Easy Earrings

By Karen May-Free

This month we’re going to make a super simple pair of earrings. It’s a cheap and quick way to get some new spark into your wardrobe or make something nice for a special occasion or a gift.

For this you will need a few special beading items.  Head pins are pins with a flat end so that whatever you put on the pin does not slide off.  You will need two of those and also two ear wires, or some other type of earring finding.  I’m using wire hooks, but I know that there are posts available that have a loop for attaching things. In order to manipulate these, you’ll need a pair of needle-nose pliers.  Most jewelry pliers (and some regular pliers) come with a small wire cutting area built in, but if yours do not have that, you will also need wire cutters. And most importantly, you’ll need beads! I’m using crystal beads that I picked up at Studio Baboo on the Downtown Mall, but every craft store has at least some beads. How your earring looks is up to you. If you want sparkly, get sparkly beads! If you want a more subdued look, go for some pearl look beads, or maybe some carved stone.  You’re only limited by your own imagination.

Make sure that you have enough beads to make your earrings match, and figure out how you want them arranged.

When you have that figured out, slide them onto the head pin in that order.  Keep in mind that the head of the pin is going to be the bottom of the earring. After your beads are on, slide the hook onto the pin.

This next step is the only tricky part to the whole project.  With the hook down next to the beads, take your pliers and bend the pin around lightly. Make sure it is curved, not bent at an angle.  When you see that you will have a loop back to the bead, cut the pin.

Position the hook in the looped part of the pin before the cut, and with the pliers, gently crimp the loop together. Be sure to get the sides of the pin as close together as possible. I try to get my pin edges so that they will tuck down into the top bead, but as long as it is closed securely around the ear hook, you will be fine.

Repeat the process for the other earring, and you’re done! Unless you’ve got a really intricate set of beads to string or it’s your very first time wielding pliers, you can be done in less than a half hour.  Super fast, super easy, super stylish!

Karen is a blogger and crafter who has lived in Charlottesville for 6 years after transplanting from the Shenandoah Valley. While not working or attending classes at PVCC, she blogs about her life at Precision Indecision and about crafts at CraftyKix.