Wooden Cut Out Earrings

I would love to have a laser cutter to make earrings in any shape my mind can conceive but such a thing goes against everything we stand for on this blog. We use what we have.

These material-covered wooden cut-outs are cheaply and abundantly available at craft shops. The beauty of these is that you can improve them with a little paint, decoupage or even a fine liner. These were originally plain red butterflies and look at them now! They're plain red butterflies with patterns on!

You will need:

• Two wooden cut-outs in the desired shape, decorated however you see fit.
• A drill with a 1 mm bit
• Two loop-end wire pins (See vocab Tab)
• Round-nosed pliers (See vocab Tab)
• Two basic earring hooks (See vocab Tab)

Method:

Drill a hole in the appropriate section of each of your shapes. Just make sure the hole is in the same place for both earrings.

Push the end of the wire pin through the hole so that there is about 7.5 mm sticking out. Bend the main section of the pin upwards to create a right-angle and then bend the sticky-out bit up behind the shape until it meets the main pin and forms a kind of triangle with it.

Attach the basic hook to the loop at the the top of the pin and then check the direction and angle the earring hangs at. If you're not happy with it you can change the angle by bending the wire pin, or the direction the earring faces, by holding the loop at the top of the pin secure with the pliers and slowly turning the shape to rotate the loop until it's facing the right direction.

Rating:

Effort Required: 3/10

Working with wire is like holding a newborn baby: it's easy once you learn how to make sure it doesn't bend in the wrong places.

Durability: 9/10

It's always nice to be able to put on earrings without having to worry about the weather. 

Cool Factor: 5.5/10

Don't get me wrong; they're nice, light, practical, big enough to be noticed and subtle enough not to be weird. They match well. You can make them unique and own a whole bunch in various colours, sizes and shapes. In some ways they are actually the perfect DIY earrings. In other ways though, meh.

Felt Flower Earrings

This is more of an idea for an idea

You will need:

• Felt
• A felt-tip pen (Wait, felt can't write on felt! What kind of stupid name is that?) 
• Scissors
• embroidery thread
• A needle
• Super Glue
• Basic studs (See Vocab Tab)

How it's done:

Real simple: draw a small flower shape on the felt and cut it out. Using the needle and embroidery thread stitch a couple of stitches which cross each other at various angles in the middle of the flower. Make sure to start and end off with a double stitch to keep it secure. Super glue the stud to the back of the flower.

Rating:

Effort Required: 3/10

Quick and simple!

Durability: 9/10

They can withstand wind, water, sleep and even violent hugs.

Cool Factor: 5/10

The cool part about these is that they're not just felt flower earrings. They represent endless possibilities for earrings made of felt. They represent hope and versatility and the dying art of stitching stuff. They represent colour and peace and happiness and all those other reasons hippies protested against war. All you see are the flowers though.

Postage Stamp Earrings

You know how bored people used to collect books full stamps? Well, my aunt was one of those people. And in case you didn't know, postage stamps are sometimes extremely cool. So I sought a way to combine the awesomeness of earrings with that of stamps and this is the tutorial I came up with to share with you lovely people. Hope you appreciate this... post. Haha, get it? Because they're stamps :)

You will need:

• Two postage stamps of roughly the same size. If you have a pair of identical stamps, great. If not, do what I did and just try to make sure that the stamps you choose are similar or different enough to be cool. Be sure to choose the coolest stamps you can find, but also be mindful of size. Mine are the smaller end of the scale so that they're less irritating. There were some super cool Alice in Wonderland, Benjamin Rabbit and Harry Potter special editions that were just too ridiculously big to use without cutting.

• Cardboard. It needs to be pretty thick, like, thicker than a cereal box, but thinner than corrugated cardboard. I think I used the bottom of a Lindt chocolate box. By all means, use these earrings as an excuse to buy yourself a box of chocolates.

• A needle

• A hammer or something heavy to use as such. 

• Glue

• Scissors

• Clear packaging tape or that clear sticky plastic they use for covering books

• Basic Hooks (See Vocab Tab)

• Round-nosed pliers (See Vocab Tab)

How To:

Glue the stamps to the cardboard and then carefully cut around the reinforced stamps when the glue is dry. If you want to test your patience to the max, try and cut in between the little stamp frills. Alas, I, lacking the patience of a saint, opted for the simpler option of cutting a straight line along the frills. I get away with it because my under cardboard is white.

Then take the little cardboard stamps and cover them, front and back, with whatever form of clear sticky plastic you are using. Make sure you cover the whole thing to seal it properly against moisture.Try and keep any overlapping edges neat and to a minimum.

