Want to instantly make yourself feel better?  Whip up a sassy pair of earrings just for you.  You deserve it.  I promise.  I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I make myself something, I feel guilty—I should give these as a gift, I should be adding these to my stash of things to sell, and so on.  This is also not a new song on this blog.  So….  I’m telling that little voice in my head I’ll do it next time.  You can too!  For now, it’s our turn!  Let’s do this!

I actually made a trio of earrings with these supplies of which tutorials on will trickle out.  For now, you only need what’s checked and listed.  You might also want a couple bead caps (half domed beads that sit next to a focal bead).

P.S. Ergo plier sets are my fave.

String all the pieces onto a head pin.  I’m using Beadalon decorative balled/star head pins, Jesse James Boho style beads (see JoAnn Fabrics) and brass bead caps.  The bead is so decorative, I didn’t think I needed much else (note that for once in my life, I’m keeping it simple).

Make a 90 degree bend in the head pin just above the last bead cap.

Put the round nose pliers into the bend of the head pin and bring the end of the wire up and around the pliers and back under.

If you’re new to making jewelry, pliers are simply for forming wire or small amounts of sheet metal.  We need a solid round loop at the top of the bead dangle so we have to use round tipped pliers to achieve that.

At this point, your loop can look like this or close to it.  If this is your first time making jewelry, know that this wrapped loop technique is one of the hardest tricks in the book.  Making the loop consistently sized takes a bit of practice.

Now, we’re going to grab the chain nose pliers (angled tips).

Put the loop in the jaws of the pliers and now twist the end of the wire round and round just above the bead.  My wraps are always messy.  If you want perfect, you came to the wrong blog.  Trim any excess wire with wire cutters.

Open up the kidney ear wire and hang the beaded dangle in the front opening.

Use the round nose pliers to pinch the opening shut.  You don’t have to do this if you want to make lots of beaded dangles and change them out.  If I’m selling earrings, I close the loop because inevitably those bead balls will make a run for it.  Probably start a new bead colony or something.  Plus your customers will be really happy if they aren’t messing with runaway bead dangles.  But, why am I talking about customers?  We’re keeping these for ourselves, right?  With that….

They lived happily ever after….(“they” being us and the sassy new earrings).

THE.  END.