Making Earrings
The Fun and Easy Way!

Making earrings is probably my favorite type of jewelry making. There’s so many different things you can do with them. I actually learned how to make earrings first, before trying anything else. I figured they took the smallest investment, and, to be honest, I just LOVE earrings!

I always wear the most outrageous and fun earrings during the holidays. (Ok, and on any other occasion I can dream up!) I think it’s great when strangers come up to me and say, “I love your earrings!”. It's even better when I can say, “Thanks! I made them myself!!”

I like my earrings to be unique, and making earrings yourself, is the best way to get the most unique and fun earrings out there!

Making Earrings
With Charms

Unicorn Charm Earrings

Making earrings with charms is probably THE fastest, and simplest, form of earring design out there. All you need is a couple of charms, a pair of ear wires and some jump rings. (You can even skip the jump rings if you want a shorter dangle. Just use the ear wire as your attaching point.)

Unicorn Earrings Components

As you can see, there are very few components needed for making earrings of this type. What I love is, just by changing out the charms you use, you can get an entirely different effect. Some charms are simple and elegant, while others are just plain FUN!

What I used:

• 2 Ear Wires
• 2 Charms (unicorns, of course!)
• 2 Jump Rings
• 2 Sets Needle Nose Pliers (protecting that manicure!)

Open the jump ring.

Gently open the ring by applying pressure in opposite directions where the ring splits. I use two (2) sets of pliers to do this, but you can use your fingers. The pliers will just protect your nails from getting ruined by the sharp edges of the jump ring.

Add your charm and an ear wire to the jump ring.

If you need to add more jump rings for length, or to get your charm to hang the way you want, this is where you would add them.

Simply add another jump ring, and either your charm or your ear wire. Then open the next jump ring and add your charm or ear wire, which ever is left.

You can make a chain of jump rings in between the ear wire and the charm, if you want. You could also add an actual piece of chain too, just attach a jump ring to each end, with your charm on one end, and your ear wire on the other. The possibilities for making earrings are endless!

Note: Make sure that your ear wire is facing the right way on your jump ring.

(I learned this the hard way...had to take apart a few earrings before I realized that some charms needed to face a certain way to get them to hang properly.)

Some charms have a right and wrong side. If you face the ear wire one way, the charm with hang with the wrong side in front. If you face it the other way, the charm will hang with the right side facing front.

This is also important if you want the right earring to face one way, and the left to face the other. I do this with charms that do not have a right or wrong side.

Take a moment to think about how you want your charm to hang, then add the ear wire in that direction.

Close the jump ring.

Close up the jump ring around the ear wire and charm. Make sure that your ends meet seamlessly. You don’t want to lose your charm while you’re dancing!

That’s it!

Make the other one, and you’re done! Making earrings like this is so simple, there’s no reason you shouldn’t have about 50 new pairs by noon!

Complete Unicorn Earring

Want to make your own charms?
Click here to learn how

Crystal Drop Earrings

Crystal Drop Earring Components

These are a pair of earrings I made for my daughter for Homecoming. It uses basically the same concept, only I made my own “charm”. I used a head pin and some crystals to get the drop effect I wanted.

What I used:

• 2 3” Head Pins
• 2 Ear Wires
• 2 Jump Rings
• 6 Briolet Crystals
• 4 Square Crystals
• 2 Sets Needle Nose Pliers (still protecting that manicure!)
• Round Nose Pliers

Thread your crystals, or beads, onto the head pin. (I alternated 3 briolette and 2 square crystals, beginning and ending with the briolettes.) Leave enough room to create a wire wrap loop.

Wire wrap loop video.

(Sorry about the clarity. All that sparkle really upset my camera!)

Make a wire wrap loop.

To make a wire wrap loop, grasp the wire about 1/4” - 1/8” from the top of the beads with your round nose pliers. (This length is a preference, I think. If it’s larger, there is more gap between your beads and your loop. Shorter; less gap.) Fold the wire at a 90 degree angle. (The wire below the pliers is what I call the post. The wire above is the tail.)

(Some people use the upper half of the pliers to wrap the remaining wire tail up and around. I don’t do it this way because I can never seem to get the wrap to look nice. It will make a nicer looking loop with the post in the center, but with practice, you can get my method to look exactly the same.)

Wrap the wire tail down around the bottom half of the pliers. Continue wrapping the wire around the post. I usually do it about three (3) times, or until my tail is gone, if it is fairly short.

The more times you wrap the wire around the post, the larger the gap will be between your beads and your loop. With practice, you can make this wrap very neat. Tuck your tail end in so that there are no sharp edges. If your tail is too long, go ahead and use your wire cutters to clip the excess, then tuck the end in.

In the video, you can see that I use a long set of needle nose pliers to finish off my wrap. This is to make sure my end is tucked in nice and tight. I use these mainly to protect my manicure. (Wire really does tear your finger nails up!)

These pliers are smooth, with no teeth. If you use this method, please be careful. If you get the wire wrap too tight, or try and force pliers that are too wide into this small space, you can actually break your beads. Then you have to start all over. What a pain! Use these pliers gently, mostly just to place the end where you want it, not really to manipulate the wire.

Add Dangle.

Open your jump ring, and add your dangle using the wire wrap loop you just made.

Add ear wire.

Add your ear wire to your jump ring, and close it up. Make sure your ends meet seamlessly.

That’s it!


You now have a beautiful crystal earring for an elegant night out on the town. Make the other one, and you’ll have a set! Making earrings this way is just as easy as using pre-made charms.

Complete Crystal Drop Earring

Making earrings of any kind really is a lot of fun. Once you add in all of the fun blanks, ear wires and ear studs available, you can have all sorts of different styles. Using these exact same methods, just by changing out crystals for beads, or gemstones, you will end up with a whole different look. There are also all sorts of decorative head pins out there, that can add a really beautiful touch to your earrings.

Have fun!

Here’s the entire set I made for my daughter.

Learn how to make the necklace

Learn how to make the bracelet

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