Article by McKenzie Edwards | Photography by Diamond Dixon | Owl Staff
A few months ago, I picked up a pair of earrings in American Eagle: $17.50 for something plain brown with a shelf-life that will break by the time I go shopping again? In stores around the mall, earrings can cost anywhere from $8.50 all the way into the over a hundred dollars, sometimes creeping into the thousands at high end retailers.
I’ve decided to wise up and learn how to make my own earrings to match whatever clothes I want, for a fraction of the mall’s cost. So can you!
TO MAKE A PAIR LIKE THOSE SHOWN, YOU WILL NEED:
—A string of beads ($0.97)
—2 metal earring frames (called connectors) ($0.96)
—Metal rods (called pins) ($0.96)
—2 findings (called fish hooks or ear wires) ($0.96)
—Small pliers (free if you already have them)
You can purchase everything, including pliers, at any craft store. (I bought my supplies from Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores.)
STEPS:
(1) Arrange the beads in the layout you want.
(2) String the beads on the metal pins leaving about a quarter-inch of excess rod at the top.
(3-4) Use the pliers to bend the excess pin towards you at a 90 degree angle. As best you can, curl the pin back in the opposite direction until it is almost a closed circle.
(5-6) Hook the circle of the pin onto the connector. Pinch the circle closed with the pliers. Repeat steps 2—6 with each pin until you fill each connector.
(7) Attach each connector to the ear wire.
Your grand total? $4.08 (including tax!) and twenty minutes of your time. Whether or not you gift or even sell these earrings, you’re guaranteed to have enough money left over to buy an outfit that matches them!