See a photo of the original and world's first-ever Flying Spaghetti Monster brooch

If you have questions or would like to inquire about having me make a brooch for you, e-mail me at: blibby at ecs dot umass dot edu.

You will need:

• Approx. 1ft (30 cm) of solid sterling silver wire, 16 gauge, dead-soft or half-hard
• 2 hollow sterling silver beads (for the eyes). Preferably, these will have holes in them that are the same diameter as the silver wire. The beads I've used are oblate ('flying saucer shaped'), but you can use any ones you think look good.
• 2 tiger's eye beads (for the meatballs) - any kind of bead your prefer will work here. Again, try to get ones with holes of the same diameter as the silver wire.
• a pin back, about 3/4 in. (1.5 cm long)
• epoxy or other strong glue

Helpful, but not completely necessary:

• soldering torch, flux, solder, pickling compound (if you don't have these, or don't know what they are, don't worry about them)
• needle-nose pliers
• hobby-sized metal files
• sandpaper of various grits from 400 to 1200, or 0000 steel wool
• jeweler's rouge, or other silver polishing compound
• some copper wire

NOTE 1: Please read the instructions first. I know it's almost a whole entire page long, but it will make things much easier in the long run.

NOTE 2: Also, it might help to practice constructing the body with copper wire before using the silver wire. This will allow you to make mistakes without ruining your silver wire.

1. construct body

Begin by bending the wire at a slight angle about half the diameter of a meatball bead from the wire's end and inserting that end of the silver wire into the hole in one meatball bead so that the wire sticks out of only one side of the bead. (The slight bend in the wire should create enough tension to keep the bead firmly in place on the wire when you insert it, but, if not, remove the wire, you can add a little epoxy to the wire and insert it into the bead. Allow the epoxy to harden.)

Wrap the wire around the equator of the bead and working down the length of the wire from the bead end to the other end, into a general 'figure 8' shape, leaving a hole to fit the other bead. Basically any wrapping will suffice, although I like to put a couple of random bends in to give a chaotic feel, like a ball of spaghetti should be. Simple patterns are visually predictable and, therefore, boring. But random patterns are predictable too, and therefore, equally boring. Try to strike a balance, but remember, there's no wrong shape. This part can be frustrating if you try to force the wire into a certain path. About halfway through the wrapping, insert the second bead and work it into place in the bead-sized hole you created earlier. Continue wrapping. Just let the wire go where it wants to, but, if you can, try to wrap around the outside of each bead a couple of times and around the middle a few times. NOTE: The more you work the wire, the stiffer it will get, eventually bending with kinks rather than smoothly and, like a paper clip that's been bent too many times, eventually will break. Try not to over-plan or over-work the wrapping. Again, there's no wrong shape, even if the result isn't exactly what you had intended at the beginning.

When you're about 2 to 3 inches from the end of the wire, bend the end of the wire so that it sticks out of the bottom to form His Noodly Appendage. Cut, saw or snip about 2 inches (5 cm) or more of the wire from the end of His Noodly Appendage. (I know it sounds painful, but, hey, it's a tradition.) The body is now complete.

Save the extra wire to make the eye stalks.

2. add pin back

I purchased pin backs with two holes in the body, so that I could bend the extra wire into a symmetric U-shape that was as wide as the distance between the holes. Then, I can insert the wire through the holes and through part of the body, with the two ends sticking up out of the top of the body. Thus, the eye stalks are on top and the pin in the back of the body. A little epoxy holds everything in place. You might have to experiment a bit to find a method that works well for your pin backs.

3. add eyes

Trim the eye stalks to equal height and give them a 90 degree bend toward the front of the body. Insert the eye beads and epoxy them in place. If you wish, you can solder the eyes in place, but to do this, it is best to make the eye stalks as two individual pieces of wire with an eye bead on each end, rather than as a single U.

If the wire has taken any dents or knicks, use the hobby files and sandpaper (from lowest grit number to highest) to work them out. A final polish with jeweler's rouge or other polishing compound will make the wire shine.

If you need to clean any parts, or have difficulty sanding or polishing anywhere, I suggest putting a drop of glue onto a piece of copper wire, inserting the wire into a pad of extra fine (0000) steel wool, then removing the wire when the glue dries. You'll have a "steel wool Q-tip" that will be very useful for cleaning hard-to-reach areas.