Jewelry Making 101: Putting it all Together - Earrings

cardi & shorts: thrifted, tank: old navy, belt: walmart, shoes: payless

So, today was one of those days when you need your clothes to be extra .... something. Long story, you really don't want to know. Anyway. So I saw the pink, yellow, red, and turquoise combo on another blogger recently and loved it. This was my interpretation - pale pink cardi, violently yellow tank, red belt and shoes, and turquoise earrings and ring. I loved how it turned out. I like that even thought I am wearing shorts, I look like an adult rather than a teenager. But a put together adult.

Jewelry Making 101:

Earrings 

We've talked about the tools and the supplies, now it is time to put it all together. I did two pairs of very basic earrings here. Both simple enough for beginners. If you mess up, just take it apart and try again. I'm apologizing in advance for the sub-par photography. I'm not a photographer and have a very basic camera.

my haul from hobby lobby

 I've been wanting a pair of rose gold earrings for a while now and haven't been able to find a pair that I like. I found a couple of pendants that I thought would be perfect for half off at HL. I also want a pair of wood earrings and found some great beads.

supplies for a basic single bead drop earrings

First step is to gather your supplies. For a basic single bead drop earring you'll need two beads, two headpins, and two ear wires. If your beads have holes too big for the headpins, you will also need either a smaller bead or bead cap. 

Next, put one bead on the headpin. If you are doing a bead cap, it goes on first, then the bead.

You want to use your pliers to bend the headpin at a slight angle as shown above.

Then you take your round nose pliers and wrap the headpin around the plier nose once so you have a round loop.

Then you wrap the end of the headpin around the base of the loop at the top of the bead. You can do it just once or multiple times depending on how you want the earring to look.

Next you use your wire cutters to snip the end of the headpin. Make sure you get in pretty close to the bead, otherwise you'll have a sharp edge poking you or snagging your hair. Also be ready, when you cut the headpin, it will fly.

ear wire opened

 Next you take your ear wire and open the loop at it's base. Anytime you open a loop in jewelry making, whether it is a ear wire or a jump ring, you always use your pliers and twist is open. Once opened it should look like the above picture.

Put your finished bead drop on the ear wire loop. Then using your pliers twist the loop closed.

completed earrings - I had to remake them using bead caps because the bead holes were too big.

Here is the second pair. If you find a couple of pendants you like these are super easy.

the supplies

For this pair I used two pendants, two jump rings, and two lever back ear wires.

jump ring

opened jump ring

First take your jump ring and open it. Remember to open a jump ring you take it with your pliers and using a second pair of pliers twist it open. It should look like the picture above.

 

Slide the pendant and ear wire onto the jump ring. Make sure that the pendant and ear wire are both facing forward. You don't want to put your earring in and discover it is backwards. Then you twist the jump ring closed. Easy.

completed earrings

Hope this was helpful. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to help. 

Do you make your own jewelry? What is your fave piece?