Hematite Handmade Earrings

If your mom is like most, then she probably has her ears pierced.  I recently posted instruction on how to make handmade earrings, so I thought I’d continue to post different handmade earring projects that you can easily recreate.

These earrings appeal to lots of people because of the hematite beads used.  Hematite is that beautiful black/grey stone that goes well with lots of different outfits – hence the broad appeal.  Basically, when you are making earrings for someone and you’re not sure what colors they like or wear often, make earrings that go with almost anything.

You can refer to my original article regarding how to make handmade earrings for step-by-step instructions.  In this post, I will give you the details about how I stacked the beads I used (see picture).  When stacking the beads on your wire posts, start from the bottom and layer one on top of another as follows:

1.  Silver seed bead

2.  Hematite tube bead

3.  Silver seed bead

4.  Hematite round bead

5.  Silver seed bead

6.  Hematite tube bead

7.  Silver seed bead

The design of these earrings is very simple and classy.  They can be worn with a casual outfit or something fancier, as well.  If this design doesn’t match the personality of the person you are giving them to, I encourage you to mix and match these beads in a way that you like.  If you have a mother and a mother-in-law, you could make them each a pair of the same design or vary each pair somewhat to customize the design for each person.  If you go to your local bead store and can’t find an exact match to the beads I used, don’t panic.  Keep in mind the basic elements of the design, and then substitute different beads based on what is available.   At the very least, I hope this project inspires you and gives you a place to start making your own handmade earrings for Mother’s Day and other occasion throughout the year, such as birthday gifts, thank you gifts, Christmas gifts and more.

Happy Crafting,

AJ

Easy Handmade Earrings

Handmade earrings are a fast and easy handmade gift to make…one of the fastest and easiest in my opinion!  Even if you have NEVER made a pair of earring before, you can do it.  It is also a unique, personalized handmade gift AND it’s inexpensive to make earrings…depending upon the beads you select, of course.  It is also a great craft project when you need a last-minute gift since it is so easy to do.

Here is what I recommend:

First, go to a local bead store or craft store and purchase:
•  2 Earring hooks
•  2 Headpins
•  Beads
Note: You can often find earring kits that contain everything you need to create a pair of earrings, including the beads.

The tools you will need are:
•  Wire cutters
•  Needle Nose pliers or Round Nose pliers
Note: If you do not have these tools, go to a bead store to get your supplies and use their tools that they have available to the public.  They can also help you make your earrings, so this is a good option for beginners too.

Instructions:

1.  Stack your beads in the order you want on your headpin.
2.  Cut off the excess wire of the headpin about a ½ inch from the top of the last bead on your stack.
3.  Create a loop with the wire above the stack of beads using Round Nose pliers and attach the earring hook before completely closing the loop.  For instructions on how to create the loop and add the earring hook, I’ve included a video (see Video #1) that I found online to the end of this post so that you can “see” how it’s done (rather than “read” how it’s done. It’s also a lot faster than me making a video myself!).  Also, if you want to see a step-by-step video, check out Video #2 below, but be sure to read my comments about the video before watching it.

Note: If you don’t have Round Nose pliers (commonly used in making jewelry) and are making your earrings at a bead store, most bead stores have tools you can borrow (as I mentioned above).  If you don’t have access to a bead store, you can use Needle Nose pliers.  If these are Needle Nose pliers that you got at a hardware store and not a craft store, they will have grooves on them, which can make marks on the headpin wire.  If this is all you have to work with, I suggest you try putting pieces of masking tape on the grooved surface of the Needle Nose pliers, so that the surface of the pliers in more smooth.  It’s not a perfect solution, but it should get the job done.

You may have thought making earrings was harder to do than it is.  I hope you see now how fast, easy and inexpensive it is to make earrings for yourself or for a personalized handmade gift for someone else.  And “one size fits all” so you don’t need to know anything more about the person than whether or not they have their pierced ears.:-)

Happy crafting,

 AJ

Video #1

 

I’ve included a second video, which takes you from the beginning to the end of the process.  I also am including it because she creates her hook differently than I do, and it may be simpler for kids to do (or simpler for you).  One thing I did notice is that she cut her headpin 1 inch above her stack of beads in the video.  You can see in the video that this leaves a lot of room between the beads and the loop, so I suggest you DON’T do this.  You can experiment, and see how much room you typically need to make a loop.

Video #2