Lay them flat and use the needle and hammer to pierce holes in the top corner of each stamp. They hang in reflection to the other, so the one going in the left gets a hole in the top left corner, and the one going in the right gets a hole in the top right corner. Make sure you leave enough space for the hole to be secure, but not so much that it messes with the aesthetics of the stamp. 

Use the round-nosed pliers to bend open the loops at the bottom of the basic hooks and attach them by the holes in the stamps. Then close the loops.

Rating:

Effort required: 3.5/10

On the whole, these don't take a lot of time or effort to make. The part that gets a little finicky is the covering with plastic because sticky does not have much discretion.

Durability: 6/10

When you consider they're made of paper and cardboard, that's pretty good. They're not particularly elaborate, hence higher durability. This score does however, depend on the thickness of your cardboard, the placement of your holes and your taping prowess. 

Cool Factor: 7/10 

What I like about these is the history involved. Stamps are cool. And they're even cooler because the art of stamp collecting has been somewhat lost on our generation. They're vintage and unique, if you choose the right stamps. The idea has been done before, but not in this way (I googled it) so if you wear them out, you aren't likely to meet someone wearing the same thing (unless they too, are part of our slowly increasing fan-base). They are not always immediately identifiable, but they're still pretty.

Let us know what you think! Your input is greatly appreciated, so let us know if you have any comments, challenges, suggestions or feedback of any sort. We want to see your finished product!  If you like what you see then please follow us and if you want to keep up to date on our latest posts, follow My Earring Board on Pinterest. Thanks for taking the time to view our blog!

Beaded Bobby Pin Earrings

I saw a version of these earrings on Pinterest and thought they looked really cool. There was no tutorial, but I gave them a go and made up my own.

You will need:

• Seed beads in varying colours and sizes. The ones that I had were a tad too big, but I used them anyway.

• Round-nosed pliers (See Vocab Tab)

• Cutters (See Vocab Tab)

• Flat-end wire pins  (See Vocab Tab) 

Method

Before I start, here is an expertly drawn diagram of the earring by itself. 

 

First, decide on the bead sequence. For best results, arrange them in order of size. The amount depends on the size of your beads and the desired length. I used 7 beads and mine are about 2cm long. 

When selecting you wire, make sure that it isn't too thick to go through your earring holes. Start threading the beads onto the wire, beginning with the smallest bead. When the beads are all threaded use the round-nosed pliers to bend a right angle in the wire as close to the top bead as possible. 

Then continue to bend the approximate shape of the wire in my illustration. It doesn't have to be exact because you can easily adjust them once you've tried them out.When you have the general shape, cut off the excess wire using the cutters.

To put them on, simply hook them through your ears and then pull them up so that they run parallel to the lobe. You may find that you need to make them tighter, or that the line of beads runs too straight, so just take them out adjust them.

Effort Required: 2/10

Overall, they took me about 5 minutes to make. It's really not a lot of work.

Durability: 9/10

There isn't much you can do to break these bad boys without hurting yourself. They aren't bulletproof, unfortunately, but you can do almost anything to them and they won't budge. Just make sure that they are tight enough and you're good. If they do bend out of shape from something, you can just bend them back again, no biggie. 

Cool Factor: 5/10

These are what I like to call my 'lazy earrings'. If I'm going somewhere and I don't feel like coordinating, I just put these in. It's a relatively obscure type of earring, so they aren't too common just yet. It also depends on your colour choice, but these earrings really open up a world of possibilities. Who knows, you may be seeing more of this earring base in the future. 

Let us know what you think! Your input is greatly appreciated, so if you have any comments, challenges, suggestions or feedback of any sort. If you like what you see then please follow us and  if you want to keep up to date on our latest posts, follow My Earring Board on Pinterest. Thanks for taking the time to view our blog!

Leather Loop Earrings

My sister is in Johannesburg for two weeks, so I'll be posting until she gets back. These earrings are actually the result of my brother, who bought a really cool bottle of Poncho's Coffee Tequila that comes with a pretty leather thing around it's neck. He wanted me to make him a manly leather bracelet out of it and this is what I did with the off-cuts.

You will need:

• Leather string

• Scissors

•  Basic hooks (See Vocab Tab)

• Loop-end wire pins (See Vocab Tab)

• Round-nosed pliers (See Vocab Tab)

• Cutters (See Vocab Tab)

Method

Cut two equal lengths of leather string, roughly 10cm in length. Bend them in half and tie them in a knot where the two ends meet at the top. Use the pliers and cutters to bend the loop end wire pin around the base of the knot and cut off excess. Attach the loops of the pins to the basic hooks and viola!

