Easy Earrings

Easy Earrings - Easy Money

I made these ten pair of earrings in less than two hours on Saturday and took them into Eileen's Gifts Monday morning. By closing time at 2:00, eight had already sold.

So I thought, "This is definitely something worth sharing with our readers."

It costs between 20 and 50 cents to make each pair. I'm selling them for $5. They're easy and fun to make.

Many women love earrings and can never have too many. About half of these were bought as gifts. What a winning product for the home-based crafter!

If you already make jewelry, you may have everything you need in your stash. But even if you've never made your own jewelry before, there's very little to buy.

When I say these earrings took less than two hours to make, I should mention that most of that time was spent in the design phase - mixing and matching beads and charms. Pure unadulterated fun.

If you're a beginner, you may want to read this article, The Mistakes New Jewelry Crafters Make before you proceed.

Jewelry Making Tools

1. Needle Nose Pliers

You need at least two for closing jump rings. One with a flat tip is good for grasping. A rounded tip is necessary for forming uniform loops.

You might try one of the combination pliers now available. They are designed to cut, grasp and form rings. Just remember, you will still need one more for working with jump rings and performing similar tasks.

2. Wire Cutting Pliers

Materials for Earrings

1. Assorted Beads

If you don't already have a collection, I recommend Blue Moon Assortments. They come in your choice of colors and always include a bunch of special beads (perfect for earrings) along with all the usual seed, bugle and pony beads.

I'm convinced you get more for your money than if you bought the component beads separately.

2. Earwires

3. Head and/or Eye Pins

Eye pins are used if you want to dangle a charm from the bottom of the earring. I recommend 2 inch pins, which may seem a bit long, because it's easy to cut them shorter but you can't make them longer. If you're not going to add charms, you only need head pins.

4. Jump Rings

Always handy to have on hand but if you're not attaching charms, you don't need them for this project.

5. Charms - Optional

6. Decorative Metal Spacer Beads

These really add a professional look.

How to Make Easy Earrings

1. Design

Lay all your bead assortments on the table and look for pleasing combinations. You may be surprised to find a bead in your purple box that goes better with some from your brown collection.

Beads can look quite dull when they are laying in a pile; but when you string them onto a shiny wire or put some sparkly silver or gold seed beads between them, they take on a whole new look.

Try stringing combos of accent, seed and spacer beads on a head pin until you find some you like.

2. Assembly

If you are dangling a charm from the bottom of the earring, open the eye of the eye pin and attach the charm. Close the eye.

Thread the selected beads on the head or eye pin. You will need about 1.5mm of wire to form the loop which connects your beads to the ear wire.

Cut the pin to the desired length. Hold both sides of the pin when you cut to keep the end from flying off and possibly hitting you in the eye. Also you want to save the scrap end so that you can make the other earring exactly the same length.

Holding the beads tight against the bottom of the pin, bend the tip away from you to form an angle and hold the beads in place.

Take the round-head needle nose pliers and grasp the very end of the pin, positioning the tip at the circumference you want your loop to be. Push the beaded wire away from you and around the pliers' tip, forming the loop.

Before completely closing the loop, slip the loop of the earwire on.

Usually you'll see such connecting loops formed into a perfect circle. For earrings, I prefer a tear drop shape. To close the loop completely, wedge the tip into the hole of the topmost bead. This serves to secure the beads and eliminate any sliding.

Use the scrap from the first pin as a measure to make the second exactly the same length. Repeat the above steps for the second earring.

Finishing Touches

I firmly believe that creative packaging gives a crafter a significant edge in the marketplace. In fact, I've tested it myself at craft fairs. Read more about it in my Marketing Article.

Notice that the earrings in the photo above are attached to little cards. Mine are made by computer, but you can easily do them by hand.

Two little pin holes at the top allow for insertion of the earwires. A strip of transparent tape across the back holds them securely in place, both so they don't fall off the card and also so that your logo, slogan and contact info can clearly be seen.

Just to spark some ideas: the product card above says, Glass Act Beaded Jewelry (slogan), Designs with Style by Eileen (logo), with my contact information included.

Jewelry Making Supplies

Blue Moon Bead Color Assortments
Blue Moon Beads Gold Pierced Earwires (30 pieces or 15 pair)
Blue Moon Beads Silver Pierced Earwires (30 pieces or 15 pair)
Westrim Jump Rings - 3 to 5mm is a good size
Beadalon Wire Cutter
Beadalon Wire Looping Pliers - jaw has 3 tiers designed specifically for forming 3 loop sizes. Lower jaw is concave and fits over the looping jaw to allow for easy bending.
Beadalon Combo Pliers - form, shape and cut soft wire

All are available at Create for Less. Simply enter the product name in the search box.

Another excellent source of beads, charms, wire and tools is Beading Warehouse, your one-stop source for exceptional beads and jewelry making supplies.