Quick Earwire Tutorial:
Have you ever made a pair of earrings at home and realized that you’re out of earwires to put them on? (And your friendly local bead shop unfortunately isn’t open at 10pm, right? :P) You can make a set of earwires yourself in five minutes just using a pen! How, you ask? Just like this:
Materials:
- about 5 inches of 20/21 gauge wire of your choice of metal
- beads (optional; shown in sample: 4mm Swarovski crystal bicone)
Tools:
- ballpoint pen (or Sharpie for a more dramatic curve)
- wire cutters
- chain nose pliers
- round nose pliers
- file (a nail file works just fine)
1. Start with a piece of 20 gauge that is about 2 ½ inches long. You can always trim it down, so working with a long piece ensures that you won’t be short on wire.
2. Using a pair of round nose pliers, make a simple loop on one end of the wire.
3. At this point, you can add a bead if you want to, to make it a bit more unique! Using your finger, put a slight bend in the wire just above the bead (or the loop, if you aren’t adding a bead).
4. Press a regular sized ink pen right up next to the bend you’ve just made in the wire. Wrap the wire around the pen, creating the body of the earwire.
5. Trim the remaining wire just a little bit lower than where the loop is. Put a slight bend in the wire about ¼ in. from the end. File down any sharpness from the end of the wire using a regular nail file. There you have it! An oh-so-lovely earwire you made yourself right at home, with a bead to complement the rest of the earring. So easy!Hope this helps!
-Michelle
