Handmade Valentine Gifts - Making a Valentine Bag Charm for a Sweet Guy

The theme for this particular bag charm is fishing, although it could be anything - football, computers, video games, beer, and so on. It is definitely more personal to make something that is relevant to that special guy.

You can buy little trinkets and charms at craft and dollar stores quite inexpensively and when you connect them with little jump rings, you can have a personalized gift in no time.

For this tutorial you will need:

• 1 fishing lure
• 1 glass fish
• 1 fish charm
• 1 fishing spoon
• 1 No. 6 Bead in coordinated color
• 1 head pin
• 2 inches medium fine chain
• assorted jump rings
• 1 medium lobster clasp

• 1 pair round nosed pliers
• 1 pair needle-nose pliers
• 1 pair flush cutters/wire nippers

In this tutorial we will be using several techniques, unlike in the hub "Handmade Valentine Gifts - Making a Valentine bag Charm for a Sweet Lady" where we made nine identical dangles, then linked them together. We will be using several different items linked together. This bag charm is quite simple but, depending on the guy, can be made fuller with more items linked together.

The technique I use in most of these beginner tutorials is to use the round nose pliers to make a continuous loop with the pliers. To accomplish this you will:

• Grip the tip of the wire with the round nose pliers.
• Holding the wire below the pliers, twist the pliers away from you to make a round curve in the wire.
• Remove the pliers from the loop and flip them over.
• Replace one nose of the pliers back into the loop and continue to twist away from you.
• You will notice as you twist the pliers, the wire keeps hitting one nose of the pliers, preventing it from continuing to loop.
• By removing the pliers, turning them over, then re-inserting them, you are able to twist the wire into a continuous loop, all the way down to the fish.
• Now take your pliers and pinch the sides of the loop to compact it and neaten it up.
• Insert the pliers into the loop again and bend the tip of the wire flush with the loop so there are no protruding sharp edges. It can be easier to do by opening and closing the pliers as you walk them around the loop.

Whatever you choose to use for your bag charm, most of the placement is what you think looks good. If you hang something and it doesn't look right, change it.

This is a simple, no-frills bag charm because some guys are just like that. You can add more items, just use your best judgement as to where they should hang.

Taking a project one step at a time makes it do-able for just about anyone. I encourage you to try some of these projects and have some fun.