Acorn Earrings

My sister has a habit of 'squirreling' stuff. In this case I'm not using that word metaphorically. She has a stash of acorns in her room. It caught my eye while we were discussing creating this blog. 

You Will Need:

• 2 acorns (with their hats)
• Basic earring hooks (See Vocab Tab)
• 2 Loop-end Wire Pins (See Vocab Tab)
• 2 Jump rings (See Vocab Tab)
• Round-nose pliers (See Vocab Tab)
• Drill (hand or electric) with a little bit
• Super Glue (I feel like this may as well get a bracket too)

Instructions:

With my acorns, the tops were already glued on which made my task significantly more difficult. The instructions I'm providing assume that yours have loose hats.

Drill a hole through the acorn hat somewhere near the middle. Insert the loop-end pin through the hole and bend the bottom up so that it rests snugly against the inside of the acorn hat and stops the pin from pulling through. You may want to trim some excess off the bottom of the pin to allow less of it to stick out the top.

Super Glue the bent end of the pin to the inside of the hat. Add some glue to the place where the wire goes through the hole to seal in and stop it from crumbling. Once the glue on the inside is dry glue the acorn hat to the top of the acorn and leave it to dry.

To finish off, attach the jump-ring to the loop-end of the loop-end pin and the the earring hook to the jump-ring. Jump rings are not essential but they are recommended as they give the acorns more freedom to move about. This movement is important because it simulates the acorn's experience of having been hung from a tree.This prevents them from realizing that they've been moved and becoming depressed or rebellious about their new purpose in life. Like my mother always says "there's nothing worse than a rebellious acorn." 

Rating:

Effort Required: 3.5/10

There's a bit of wire work and a bit of gluing. Nothing major.

Durability: 5/10

Nature adds a whole new set of things to be considered. On the whole they're pretty solid and they make cute little rattling noises when you walk. I'd watch out for squirrels though. Also, don't lie on damp ground while wearing these, Glue And Random Objects will not be responsible for oak trees growing through anyone's head.

Cool Factor: 7/10

They're pretty noticeable and original enough to draw a comment most times. My favourite so far has been "are those real walnuts?!" The fact that acorns don't really grow in this area may increase their novelty though.

Toy Car Earrings

These earrings were inspired by another super cool tutorial made of my older brother's old toys, the Lego Man Earrings.  I was always obsessed with these little cars when I was younger. Now, whenever I wear these, I pretend that there are little people inside that are crying with gratitude that my lobes have saved their car from falling into an eternal abyss.

 

You Will Need: 

This is yet another post true to our blog title.

• 2 small toy cars. Mine are roughly 3.5 cm by 1.5 cm. Just keep in mind the weight and bulkiness when selecting them. Mine are two different colours, which adds a nice variety in my opinion. The other one is dark blue, so they still look like a pair. 

• Super glue

• 2 Basic studs (See Vocab Tab)

Method

 Super  glue the basic studs onto the bottom of the cars. Make sure the glue is completely dry before you try them on.

Rating:

Effort Required: 1/10

The hardest part is finding the cars. Feel free to make these with your eyes closed. (That was a joke. Super glue should always be watched. That stuff is sneaky)

Durability: 8/10

The durability depends on the strength of the glue, but these are really sturdy. 

Cool Factor: 8/10

These are some of my favorite earrings ever. Easy to match with, small enough to not get in the way, but at the same time noticeable and easily recognizable. People seem to love them as much as I do, too. They're so simple to make and so effective. You really don't have an excuse not to be wearing these right now. 

If you want to congratulate us on our 20th post or if you have any questions, party invitations, 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.

Glass Quote Earrings

I got the idea for these from my little sister when she was going through a die-hard Lord of the Rings phase. She was looking up fan art and found professional jewellery using this concept.

 You will need:

• 2 of those flattened glass marble thingies. I looked them up and they don't have an official name that I could find, but they're used in fish tanks and vases, so try a looking in florist or a pet store.  They come in a range of colours. Just make sure you don't buy the mirrored type. You want to be able to see through them.

• Pencil

• Scissors

• Cold glue

• Super glue

• Basic studs (see Vocab Tab)  

Method:

You can use pictures or text. If you choose text, I recommend keeping it to 5 words or less, or it'll be difficult to read. I used quotes from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (one of my favorite books of all time). One ear says "We're all mad here" and the other says "I'm mad, you're mad" (Note the apostrophe indicating the contraction of YOU ARE and not YOUR. Please, people. Grammar.) 

If you've chosen text, the next step is to find a cool font to use. I got mine from Fontspace; it's called KBRadioWizard. It should be a simple, bold font, but still something more interesting than Times New Roman. Type out your quote in your cool font, making sure it's the right size to fit the glass marble thing. Again, make sure you spell it right, or you'll look like an idiot.

