Rebar Wire Chain

I've been experimenting over the last year or so with making my own chain. I love brass, but have found myself completely in love with blackened steel. Another name for blackened steel is REBAR WIRE.  How can you not love this stuff? It's super affordable and readily available. It's another example of what I love to do best: take an everyday item and make it into something unique and special. 

These are a couple of examples of chain I've been making lately using rebar wire. Regular rebar wire, like I've pictured here, is available at Home Depot, Lowe's, or at your local hardware store. It comes with a thin coating of oil on it--you can actually make it more silver-colored by running it through a scotch brite pad or a piece of sandpaper, or you can just wipe it off using a heavy piece of paper towel like I did here. I wipe it with a paper towel until no more blackish oil comes off. 

Drawbacks to rebar wire from the hardware store include the fact that it is relatively heavy (16 gauge) and therefore can be tough to cut with lightweight cutters. I've ordered 19 gauge blackened steel on Amazon--the 19 gauge is much easier to cut and to bend, but is also not nearly so cheap.

Joel is on the train coming home from Sacramento. Katie got home from Cal State Long Beach last Friday. It'll be nice to have our whole family here for Christmas.