August Earrings

Instructions

This is a good way to use up some of those beads left over from other projects. Finding just the right leftover for another project is like "found money."

Difficulty:

Category: Jewelry

Type of item: Accessory

For: Women

Style: Cute, Mod, Hipster, Romantic, Funky, Casual

Materials

Silver-plated brass large oval earwires, headpins and 22-gauge silver craft wire, and various leftover gemstone beads (in this case, left to right, New Jade, Ocean Agate, Egyptian and Reconstituted Turquoise)..

What was your inspiration?

I make earrings in batches from time to time and sell them for the benefit of my Church's Youth Group. The earring tree in our Hospitality Room was looking pretty sparse, so I decided to see what I could do with these funky long earwires. Wrapping the various turquoise beads along the length of the wire was a bit of a challenge and my first effort kind of looks like just that, but they only sell for $4 - $5 a pair and they're intended to be fun, not really serious jewelry. I also occasionally make up free wire-wrapped rings with single beads, in various sizes, for the little girls of the Church, too.

What are you most proud of?

That my Leftovers Box almost always holds something that will fit the need for a single bead or two.

What advice would you give someone starting this project?

Don't discard those leftovers, but store them in a box just for leftovers. I use snack-size baggies. Don't forget to label those leftovers to be sure you know exactly what's in each bag.