make simple earrings
top: burnt horn earrings with earwires
bottom: coral and hematite without earwires
a few weeks ago, i was shopping for beads for my tiny boxes, and some other beads caught my eye. but i was going to be a good girl and walk away and not spend more money just because they were pretty… yet, i kept thinking about those beads and the jewelry i could make. i eventually broke down. i made myself a necklace, and have a few beads left over, so i decided to make some earrings. these are really simple to make, do not require a lot of special equipment, and are inexpensive (unless you spend a lot on the beads!). they’re a great gift idea if you’re as behind on getting/making gifts as i am. details after the jump…
you’ll need:
- eyepins (or head pins): i paid around $3 for 50
- earwires: i paid around $4 for 50
- beads
- needle nose pliers
- wire cutter
notes: eyepins are pins have a loop at the end; head pins are flat at the end. buy your pliers and wire cutter at a hardware store. if you buy them at a jewelry store, you’ll probably pay a lot more.
i can’t claim to be an expert on making jewelry. i make it once in a while when a bead or shape inspires me. so bear with me on the instructions! the instructional pics didn’t turn out, arg!
1. put your beads on a headpin.
2. using your pliers, bend the extra part of the headpin at a 45 degree angle. you’ll want about 3/8 extra headpin. if you have more than that, use your wire cutter to trim off excess.
3. grab the end of the headpin with your pliers, then twist up and over to create a loop. don’t close it up yet, as you need to…
4. add your earwire. pinch the loop together to make sure the earwire won’t slip out.
5. that’s about it! jenn has been making jewelry and has given me some good tips for the instructions. she also pointed out that the bead monkey has instructions in PDF format on how to make earrings. it probably wouldn’t hurt to download the PDF as it does have a couple of diagrams demonstrating the instructions.
i made the coral earrings pictured above with a simple bend instead of using earwires. i’ll definitely need to wear the little rubber things behind my earlobe to make sure they don’t fall out. but now i have some cool earrings to wear with my $25 party dress from target!
update: many apologies for this sub-par post. i really phoned it in…