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

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