Print out your pictures or text and put the glass marbles flat side down on top of them. Trace around them with a pencil and then carefully cut out the shapes. Put a little cold glue on your finger and spread it onto the flat side of the glass marble, in as thin a layer as possible. Make sure to cover the whole flat side. Carefully place the glue side onto your quote. If you make a mistake with the alignment, do not move it, because the ink will smudge (unless your printer uses wax-based ink).

Wait for it to dry and then superglue the basic stud to the papered flat side of the marble. Wait for the superglue to dry fully before you put them on.

Rating:

Patience Needed: 3/10

These are pretty simple to make and there isn't much you can do wrong in the process.

 Durability: 8/10

These things are solid glass, so they're pretty durable. As long as you made sure to glue the paper on properly, they're not going anywhere. Obviously, don't get them wet or throw them in fire, but these are the first earrings that I've posted that are completely hug-resistant.

Cool Factor: 6/10

They're not extraordinarily original. But the coolness depends on your quote, your font and who is looking at them. I like them because they're simple, elegant and personal.

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.

Scrabble Tile Earrings

May as well join the trend of scrabble letters on all of the things! 

I'm usually against such conformism but hey, anything to shorten a game of Scrabble.

You Will Need:

• Two scrabble tiles (duh)
• Two basic hooks (See Vocab Tab)
• A drill (these are easy enough to do with a hand drill) with a very small bit
• Two flat-end wire pins (See Vocab Tab)
• Cutters (See Vocab Tab)
• Round-Nosed pliers (See Vocab Tab)

You will probably want to:

Drill a hole through the top of each of the tiles. The fact that Scrabble tiles are hollowed out at the back makes this a lot simpler. It's important that you get the hole right in the center of the top edge of the title so they hang straight.

Next thread your flat-end wire pins up through the holes. Cut the pins about 1 cm from where they emerge from the titles and bend this end around to form a loop using your round-nosed pliers. 

Finally attach your earring hooks to the loops you have just created.

Rating:

Effort Required: 3/10

These earrings are pretty much the adult equivalent of sticking coloured macaroni on a page. I gave them an extra effort point because your choice of letters is important. What you wear on your ears is a reflection of who you are, and more importantly, of this blog. Such responsibility should not be taken lightly.

Durability: 9/10

Lightweight and durable, Scrabble titles are the perfect addition to any pair of ears.

Cool Factor: 7.5/10

The score for this section is always based on other people's reactions more than personal preference. Although they are people pleasers these lose points because of all the people who've said "Cool earrings. I saw something similar at...". Reactions do depend largely on letter choice though. I particularly enjoy wearing mine because people always fall into two categories; those who immediately get the abbreviation, and those who try very hard to figure it out but remain utterly clueless. I've been asked everything from "What's your middle name again?", to "Are you a Goosebumps fan?" (Goosebumps is authored by R.L. Stine) to "Do they somehow work with your facial features to spell a word?" 

Which category do you fall into?

Wire G-Clef Earrings

The idea for these ones came to me while i was fooling around with wire, trying to make an ear cuff from a tutorial on Pinterest. Then I gave up and made these instead. The nice thing about them is that they're still part of the whole 'I love music' cliche, but they're more interesting than music notes.

You Will Need:

• A coil of wire. I can't tell you how much you need because I'm honestly not sure, but wire is still a really useful thing to have, especially if you continue to follow our tutorials (*spoiler alert*, we use wire pretty often). I know that you can also get some pretty radical colours and patterns, so go nuts!

• Paper  

• A printer or a pen/pencil

• Cutters (see Vocab Tab)

•  Round-nosed pliers (see Vocab Tab)

• Basic hooks  (see Vocab Tab)

Method

I'm not the best at wire work and even I could do this, so it's clearly not very difficult. The hardest part is getting both earrings to look the same. To avoid this issue, you can do a treble clef on one ear and a base clef on the other, but if you ask me, a treble clef is way more impressive.

On the paper, draw or print a picture of a g-clef that is the size you want your earrings to be. Mine are around 4 cm. Take the wire coil and use the round-nosed pliers to bend the end of it to trace the shape on the paper. When you're done, use the cutters to cut the g-clef off. I tucked the end of the spiral over the part that goes straight down for added stability.

When attaching the basic hooks, remember to think about which way the earrings will be facing when they're dangling off your ears. 

Rating:

Effort Required: 4/10

Like I said, they're not very difficult to make. They don't take much time and they're made with materials you should have around the house.

Durability: 4/10

Durability depends on the wire and technique that you used. The wire that I used is incredibly flimsy which made the bending easier, but they're not very durable. Beware of hugs and hair, because they tend to get tangled up pretty easily. For once though, you can expose these to open flame if you want to, so that's a plus.

Cool Factor: 6/10

These earrings are pretty cool. They're retro and elegant at the same time. I have received many compliments about these earrings, even though they're not incredibly original. They're still better than music notes by far.