Effort Required: 2/10

There is very little to do to make these earrings because they are extremely simple. They took me a minute to make. If you have any suggestions or ideas to make them more complex or more effective please leave a comment.

Durability: 7/10

The upside of them being so simple is that there isn't much that can break. They tend to get hooked on things, but because it's a pretty big loop they normally unhook themselves. 

Cool Factor: 4.5/10

They may be simple, but there is definitely something to be said of their simplicity. They're elegant and pretty, but random enough to deserve a spot on here on Glue and Random Objects. They are not very effective if you have brown hair and they are not incredibly original, but they match with pretty much anything and they are worth making, considering the time and effort involved to achieve the overall effect.

Let us know what you think! Your input is greatly appreciated, so if you have any comments, challenges, suggestions or feedback of any sort. If you like what you see then please follow us and  if you want to keep up to date on our latest posts, follow My Earring Board on Pinterest.

Front and Back Perry the Platypus Earrings

"Doo bee doo bee doo wah, doo bee doo bee doo wah. He's a semi-aquatic, ear lobe dwelling mammal of action"... So Phineas and Ferb is one of my all time favorite cartoons and Perry the Platypus is my all time favorite cartoon character. We recently reached 1000 page views, so as a thank you, I am posting what could be the coolest earrings I've ever made. 

You will need:

• Clay in blue, yellow, red, white and black. I used Crazy Clay by Bostik, the same clay as the Biscuit Earrings. The soft, spongy nature of this clay is particularly important for this project because you need to be able to cut it when it's dry. If you don't like mixing colours, get clay in black, white, teal and orange. However these particular colours are quite specific, so I would advise mixing the colours yourself for accuracy.

• A place mat or clean working surface.

• Superglue

• Scissors

• Basic studs (See Vocab Tab)

 Method

 

To mix the super specific teal colour of Perry, use blue, yellow and white. First mix the blue and yellow in a ratio roughly 2 is to 1, maybe less than 1, to form a dark ugly green. Add white until you are satisfied. It helps to look up a picture of him. But do not be fooled, Perry is teal and not blue. Use a picture of him from an actual episode for best results. You then need to mix a small amount of pale orange by mixing yellow, white and red in an approximate ratio of 3:2:1. Remember, you are mixing enough for 2 Perries. One for each ear. Divide both colours in half and lay one half aside for the second earring. 

To form the body, make a soft rectangular prism about 2.5 cm x 1.5 cm, 2 cm high. Leave a tiny piece of teal clay for the comb later on. If you prefer smaller earrings, make adjustments, but remember that the smaller you make them, the more difficult and less effective they are. 

Pinch out four legs on the corners of the body. I do not recommend attaching here because it messes with the shape of the body and just adds more problems later on if it's not done properly. Make sure that the back legs are shorter than the front legs to allow space for the back feet. Take the piece of teal clay that you saved and roll it into a small sausage. Pinch a little spike in the middle and then fold all three points upwards to form Perry's cool spiky 'do. Attach the hair on the top of the body at the front end, the one with longer legs. 

Next take the orange clay you mixed and pinch some off. Use this to create a soft, flatish tapered rectangle for the tail. Use the scissors or a knife to etch shallow criss-cross cuts on it to form the little pattern on Perry's tail. Stick it on the back end of the body, the one with the shorter legs, and then bend it so it looks like it's trailing on the floor.

Take the left over orange and pinch off two equal sized pieces for the feet. There must still be some orange left over for the bill. To make the feet, roll the pieces into ovals, then squish them gently to flatten them. Attach the feet onto the shorter legs bu the tail. Take the remaining orange clay and make the bill look like the one in the picture. I honestly cannot explain how I did it, partly because I don't remember. I think I started with a thick sausage and flattened one end. Anyway, when that's done attach it to the front end of the body, the one with the hair and without the tail. Make sure it's not too low down and remember that the eyes will go on either side of the nose bridge. 

To make the eyes, simply roll two equal oval balls in white. Take a small amount of black and split it into two tiny black balls. Flatten the black and stick each onto their respective white eyeball. Then stick the eyes close together on either side of the bill bridge on the front end.

Go back and make a second Perry, then keep them somewhere out of reach of children and dream crushers while you wait for them to dry.

I waited about 2 days for my clay to dry completely. It's important that you wait for them to dry fully before you go further, because otherwise the shape will change and all your work will be for nothing. When they're dry, cut the bodies in half, just behind the front legs. Make a small slit in the back end to implant the butterfly of the basic studs. Superglue the butterfly in place so that it doesn't stick out. The superglue the front ends of the basic studs on to the front end of Perry. Be generous with the superglue as this clay is quite absorbent. Wait for the glue to dry completely before putting them on. 

