and when you bend the wire, do it over a suitable curved object, so you have a uniformed bend, and a small pair of fine curved wire pliers help, but not necessary.
we make a lot of bead decorations in the run up to Christmas, keeps excited children occupied, hook on to a bent card, perfect christmas card, which the person receiving can use as decoration.
bead fairies, with coloured feather wings, are really easy, use a big bead for body, use coloured pipe cleaners for limbs with little bead on each end for hands and feet., or wired and beaded, hang the legs on a small wire loop, from the body bead, for lovely movement.
fine pain brush for painting simple faces, use oil paint, on pale wooden beads, we have used glass paint on glass beads, and polished stone beads,
packs of funky coloured feathers and pipe cleaners, are super cheap,
wire is cheap,
we use pliers,wire cutters, and I use a glue gun for attaching feather to the hole in the body bead, but poking a bit of most decent glue will work
If you have a button tin, button fairies are very sweet.