Ronghua Tutorial: How to Make Zhu Yu Brooch/Napkin Ring

Bright, cheerful, and full of life — the Zhu Yu brooch/napkin ring captures the charm of winter berries resting on fresh green leaves. It’s the kind of little detail that instantly warms up a look or a table setting. Whether pinned to a coat or wrapped around a napkin, these glossy red “berries” bring a pop of color and a hint of celebration.

Preparation: What You’ll Need

If you’ve purchased our Ronghua Toolkit, you already have everything required!
If not, prepare the following tools:

1. Bristle brush (Medium to soft hardness)
2. Flat iron (the one you use to straighten your hair)
3. Tweezers
4. At least 2 pairs of Scissors
5. wooden sticks / pencils / chopsticks
6. Hair spray or diluted white glue (1:1.15–1:1.2 ratio)
7. Big clips (around 15cm)
8. Twisting boards and wooden blocks (for even tension)
9. Anti-slip powder (optional but helpful)

Full Tutorial Video

Step 1. Align and Arrange the Silk Threads

Start by untying your silk threads. Locate the knot at one end of each bundle and cut it open carefully. This project uses 4 colours of silk to create 3 silk rows.  Refer to the colour diagram below for thread combination details.

Step 2. Group and Prepare the Threads

Each silk bundle consists of tiny strand-like structures — these are your individual strands. 

Align all strands neatly and tie them around a thin stick, keeping the ends even. Avoid uneven lengths — this ensures consistent texture later on.

Step 3. Make Silk Rows

Repeat the above process to create three silk rows in total. Remember to refer back to the data provided in the diagram for the following rows, as each will differ slightly. Below are the finished silk rows we made. 

Step 4. Brush the Silk Rows

Fix one silk row onto your stand using big metal clips - if you don't have the wooden ronghua stand, that's totally fine! You can refer to our video about alternative solutions to the stand.

Hold the ends of the threads with one hand and brush gently but firmly from top to bottom. Don’t lift the brush midway. A light mist of water will prevent static. You can apply some pressure — silk threads are stronger than they look! Make sure to brush both the front and back sides until the row looks smooth and fluffy. 

Everyone uses a different brush and hand speed, so the time it takes to complete this step is also different. Taking my situation as a reference, it took me about 10 minutes to brush this silk row. When you feel the hair is soft and fluffy, you can stop and check. When there is no complete linear distinction between the threads, it's ready:) 

Step 5. Attach Copper Wires

When you feel that the silk is brushed enough, secure its tail with another big clip to your table or anything that can help stretch it taut. Take out one copper wire from the folded end of the row and straighten it. Twist the folded part into a spiral of about 3 cm. Clamp the silk threads between two copper wires and twist the opposite side tightly. Pull both wires taut and continue twisting until they merge into one. Remember, the twisting direction for the left and right end are opposite. 

The spacing should be as shown in step 1. 

If you have anti-slip powder, it will be much easier to dip your fingers in it and twist it. 

We highly recommend you watch the video tutorial for this step:)

Once done, remove the silk row from the stand and lay it flat.

Step 6. Cut the Silk Strips

Trim the row’s end neatly, then cut between each pair of copper wires to create even silk strips. When cutting, the scissors must be placed in the middle of two copper wires, otherwise the width of the silk strips will be inconsistent.

If threads stick to your scissors, clean them — it’s usually caused by static or residue. Cut quickly and cleanly for smooth edges. Don't touch the wire or it may get displaced.

Step 7. Center and Twist the Strips

Align the copper wire to the middle of each strip using a flat surface or wooden block.
Once centered, twist both hands in opposite directions to tighten.

Next, place the copper part between the twisting boards and continue twisting in the same direction. Stop when the wire feels firm — twisting too far may cause it to break. How do you know if it is tightened enough? If tightened properly, the copper wire should only faintly show. If the copper wire is very visible, it’s not tight enough.

Use a fine comb or dense brush to brush them again. Light shedding during brushing is normal. If there’s a lot of shedding, the copper wire wasn’t rubbed tightly.

Step 8. Flatten the Strips

Trim the blue/green strips so it’s neat and straight, rotating as you cut. These are for the leaves. Fold the trimmed strip in half, making sure the bottom edges align cleanly.

Flatten all the green strips; the red strips do not need flattening.

Then we need to soak the flattened strips.

Prepare your setting solution:

1. Use either hair spray, or
2. Diluted white glue (1:1.15 or 1:1.2 ratio)

Soak the flattened strips in hair-gel solution, ensuring the liquid fully penetrates the fibers. Wipe off the excess gel.

Step 9. Make the Leaves

When the strips are still wet, use tweezers to pinch a gentle curved arc into each strip. Push the edge threads in the opposite direction of the curve. The leaf tip should be pointed, and finally, shape soft waves along the leaf edges. 

Once one leaf is shaped, stand it upright to dry. Large and small leaves are made in exactly the same way.

When the leaves are fully dry, trim their shapes using small curved scissors—keep in mind that scissors used for copper wire must be separate from those used on petals, otherwise they dull quickly.

The trimmed leaves should look neat and smooth. Add a piece of copper or steel wire to the base of each leaf, and wrap using doubled or quadruple thread for strength. Wrap 2–3 cm and tie off. 

For one full piece, you will need 4 large leaves and 2 small leaves.

Step 10. Make the Berries

While the leaves dry, begin making the berries. Taper each strip into an oval shape—wide in the center and narrow on both ends. When tapering, tilt your scissors to create a smoother arc. For shaping the tip, a bamboo pot works especially well.

Once shaped, attach a short 5 cm piece of copper wire to one end of the berry and wrap the wire tightly with silk thread. This extra wire gives the berry support, since annealed wire is too soft on its own. Wrap downward for about 4 cm, then cut off the remaining annealed wire on the other end. Make 15 berries in total.

Step 11. Make the Branch

Cut a 15–20 cm piece of copper wire and find its midpoint, then wrap it with silk thread. Fold the wire and continue wrapping until the entire length is covered. Wind the wrapped wire twice around a wooden rod to shape it.

Step 12. Assemble the Piece

Now assembly can begin. Start with the large leaves: arrange two of them in an alternating up–down pattern. Add three berries next, staggering them so they don’t sit on the same horizontal line. Wrap down to the bottom and tie off. This completes the first section.

For the second section, take the small leaves and arrange them in the same alternating up–down pattern. Add two berries, then bring in the wrapped wire from earlier and combine everything. Because this branch needs to be longer, add an extra piece of copper or steel wire for support.

Adjust the positions carefully and assemble this section with the previous one, tying off temporarily so you can refine the shape.

Now assemble the final section using the remaining large leaves. You will need five red berries for this part. Place the second leaf in the correct position and combine this final section with the previous ones.

Trim the bottom wires diagonally to prepare for finishing. Wrap the thread back upward, fold the end of the wire, and cover the folded section entirely with thread. Finish with your preferred knotting method. Trim the excess thread.

Step 13. Attach the Piece to the Base

To attach the finished ronghua to a brooch base or any accessory, simply bind it securely with thread, smoothing as you go. Now we need to finish invisibly. Fold a piece of 0.3 mm copper wire in half and place it at the point where you last wrapped. Continue wrapping forward to cover the copper wire. Thread the silk through the copper wire loop and pull the copper wire out. Trim off the extra silk thread and lightly burn any frayed ends.

We recommend you to watch the video tutorial for this step:)

Your piece is now complete. Handle the berries gently—because they’re fluffy, they flatten easily—and keep them away from water. Enjoy making it!