Rating: 

Effort Required: 7/10

They can be quite fidgety to make, but overall they just take up a lot of time, not so much effort. And they're totally worth it!

Durability: 6/10

They're quite durable compared to the Biscuit Earrings, but just remember that there are many parts that they consist of and they can get easily snagged. Keep them away from water, exuberant hugs and curious fingers.

Cool Factor: 10/10

These are the coolest earrings I've made yet by far. The responses to these have been awesome, I even got one, 'oh, there you are Perry'. I think I did Perry the Platypus proud. These are seriously worth everything it took to make them. Plus the front and back thing really adds to the overall effect. 

Thank you so much for reading our posts so far. If you like what you see please follow us and if you make any of our earrings please let us know what you think. Any comments, challenges, suggestions or feedback of any sort would be greatly appreciated. Also, if you want to keep up to date, follow My Earring Board on Pinterest.

Ear Shades (Earring Sunglasses)

Our family was invited to my cousin's 21st birthday and on the invitation, it said the theme was, "Splarkle, shades and style." So my sister, being my sister, refused to submit to the ordinary wearing of sunglasses and commissioned these earrings from me. I loved them so much that I made us each a pair.

You Will Need:

• Wire. Once again I have no idea how much you need, but wire is a useful thing to have around the house, especially if you want to  continue to follow our posts.

• Cellophane in a dark colour. I used a dark-blueish purple.

• Pen/pencil and paper (optional)

• Superglue

• Scissors 

• Basic hooks (See Vocab Tab) 

• Round-nosed pliers  (See Vocab Tab) 

• Cutters (See Vocab Tab) 

Method

 

*NOTE* When I'm talking about "pair" I may be referring to  a pair of sunglasses ( ONE EARRING) or a pair of earrings (TWO SUNGLASSES)

I apologize for my wire work. I am not the neatest person around and I wasn't really trying to be neat when I made these. They are quite finicky, so after making two of the little blighters for my sister, the only thing I cared about was retaining the use of my supegluey fingers. 

You can start by drawing the desired size and shape of your glasses on paper as a guideline, or you can just jump right in and get down to work like I did (as you can see in the picture).

Cut off two equal pieces of wire using the cutters. I have no idea of the actual size, but rather make them too long than too short. I'd say roughly 15 cm. Put one piece to the side for your other earring. 

 I have done a cute little sketch to show you what I'm going on about.

1. Loosely bend the wire in half to make the bridge.
2. Use an object (a pencil's a little too small) or your estimation to bend two equal lens shapes.
3. From now on the drawing focuses on one lens only because what you do to one you do to the other. Ain't nobody got time to draw both sides. Bend the wire to a 90 degree angle to form the top of the lens.
4. Bend the wire around the bridge and pinch it closed. Follow the line of the top of the frame to get back to the outer corner.
5. Bend the wire back to form the arm of the glasses
6. Bend the end of the wire back to the outer corner of the frame
7. Pinch it closed
8. Bend the end of the arm in a slight downward curve to look like it would rest on a really tiny ear.

REPEAT FOR OTHER LENS OF THAT PAIR AND THEN MAKE ANOTHER PAIR OF GLASSES.

Cut four pieces of cellophane that are the same size and shape as the wire lens frame. Use superglue and a huge amount of patience to attach the lenses to each frame, leaving a little of the outer corner of one side unglued to allow the earring to go through. Wait for the glue to dry before attaching the basic hooks to one outer corner of each pair of glasses. 

Rating:

Effort Required: 8/10

Compared to the other earrings we've posted, these are like Earring-Zilla. They are extremely frustrating to make and it took me about 15 minutes per pair (I made four), just for the wire work. The glueing takes at least another 5 minutes per pair.

Durability: 3/10

This depends on the wire and superglue you use. I used the same wire as the G-Clef Earrings so it's easy to bend. Avoid hugs and admiring fingers, but the plus side is that they're really easy to fix by just bending them back to the right place if a mishap befalls them.

Cool Factor: 6/10

It depends on their size and colour, but they're not the most in-your-face earrings ever. However, people love them when they notice them and they got some great reactions at the 21st. Please not that these are not UV resistant and Glue and Random Objects will not be held responsible for uneven ear or neck tans.

If you have any questions, hate mail, comments, challenges or suggestions please feel free to make contact with the nifty little comment box below. Also, if you want to keep up to date on our latest posts, follow my earring board on Pinterest.