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.

Safety Pin Earrings

This post is partly a response to a challenge and partly reassurance that looking hardcore can be quick and painless

For these there are just two things you need to know which may not be obvious from both the title and  the picture:

• Firstly, my earlobes are not actually that fat, it's just the angle.
• Secondly, these safety pins have been blunted. Please do not stick sharp pins through your ear, the idea of it freaks me out. To blunt them simply clip off roughly 3mm of the sharp end with nail clippers and then file it smooth with a nail file.

Rating:

Effort Required: 1/10

Putting them in backwards probably takes more effort than actually making them.

Durability: 8/10

These are so durable, comfortable and...um...safe that I almost wore them two days in a row.

Cool Factor: 5/10

The fact that you appear to have stabbed a sharp object through your ear gets some mixed reactions which can be quite interesting. The idea probably would be more effective with slightly bigger pins but this wasn't really enough of a challenge to merit me finding some.

Biscuit Earrings

Have you ever met anyone who was like, "Oh my gosh. You know what I hate? Biscuits. Especially chocolate chip ones. They're just the worst." ? Hmm, that's funny, me neither. The world loves biscuits, baked or unbaked. Let us all show biscuits our appreciation of their delicious, chocolatey goodness by exhibiting them proudly on our ears for all to see.

You will need:

• Clay in red, yellow and black. I used Crazy Clay by Bostik because it's air drying and lightweight. It's kinda got the consistency of foamy rubber and it's a little sticky too, which is great for this particular project because it gets the texture pretty realistic. If you don't like mixing colours, get clay in black and brown.

• Blunt instruments for poking clay. I used some special clay tool-type things that I got with a set a while back. The important thing is that you need 2 of them that are rounded at the ends and no bigger than 5mm in size. You could use the wrong end of a thickish crochet hook, palette knives or  the bottoms of fancy pencils that are rounded. Toothpicks are not a good idea as they just rip the clay apart and make it feel unloved so it doesn't co operate.

•  Some form of plastic or rubber mat for working on

• Super glue 

• Basic studs (see Vocab Tab)

 Method

 First you need to mix the brown clay to your satisfaction. If you were lazy and bought the brown yourself you can skip this paragraph. The key to mixing clay is just to carry on until you get it right. Bear in mind that it's easy to add more of a colour, but difficult to take it out again. Add small amounts until you get used to it. It takes practice. So mix roughly 2 parts yellow with 1 part red to get an even orange. Just squish it until the colour is even and there are no streaks. Remember that black is a really strong colour, so mix roughly ¼ part of black in with the orange until you get biscuit coloured brown.

Divide the brown into 2 and roll them into balls. Work with one at a time. Gently flatten the ball so that it's about 4mm thick, while retaining the overall round appearance. It's got to be shaped slightly dome like. 

Chip placement is the most important part of this whole tutorial. You do not want people to look at your earrings and be like, "Wow, that is a poorly represented biscuit. It looks like the face of an old lady that spent too much time in the sun. Please never show your face in public again because you have insulted my favourite food."

 

Next, take your blunt objects (one in each hand) and GENTLY prod the surface of the clay. Move the surface around a little and create folds, holes and lumps. Kind of like playfully stroking it, but please try to retain the shape mentioned in the previous step. The purpose of this is to create texture and hence make it more biscuit like. So we want a textured, round, dome like lump of clay.

Now for the chip placement, which is way more difficult than you might think. For each biscuit, I recommend two large chips (one about 3mm and the other slightly smaller), 2 medium chips (around 2mm) and then several other tiny chips of varying tiny-ness to fill in uncomfortable space. 

For the big chips, decide where you want them to be and then use your blunt objects to gently poke holes in their places. Insert the big chips into the holes you created. Place the rest of your chips strategically around the biscuit, ie DO NOT let the chips fall where they may. Try to stay away from placement that resembles a smiley face, a rectangle or triangle. You may think I'm being OCD about this, but I'm not. I think.

Now wait for the clay to dry completely. Mine took 2 days. Super glue the basic studs onto the biscuits and wait for the glue to dry completely before wearing them.

Rating:

Effort Required: 6.5/10

Apart from the chip placement, it really isn't that much work. More work than most of the others so far, but that's not saying much. It doesn't take much time either, apart from the drying time.

Durability: 4.5/10

Remember the size and the fact that they're made of clay whenever you're about to swim or hug someone. Just be careful. Also, on the bright side, they're more durable than real biscuits. Also, do not let people eat them. The clay is toxic. And also the earrings won't handle that.

Cool Factor: 7/10

They're pretty cool. They will not be the only ones, but just watch people's faces when you say casually, "I made them *smug face*." They probably would've been cooler if it weren't for that chip placement. 

Please feel free to comment, suggest or challenge us. Right now we would probably even accept hate mail. Please. Feed back. Please. We don't bite... much.