Earrings

Last time, I made a navy and yellow necklace to match an outfit I like to wear, and I outlined the materials and steps you would need to go through to make one of your own. I’m not really a bracelet kind of girl, but I do like to wear earrings as well as necklaces, so I decided to make myself a pair of earrings to go with the necklace (and of course I’ll show you how to make those, too!)

Supplies you’ll need include:

• 6 focus beads (I used navy 6mm bicone crystals)
• seed beads (I used yellow ones) (these are optional – you’ll still get lovely earrings if you leave them out)
• thin chain – about 6″ total would be plenty
• 2 earring hooks
• flathead pins
• jumprings or wire to make your own
• roundnose and snipper pliers plus, ideally, two pair of flathead pliers. (Except for the roundnose pliers, there’s a good chance you have these in your garage!)

Start by cutting your chain into 6 even lengths with the snipper pliers (1). I used 8 links of chain each, which totals about 3/4″ each. I find I get more consistent results if I count links rather than measure the chain. If you’re doing this, remember to count out the number of links you want, and then cut the next one (because since it’s cut, it will not be part of your finished segment).
Next, turn your focus beads into charms. Put the flathead pin through the bead, and bend the pin at a 90 degree angle right above the bead. Keep about 3/4″ of the pin past the bead, and cut off the rest (2).

Wrap the part of the flathead pin that sticks out from the bead around your roundnose pliers, creating a loop to attach to the jumprings (3). Its ok if this loop overlaps!
Now attach the chain, seed beads, and focus bead charms to the jumpring. Open up the jumpring with the flathead pliers, and string the following onto the jumpring in this order:  seed bead, focus bead charm, seed bead, chain (below). Then close this up, and you have one ‘dangle’ for your earrings (4).

To finish the earrings up, open up another jumpring with your pliers. String on: a seed bead, three chains (the ends not connected to beads already), another seed bead, and then the loop on the bottom of your earring hook. Close up the jumpring, and you’ve finished an earring!

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<3,
Julia