Whenever I create something, whether that something be a story or a piece of jewelry, I create it for myself. Which could possibly be why some of my projects have been less than successful, but never mind that now. 

Making jewelry is a relaxing and rewarding hobby for two reasons: the first being that it is methodical and easy to get lost in, and the second reason being that there are no rules. You can make dangling earrings with colorful Czech beads, long necklaces with charms and faceted gemstones, copper bracelets, or lace chokers — whatever you want! You are completely in charge, and the only things that can stop you are neglecting to learn the basics and a poorly stocked supply store.

So today, I am going to show you the basics of making a drop earring. This project will teach you about basic tools and skills that will help you in making all kinds of jewelry.

You will need the following tools: round nose or rosary pliers, chain nose pliers, and wire-cutting pliers. Bent tweezers could also be helpful.

You are also going to need the following components: beads, bead caps (optional), and headpins. 

Once you've chosen what beads and components you want to work with, I suggest laying them out on your work area.

Side note: I am using a marble slab because it photographs well. It is difficult to work on slick surfaces, and I suggest you get a jewelry mat or a piece of felt from Amazon or your local craft store. They are inexpensive and very helpful.

For these earrings, I used a garnet bead, two bead caps, a bone bead, and gold components. Now that everything is laid out, we're ready to work.

So lets get started!

Step One:

Place your beads on the head pin in the order you want them.

Step Two:

Let the beads slide to the bottom of the head pin and use your chain nose pliers to bend the headpin at a right angle. 

Step Three:

Take your round-nose pliers and grasp the head pin about one mm up from the bend. At this point, you can either use the pliers to work the wire into a half-loop, or you can grab the wire and wrap it over the pliers until it looks something like this.

Step Four:

Take your wire-cutting pliers and cut the head pin, making sure to leave enough wire to complete your loop. 

Sidenote: depending on what kind of head pin you are using, this can be more or less difficult. You may have to press hard, but, please, be careful.

Step Five:

Hook onto the loop in your earring hook. 

Step Six:

Using your round-nose pliers again, grab the partial loop on your head pin, and continue wrapping it into a closed loop around the earring hook's loop.

Step Seven:

Your earring is complete! Once you're certain that the earring hook cannot slip through the gap in the wire, you are finished! You can now make a matching earring and enjoy your jewelry.

This is in no way sponsored, but everything I used to make these earrings can be found at www.jewelrysupply.com