DIY a pair of sparkling sequin stud earrings

Sometimes, ideas come to me out of the blue. Well, not exactly out of the blue, but unexpectedly, while I'm creating something else. So, when I was making these sequin and pearl earrings, I was thinking about what a great texture a pile of sequins create, and boom, the idea for these earrings was born. Because, wouldn't it be cool if you could incorporate that texture into a piece of jewelry? Of course it would!

You will need:

1) Felt

2) Scissors

3) Sequins (c/o Pandahall)

4) Super glue (like E6000)

5) Earrings studs

1. Cut out 2 pieces of 2x2cm felt.

2. Cover one piece with glue and start glueing the sequins to the felt. I started by placing the corner-sequins first, and the filling the outer frame and moving inward from there. 

3. With E6000 you can adjust the positioning of the sequins when the glue is still wet.

4. This is how one of my earrings looked after the first layer of sequins. Now would be a good time to let that one dry and do the other.

5. Add another layer of sequins on top of the first layer. Make sure to place the sequins in between the lower layer ones, not directly on top of. This will create a cool texture.

6. Once the glue on the sequins has dried completely, glue the studs to the backside of the felt. Let dry and start sparkling!

I'm totally diggin' these studs! Now, all I need is a party to go to, so I can sparkle around in these. Of course, you're welcome to wear them every day of the week if your shiny like that.

Cheers to unexpected ideas!

xo. Hanna

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DIY Lace Stud Earrings

Happy April Fools! Did you get any good pranks today? I'm very easy to fool since I forget about the date, even during the day, and so I'm just thinking it's an ordinary Wednesday. Or I'm simply naive. But, let's go with the first version, ok?

I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated in the Etsy send-off party with the purchases. The shop is now officially closed, and I'll be removing the link from the menu bar as well. I'll be writing more in depth about all the lessons learned soon.

Enough of chit-chat - let's get down to business! Lace earrings have been on my mind for a while, but somehow I haven't gotten around to making any before now. In my earring-making frenzy last week, I suddenly had a burst of inspiration and voila, lace earrings. These are so easy to make, it almost feels like cheating. So, if you've ever wanted to get into jewelry-making, but been intimidated by the tools and wires and techniques, simple stud earrings are the perfect place to start. You cannot do it wrong! 

 Supplies needed:

1) Venice style lace

2) Scissors

3) Mod Podge

4) Small painting brush

5) Earring studs

6) Super glue

7) Plastic bag 

 Here's the how-to:

1) Cut 2 suitable motifs for the earring from the venice lace.

3) Add a drop of water to Mod Podge (until it's runny) and paint over both sides of the lace motifs. Protect the underlying surface and the motifs by laying a plastic bag under them for this step.

4) Let completely dry before gluing the studs to the backside of the lace. Once the glue has dried, you can wear your new studs.

Ridiculously simple, right? You might be wondering why I messed with the Mod Podge in the first place. Well, the lace itself is soft, but I wanted the earrings to have a good form, and be at least somewhat stain-resistant. And infusing them in Mod Podge did just that.

Happy crafting!

xo. Hanna

DIY Sequins and pearls hoop earrings

I've been getting back into jewelry making lately. It's funny how my craft-craving always come in waves. There are periods where I only want to sew for hours on end, and then there are times when I can't make enough earrings, followed by a knitting frenzy. That's just how I roll. I guess it's jewelry making time again. 

I wanted to try and make something with flexible wire, and came up with these fun sequin and pearl earrings. I made them in a bunch of colors. I love when I get into a zone while crafting and just play around with stuff. That's fun!

What you will need:

• Flexible jewelry wire
• Earring hooks in silver
• 2mm round crimp beads
• Flat-nosed pliers
• Colorful sequins (c/o Pandahall)
• 4mm colorful beads (c/o Pandahall)
• Wire cutters or scissors

 1. Cut a 12cm long piece of flexible wire. Add sequins and pearls (11 sequins and 10 beads per earring) to the wire.

2. String the wire through one crimp bead, so that one tail of the wire is very short and the other is about 1.5cm long. 

3. Press the crimp bead together with the flat-nosed pliers. 

4. Add another crimp bead to the longer tail of the wire. Then, string the wire tail through the earring hook and back through the crimp bead. 

