist them again after you make them if you want. I used my pliers and the Sharpie again to create smooth bends, matching the wire to the lines in my snitch wing. There may be excess wire at the end of your wings (I overestimated just in case). You can either cut this off now or later with your wire cutters.

Step Three: Beading the Wings

Now we need to connect the ends and start beading! I started mine by running a short length of 26 mm wire along the ends of the wire wings, using the 16 mm wire to hold it in place. Then I wrapped the 26 mm wire around the two ends (plus my short end for the 26 mm wire) so that all three wires were held securely in place. If you didn’t cut off your excess wire before, you can do that here, or you can trim it up a little bit so the ends don’t poke out.

To determine how much of my 26 mm wire I would need (I didn’t want to try to thread the whole spool through the middle of my frame), I took the length of my wing and multiplied by the maximum width of my wing (about 1.5 inches) and then added a couple inches. I had lots of extra, but it’s better safe than sorry! Don’t want to go through all that beading only to find that I didn’t have enough wire in the first place!

Starting out with no beads, I strung wire back and forth, weaving in and out of my wire frame. Then when I had space, I added a single bead, then two, then three, and so on. Sometimes I wrapped the 26 mm wire around the frame to hold it in place a little more, but as long as your length of wire before wrapping it is right, it doesn’t matter if it slides a little bit. When you’re done, there will be enough beads to hold the wires in place. I like the effect of the beading though, because it gives it that “feathery” look with the lines streaking back and forth on the wings.

I don’t know how many beads you’ll need, because that will depend on the size of your wings. One wing of mine had an extra row of beads in the middle, but that’s okay. It still turned out to look even. When you finish with one wing, do the same with the other side. When I finished, I wrapped the end of the 26 mm wire around the twist in the frame and tucked the end into the middle so it was hidden. Use your favorite beading finish for that.

After that, it’s time to fit the frame over the mouth of the ornament! It may have tightened up a little bit during beading, but you can still untwist the center a little bit. I was able to slip mine on and off fairly easily, without having it be too loose. Once you’re done, slip the wings over the mouth of the ornament, and put the cap back on. Your ornament is complete! Add a hanger to the ornament and voila! A beautiful, sparkly, golden snitch!

I hope this tutorial was helpful! Please let me know how I did…it’s my first one! Questions and comments are welcome. Happy crafting!