Nugaard's Briolette Trapeze Earrings

This tutorial is really good for impatient people. That's because these earrings seriously take about 10 minutes to make, and there is only 3 steps. How easy is that? 

Inspired by Nugaard's Briolette Trapeze Earrings,  the handmade version is super customizable and easy to whip up for any last-minute occasion. The original version uses faceted briolette gemstone beads which can get pricy; so, I used glass teardrop beads which are way cheaper and still give the same look. You can use any colors you want, too, and alter the length or even metal color to customize.

The Nugaard earrings.

My version

Let's go!

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are pliers, gold chain, gold ear wires, thin gold wire (like 26 gauge), and 10 6mm glass teardrop beads.

Step 2: Cut about a 3" piece of your gold wire. Make a super small loop at the end, and twist wire to hold. Thread on 5 of your glass teardrops. Then, make another loop at the end of the wire to finish, twist, and cut.

Step 3: Repeat step 2 to make your second link. Take your gold wire, and attach a piece to both loops on your link. My earrings turned out to be about 1.75" long, but you can use any length of chain you'd like to make them shorter/longer. Just make sure the same amount of links hang from each loop, otherwise they will be lopsided! Then, just thread the two ends of chain onto your ear wire (I had to cut the bottom off my ear wire and re-loop it, as it was facing the wrong way originally. Make sure the loop faces you so that your dangle faces forward).

Ready to wear!

If you share/use/post this tutorial, please link back to me. It is much appreciated!

And Mary's "What's the Story, Winston?" Necklace

The Real Winston

As soon as I saw this necklace online, I KNEW I had to do a tutorial. Swedish designer And Mary's What's the Story Winston? on ModCloth is just so awesome and totally DIY-worthy. Plus, this tutorial literally takes minutes and involves only minimal "ingredients", so there is no excuse for you guys not making one yourself!! 
Here is my "Winston"....

DIY Winston. 

I used a small plastic dog (like for dollhouses, or even maybe a kid's toy) and a scrap of ribbon I had laying around. The real necklace is porcelain; so if you drop it, you are kind of out of luck! My plastic version solves that. Also, on the necklace's website, many people had complaints about the bow unraveling, thus ruining their necklace. For my version, I used both superglue and hot glue (which seems to literally melt the plastic underneath and form a super-tough hold) to prevent this problem. Also, I sealed the ribbon with clear nail polish. No unraveling!

Winston's glamour shot

Let's get started.

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are pliers, scissors, hot glue and superglue, clear nail polish, gold chain and a jumrping, thin satin ribbon (I used pink to match the real, but you can substitute colors), and a plastic dog figurine (mine was about 1" long and .75" high). The figurine needs to have a good clear neck spot to attach the ribbon to. If you don't have a dog, you can use another animal. Cats, giraffes, horses, what the heck. Just make sure you pick one with a clear neck spot. You can find a lot of these figurines on Amazon: puppies here, cute monkeys here, cute little random animals here, and I am OBSESSED with these little DOMO charms!!!

Step 2: Make the small bow. tie a bow in the center of your ribbon scrap. If you need help making a perfect bow, follow my tutorial here. Once done, drench the back of the knot with superglue, making sure to get around all sides to prevent unraveling. Paint the ends of the ribbon with clear nail polish to prevent fraying as well.

Step 3: Attach the "collar". With another piece of ribbon, take a dab of hot glue and squeeze it onto the back of your dog's neck. Immediately press one end of your ribbon on the glue, and press down to embed in the glue. Take your jumrping and thread it on the ribbon from the free end. Wrap the free end of ribbon around the front of the dog's neck VERY SNUGLY, so that the jumrping stands up and doesn't wobble, and so that the ribbon lays flat and tight against the neck. Wrap till it meets the back of the neck; dab some hot glue on this seam and press again firmly to embed the other end of the ribbon into the glue. Once dry, cut the ribbon as close to the glue as possible. Then, drench this seam with superglue, extending a little to the plastic as well, to really hold this in place. 

Step 4: Your dog should look like pic. 2. Then, take your bow from Step 1. Dab hot glue on the ribbon collar where you want your bow to lay, and press the bow (superglue side in) on the collar, embedding it in the glue. If you want to add superglue to the sides of this as well, you can. I added a very little amount behind the bow but where it meets the collar to keep the front clean but still give extra hold.

Then, attach your chain to this jumpring and wear!

Wasn't that worth it?!

Winston worn.

Winston likes cookies....

Close-up of Winston's behind

If you share/use/post this tutorial, please link back to me. It is much appreciated!

By Boe Starbright Earrings

From By Boe

Here I go with stars again! These earrings from By Boe cost $60, but you can make yours at home out of scrap wire!

This time, it's a tutorial for these simple wire earrings. These act as hoops but are way cooler. And, they don't take any time at all to make. All you do is bend the wire!

The 5-minute DIY

Since this tutorial uses cookie cutters as molds, you can basically make any shape hoop you want. Experiment!

Step 1: Gather materials. All that's needed are pliers, wire (I used craft wire, but you can use sterling if you have sensitive ears. I think the gauge was about a 20 or 18), and a small cookie cutter.

Step 2: Make the hoop. Cut about a foot of wire. Starting about 1.25" from the end, tightly press against one point of the star. Continue to bend the wire, pressing firmly against the cookie cutter all around to mold the wire to the star shape. If you have a different shape, still use this method. The more accurate you bend it to the cookie cutter, the better and more symmetrical your hoop will come out.

Step 3: When you've reached your starting point, gently slide the wire off the cutter. The point of the star is what will be going into your ear. So, as you see in the second pic., cut both long wires from either end to about 1" or so. Bend the wires to look like pic. 2. One should go straight back, and the one coming up from the bottom should go up then bend right where the other intersects horizontally. With this bottom wire, form a loop from the end up till that bend place where it intersects with the horizontal. As seen in the last pic, this horizontal wire should fit in the loop, as a closure for your earring, if you did it right!

Step 4: Your earring is finished! That straight part goes through your ear and the loop acts as a closure. If you need to bend any of your wires to correct the shape, do so now!

From By Boe

If you share/use/post this tutorial, please link back to me. It is much appreciated!