5. Again, press the crimp bead together withe the pliers. Cut wire tails.

6. A more advanced way of making this would be to use only one crimp bead to tie the wire loop. In this case, you would skip steps 3 and 4. 

Make one more and you have yourself a lovely pair of earrings.

 

This technique has so much potential. I can already imagine making these with bigger pearls and wooden pearls, and all sorts of combinations. I'm thinking I could make a few more variations and do an inspiration post. Would you be interested in that? 

I hope this tutorial was helpful also to those not that familiar with jewelry making. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask in the comments.

xo. Hanna

DIY Dangling Metal Button Earrings

Happy Independence Day, Estonia! Our little country is 97 years old today. We are celebrating by making soup and watching Tangerines, the Estonian movie that almost won an Oscar this year. But before I go to wave the blue-black-white flag, I have a DIY to share with you.

This is another one created for the Estonian fashion magazine called Mood. Laura suggested I make the Estonian versions of these tutorials available as well, and I'm working on making that happen. I'm still figuring out the best way to do that, but I'll let you know as soon as they are up somewhere. 

I've wanted to make something out of these metal buttons from the day I bought a whole batch of vintage buttons many moons ago. There were only a few of each, so adding them to a garment would be tricky, as garments with buttons usually require more in quantity. And also, they were so cool, I had a hard time imagining a garment worthy of them. So, finally I decided to turn them into jewelry. Best decision ever!

I'm sure you can find similar buttons in the stores, but you could use any other buttons in different sizes. I think these would look great with colorful buttons - like a color-blocked effect - for the upcoming spring. And you could play with the length by choosing smaller buttons, or adding only two or three. Or, make them ever more dramatic by choosing large buttons. There's so much variation possible here.

This is what you need:

• Buttons with 2 holes: 2 big buttons (mine were about 1.5cm in diameter), 2 slightly smaller, and 4 small buttons (with a diameter of 1cm)
• 0.6mm (22 gauge) jewelry wire
• 5mm metal jump rings (or you could make these out of the wire)
• Earring stud with backings
• Wire cutters
• Round-nosed pliers (this kit has all the essential jewelry tools)
• Regular pencil (if you're using bigger buttons, then something thicker)
• E6000 glue
• A toothpick fro applying glue

1.  First you need to create some metal rings for the bigger buttons. You could also make smaller rings for the smaller buttons and for joining the buttons. (Or, you could alternatively buy metal bigger and smaller metal rings and skip this step.)

Wrap the wire one and a half times around the pencil and cut. Make 6 of these. 

If you're also making the smaller metal rings out of wire, use your round-nosed pliers for that and create 10 of those.

2. Attach the metal rings to the buttons. One to the top and bottom button, and two to the ones in between. It's like attaching a key to a key-ring. Use the round-nosed pliers to seal and smooth the rings.

3. Start joining the the buttons with the smaller metal rings. Open the ring with the pliers, attach the top button...

4. ... then add the next button, so you have both button's key-rings on the smaller joining ring. Close the ring with the pliers. Repeat with the next buttons all the way down. 

 You can see the progression of adding the buttons on pictures 5 and 6.

7. Once all the buttons have been added, take the studs, add a dab of glue to the backside of the stud with a toothpick, and attach it to the back of the top button.

8. Make sure you let the glue dry completely. Done!

Pretty cool earrings, huh? I'm itching to try even more button constellation variations. Earrings, bracelets, necklaces out of buttons - should be fun! So, I'm a button enthusiast, that much is clear. What about you? Would you give these a go?

If you ever make a project from Pearls & Scissors, do share! You could either e-mail me a photo to hanna at pearlsandscissors dot com, share it on the Pearls & Scissors Facebook page, tag me on Instagram or use the hashtag #pearlsandscissorsdiy.

