Marrakesh Earrings-Full Tutorial

Bright colors, bold textures, sparkle and shine. I was in need of some serious pop of color, and I had some bead odds and ends laying around. Plus, the Anthropologie March 2014 catalogue's theme is Morocco--delicate patterns merge with excess saturation to create a totally exotic-looking lookbook!

I love the bohemian, gypsy-like theme of the Moroccan style, so that's what I modeled these easy drop earrings after.

Most of my materials were Cousin brand, which you can find at Walmart, AC Moore stores, Beverly Fabrics stores (California), JoAnn or Michaels. Even Meijer. 

The small evil eye beads I found on Ebay.

I kept my color palette electric and complimentary, using blue and orange hues throughout for extra contrast. You don't have to go with my color scheme; other Moroccan-esque colors include magenta, reds, emeralds and even black. Choose from these colors to really push the boho vibe.

I combined the delicate cut crystals with a large gemstone bead, embroidery floss tassel for variation and finished with a cute little "evil eye" bead for a very trendy but authentically free-spirited look. 

Let's get started.

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are pliers (round nose and wire cutters), jump rings, embroidery floss, large kidney ear wires, a mix of gemstone beads and crystals and ball-end headpins.

I specifically used:

Yellow embroidery floss

Gold ball end headpins, Cousin brand

Artistic Wire non-tarnish chainmaille jump rings from Cousin

Cousin large gold kidney ear wires

Two yellow 4mm evil eye glass beads

Two orange 4mm roundelle crystals

Two Cousin brown gemstone beads

Two 6mm gold crystal roundelles from Cousin

Two vertical drilled blue briolettes from Cousin

Two 4mm silver round metal beads

Of course, feel free to mix whatever beads you have to make a unique bohemian look! I went with a blue/orange/yellow theme. The mix of crystals, gemstones, metal and thread really give a "worldly" look that reminds me of something you'd find at Anthropologie or Free People!

Step 2: Add on a 4mm gemstone roundelle, then jumpring, then your gemstone bead. Make sure you pick two gemstones which match size and shape pretty well!

Make a wrapped top loop and use the wire cutters to cut the wire flush.

Step 3: Add these to your kidney ear wires. Then make two charms with the vertical-drilled briolettes and add these to each ear wire as well.

Step 4: Make two small tassels. I wrapped the string 5 times around my index and pointer finger. For more info, check out my Dainty Crystal Bracelet Tutorial for instructions! Add a jumpring on top of each tassel.

Step 5: Make your evil eye beads into charms and add one to each jumpring that the tassel is on. Finally, add this jumpring onto the ear wire. I finished off by adding on a 6mm roundelle then 4mm silver round to the actual ear wire (you may have to unbend the hook gently so that the beads slide to the rest of the charms.  

Finished!  

As you can see, these are quick and easy to make. The only technique needed is a wrapped loop. 

These are also great because they can match a variety of outfits, as their whole point is to look a bit eclectic and fun!

I love the evil eye beads; I literally just found them in my stash! I have more colors, so expect more tutorials with them soon.

Again, I'm mixing gold and silver here (mixed metals are some of my favorite looks!) to give a beatnik vibe and to break the rules a bit. 

You can make these on fishhooks instead of large kidneys if you prefer shorter drop earrings.

All photos and instructions copyright Allison Beth Cooling. Do NOT post pictures without crediting and linking to me.