How to Make Earrings

 When you first start out making your own earrings, you’ll likely have a manageable amount of supplies. As you get more experienced and aquire more findings, beads, rings, wire, etc, you will need to store them in such a way that finding what you are looking is not a project unto itself. I’m going to share with you how I have my supplies organized. If you have any ideas on how to organize jewelry supplies, I’d love to see your comments. I have my gold and sterling silver wire on top. (I know it’s messy. You can keep them coiled better. I just got a bit lazy)

I found these large organizers at a local hardware store. I imagine they are designed to hold different shapes and sizes of screws, etc, but I find them perfect to store findings and jump rings of various sizes and metals. I label each with masking tape on the front so that I can easily find what I am looking for. They also have larger bins at the bottom. I use one of them to hold my hematite beads.

For my smaller beads, I have a bead box. The bead box is a tray with a lid that contains 24 smaller containers with lids. I label each of these with masking tape too. I keep my semi-precious small beads in one tray and my glass beads in another. These small containers have a glass top which helps a great deal, as I can see what they contain without picking them up or having to open them.

Below, you can see my amethyst container close-up.

I keep other tools and equipment in a medium sized Rubber Maid tub. I’ve seen handy tool holders that you can keep on your work bench or table. I don’t own one myself though.

Do you have any ideas on how to organize your jewelry supplies? Leave a comment below if you do.

For the first article on how to make beaded earrings, I’ve decided to pick the topic of choosing the right beads. There are literally thousands of beads on the market today that you can use to make earrings. When I pick the beads I want to work with, I usually take a few other things into consideration.

1. The type of metal I’m using.

If I am using stirling or fine silver findings, I will usually pick beads made from semi-precious stones.  I feel it gives the earrings a higher value and keeps them fancy. If I am using surgical stainless steel findings, I am more likely to use fire-polished glass beads or hematite.

2. The occasion.

If I am making earrings as a gift, sometimes, I’ll use the birthstone of the person for whom the earrings are for. Birthstone earrings make a wonderful gift, especially when they are accompanied by a little note describing the stone’s properties. Sometimes, I’ll see a wonderful bracelet or necklace and want to design a pair of earrings to match it.  The closer I can come to the materials used in the other jewelry, the better the earrings will match.

3. The style of earrings.

Different styles of earrings look best with different sizes of beads. For example, chandelier earrings often look best with many smaller beads, while single bead earrings look best with a larger bead.  Sometimes, I’ll use a combination of larger and smaller beads.  

The best part of designing and making your own beaded earrings is that you are only limited by your imagination. I encourage everyone to just jump right into it and make lots of earrings. That way, with practice, you’ll discover what bead combinations you like best. Start simple and before you know it, you’ll move beyond the earring designs that you can learn to do on the Internet, and you’ll be creating masterpiece works of art. Your friends will appreciate the thought you put into their gifts.

Local bead shops or craft shows are wonderful sources of inspiration for choosing just the right beads for your earring designs.