I'd love to feature your creation on the blog, and create a gallery of reader makes. Wouldn't it be fun to see how others have interpreted a project? I'm beyond excited to see what you create!

xo. Hanna

This post contains a couple of Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through that link I get a small commission.

DIY // Simple fabric flower stud earrings

This project was inspired by a pair of earrings I saw on Etsy a while ago. I loved the simple yet charming nature of those simple fabric flower studs, and wanted to try and make my own version. I love using up scraps of fabric I have left over from other projects, so I'm always on the lookout for simple projects that need little fabric. These earrings were the perfect fit.

After some trial and error, I figured out a very simple method of making the fabric spiral flowers I wanted to create. If you also want a pair, this is what you need:

• Fabric
• Double-sided tape
• Earring posts with bezel cups
• Glue
• Scissors

First, you have to make fabric tape, which is actually very easy to do. Cut two 10cm long strips of double-sided tape and tape them onto fabric. Cut the tape out and your fabric tape is ready.

Now, remove the backing from the tape and start rolling the tip of the tape, like you would when covering a cord with it. Once you have a tube about 5 cm long, cut the tape, and roll the tube into a spiral. Before cutting the tape, make sure your tube is long enough to fill the cup of the earring when it's spiraled into a circle.

Once you've made two spiral flowers, add some glue inside the bezel cups, and insert the flowers (spirals).

Let the glue dry, and your earrings are ready to wear.

I hope you like this little project. Happy making!

DIY Rhinestone Ear Cuff (from an old necklace)

I've been wanting an ear cuff from the moment I saw them popping up on Pinterest. I couldn't find anything I liked that was affordable, so I set out to make my own. So, this project has been on my to-do list for ages. It took me a while to figure out how to make it. Then, I had one of those lightbulb moments when going through a box of miscellaneous items. I found this vintage rhinestone necklace I got from my Grandma. There were some rhinestones missing, so it had become unwearable. I love that I could give it a new life. Every time I wear it, it reminds me of my Grams. I love things that have a story to tell! And the end result looks simply stunning, non?

Here's what you'll need to make your own:
♥ Old rhinestone necklace or separate rhinestones
♥ Wire cutters (if using an old necklace)
♥ Earring studs and backs
♥ Strong gel adhesive (like E6000 or similar)
♥ A simple nose ring

A little tip for glueing the rhinestones together. After adding the adhesive, I'd recommend placing the earrings on plastic to dry. There's going to be some glue residue on the back and the earring will stick to  whatever you place it on. Plastic is more inconspicuous and easier to remove once the adhesive has dried.
After you're done with the above steps, glue the earring studs to the back of the earrings and let dry. Finally, glue the nose ring to the back top part of the ear cuff. It should be positioned so that you can attach the nose ring to your ear. This makes the ear cuff stay in place. Without the ring it'll just fall down because of it's weight.

I hope this tutorial helps anyone wanting to tackle an ear cuff DIY.

DIY Fabric & Chain hoop earrings at OEH

I'm posting on Oh Everything Handmade again! This time I'm sharing a super simple, but higly addictive tutorial for creating earrings out of old fabric scraps, some chain and earring hoops. Take a peak!

My voice forced me to take a day off yesterday, so I spent it getting friendly with my sewing machine. It was such a great feeling to make something after a long break. I've missed it. Hope I can share my sewing storm with you soon.

Have a wonderful and creative weekend, my friends!

DIY Fabric flower studs tutorial at OEH

Hi, friends! I hope you've all had a killer start to the new year! I spent my Christmas holiday with friends and family eating good food and enjoying good company. It's already been a busy year for me with a trip to Cologne, Germany last week. I'm slowly getting back into the rhythm of things here, this being the week of exams and all. I hope to be back with some new posts real soon. Until then, check out the fabric flowers studs tutorial I posted over at Oh Everything Handmade.