How to Make Earrings

Basic Dangle Earrings

1. Headpins form the core of most dangle earrings. With the head at the bottom, stack beads on a headpin in any pattern that pleases you, leaving at least 3/8" of exposed pin at top.
2. Hold the beads firmly against the head with one hand, then with round nose pliers in the other hand, grip the headpin just above the last bead and bend the wire 90 degrees to form a right angle. Snip off excess wire with cutters or nippers, leaving about 1/4" of the bent portion of the headpin.



3. Grip the end of the pin with the tip of your pliers and roll it up and around to form a smooth loop.



4. To finish, simply use your pliers to open the ring on a French hook, kidney wire, or earclip. Hook the beaded headpin to the earwire, then reclose the ring.





Dangle Earring Variations

Earrings with Small Dangles at the Bottom: Start with an eyepin instead of a headpin. Open the loop at the bottom of the eyepin, hook on the small dangle, reclose loop and continue.



Multiple Dangle Earrings: Attach several beaded headpins or eyepins to a jumpring and then attach that to your earwire. Or you can attach several beaded headpins to the various decorative tops we carry.



Extra Long Earrings: Link two sections together by using a headpin or eyepin at the bottom, hooking that to an eyepin, and then hooking that to an earwire.





Hoop Earrings
1. Slide beads of your choice onto hoop. Note: Open hoop by pulling one end gently to the side, not by pulling ends apart and enlarging circle. Round beads fit better than oval beads, short tubes better than long tubes.
2. Using pliers, bend the plain end of the hoop up about 45 degrees so it will hook into the eye in the other end of the hoop and keep the earring closed.





Hoop Earring Variations
Hoop Earring with Dangles: Hang small dangles from hoops, or for longer dangles, use beaded headpins or eyepins.



Front-facing Hoops on Earwires or Clips: Use hoops consisting of a closed ring with two small eyes at the top. From the inside eye, you can hang a small dangle or a short section of beads on a headpin. Attach eye on outside edge of hoop to an earwire or earclip.






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