It’s been kind of a horrible weekend. I caught a virus that’s been going around, and apparently it’s really going around, because when I tried to get cough medicine the first pharmacy I tried was completely out of stock. I’m tired, things are spinning, and I don’t have the energy to do much besides sit on my sofa and count my assembled pets (still three, which is good).
But sometimes being bedridden and bored is the best time to make jewelry. Jewelry making is one of my favorite time killers, because you can take a little of this and a little of that and do something different every time.The same colors, put together in different ways, make a whole new thing. Or you can put things in a slightly different patterns and the results will look nothing alike. And of all the types of jewelry you can diy, chandelier earrings are my favorite. It’s the swing and the sparkle.
This weekend I made the red pair in the middle, and I’ve written down some instructions. Try it out, they make great gifts (for yourself, or someone else).
I love this color scheme. It reminds me of fire and ice.
You’ll need:
First, I took the Eye pins and put two red beads broken up by a white bugle bead in each pin. If any of them don’t fit on the pin, you can use the awl to sand the insides of the beads until the holes are bigger. Sometimes beads aren’t uniform inside.
I then trimmed the excess off of the pin to make it smaller and easier to bend, like this:
Next, I bent it into a shepherd’s crook using the round nose pliers and trimmed off anything that hung below the bead with the wire cutters. You want to be careful that your crook shape is large enough to allow freedom of movement once you’ve attached it to the base, otherwise your dangles will tangle and get stuck at odd angles as you move around. This can take some trial and error to get right.
Now you’ll hook your dangle through one of the loops on the earring base, and pinch it closed with the flat nose pliers. You can do this part with a round nose pair, but it will be harder to hold the earring steady while you work, as round nose pliers have no grip. Tip: chandelier earrings do tend to have a front and a back, so try to keep all of your closures facing the same side as you work on this project.
It’s going to look like this:
Once you’ve finished mounting all five beaded head pins, it’s time to cut the chain. I do this by counting the number of links I want to use and putting my thumb over the last link to protect it and hold the chain steady. Then I cut through the link above that one. Even though the earring base won’t hold all of the chain lengths level, I vary the number of links I use for added flare. The pattern I went with for this pair was 3-4-5-4-3.
To mount them onto the eye pins, you need to open the eye. Because these pins have such perfect, rounded eyes, I like to twist, rather than pull the apart. That way it’s easy to get everything back in place. When you open the eye it should look like this:
Once the eye is opened, I slide the end of my chain link over it and twist it back into place. You’ll do this five times.
Now, you’ll finish your dangles by putting your last colored beads on headpins. Headpins have a flattened end, like a nail, to keep the beads from sliding off. This will give your set a finished look. You’ll go through the same steps you used to mount the eye pins, cutting the pin shorter to make it more manageable and fashioning your crook, but this time you’ll close your loop after hooking it onto the free end of your chain link.
More.. https://mermaidnest.wordpress.com/2015/01/26/earringpalooza-making-chandelier-earrings-with-chain/
Powered by: BKGjewelry
