How to Make Earrings

This earring making basics video shows two ways how to attach an eye pin to a French hook. You can use these methods to attach any pin, whether it be an eye pin or a head pin to a French Hook. If you want to attach a pin to a ear post loop, you will have to bend open the pin, as ear post loops do not typically bend open.

Tools:

Chain nose pliers

Note: I advise you to wear safety glasses when making jewelry.

Welcome to the hematite hoop earring project. I am going to take you through the step-by-step directions on how to make simple pair of beaded earrings.  For this project I will be using two inch-long head pins, two surgical stainless steel French Hook earrings and two sets of three different beads.

Once you have all of your jewelry findings laid out on your table, you will need a pair of round-nose pliers.  Any pair of round-nose pliers will do, but I prefer the ones with spring back action. These pliers open automatically when you release them. This makes jewerly making a LOT easier to do, especially when you are advanced enough to use a pair of pliers in each hand.

The first step is to feed the head pin through the beads. You will notice how the headpin is fed through the top hole of the hematite hoop only. If the head pin were to have been fed through both holes, you would have been able to see the head pin through the hoop. This way, the hoop kind of floats at the bottom and the head pin is out of site.

As with any head pin earrings, you need to form a loop at the top to attach it to the ear posts or French Hooks.  To keep this hoop centered, you should first bend the head pin about 45 degrees to the side.

Once it is bent, you can grasp the tip of the head pin with the round nose pliers and roll the pin towards you, back towards the bend. This action creates a round loop at the top of the pin.

Be careful not to close the loop just yet. You have to connect it to the French Hook first!

After the French Hook is in place, you can continue to roll the loop closed. You may need to pinch it completely shut, and even give it a small twist or other adjustments to make it look “just right”.  When you are finished, repeat these steps for the second earring.

Congratulations! Once you have finished these instructions, you will have made a wonderful pair of hematite earrings that you can wear yourself, or give away as a meaningful gift.  All the best!

* You can watch the video here: How to Make Earrings

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.