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!

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.