How to make a decorative dragonfly with chicken wire

Dragonflies are so pretty, and if you love nature-inspired decor, any piece designed to look like a dragonfly will enhance your home. This decorative chicken wire dragonfly is definitely no exception.
Your friends will be amazed when they learn you made this, but it's a surprisingly easy project. Watch the video and check out the instructions below to see how it's done.
Advertisement
Materials
- Faceted wooden beads (10 large, 3 small)
- Wood stain
- Paintbrush
- Disposable gloves
- Sheet of cardboard
- Paper towel
- Heavy gauge craft wire
- Chicken wire
- Wire cutters
- Work gloves
- Needle-nose pliers
- Super glue
Instructions
1. Wearing a pair of disposable gloves to protect your hands, coat each wooden bead in stain and use a paper towel to wipe off the excess. Set aside to dry.
2. Cut a length of wire and bend it into the shape of a dragon wing.
3. Cut a piece of chicken wire to the same size and shape as the wing, and use needle-nose pliers to wrap the ends of the chicken wire around the wire frame. (Wear work gloves to protect your hands.)
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 three more times, so you have two larger wings and two smaller ones.
5. Attach one larger wing to one smaller wing by wrapping the ends of the wire frame around each other. Repeat for the other side. Snip off any excess wire with wire cutters, but make sure to leave enough wire to insert into a wooden bead.
6. Place a dot of super glue into the first bead, and attach it to the dragonfly wing by inserting the wire from step 5. Do the same for the other side.
7. Attach the beads of both wings to either side of a third wooden bead with super glue.
8. Glue one more bead to the top of the middle bead and a row of five beads to the bottom to create the dragonfly's head and body.
9. Attach three smaller beads to the very end of the dragonfly's tail.
DIY Everywhere
Advertisement
Resources