Friday 31 August 2012

Metal, Lace & Flowers Earrings


As I was browsing ELLE magazine, I found some fantastic earrings by Dolce & Gabbana. Unfortunately I don’t have the £505 to spend on such lovely trinkets!

What I do have is a big crafting stash, so I sat down and came up with these:

DIY metal and lace earrings


And here are the luscious Dolce & Gabbana earrings I was inspired by:

gorgeous dolce and gabbana metal resin and lace earrings
Sorry it isn’t a pin or link to a particular website!
Try as I might, I couldn’t find these online.
So here’s a picture snapped on my phone, from ELLE UK, September edition!

As you can see, my earrings didn’t turn out much like the designer ones at all, hence only being inspired by! I'm sticking to my resolution to use up more of my stash rather than buy more.

These were fairly easy to make once I’d figured out a design, though the process was a little slap-dash. I didn’t have any nice filigree to mount the flower onto, so I used multi-strand bracelet links instead. A quick eBay search for ‘round filigree’ throws up a heap of options though, at reasonable prices!

And of course, I took pictures along the way so that I could share a tutorial with you!


metal lace earring tutorial

You’ll need:
2 x flower embellishments
2 x earring wires
4 x jump rings
6 x filigree multi-strand bracelet links*
Scrap of gathered lace trim with flower pattern**
Strong glue
Nail file or small scrap of sandpaper
Wire cutters
Flat nose pliers
Scissors

* Alternatively, 2 x bracelet links + 2 x filigree pieces. Please note that the tutorial only shows covers how to use the bracelet links, but the use of filigree pieces is virtually the same.

** You should be able to fit two joined links/a filigree piece inside the flower and 3-4 links from the top to bottom of the trim.

how to make metal filigree and lace earrings with flowers

1. Using wire cutters, remove some of the loops/holes from the bracelet links:
Top link (x2): Cut off left & right of wide edge, to leave one loop at the top and bottom
Centre link (x2): Cut off all loops on the long edge
Bottom link (x2): Cut off all loops

Flatten the rough edges with the nail file.
If you have filigree pieces, just cut the loops from the ‘top link’ and skip to step 3!


metal and lace earrings with bracelet links

2. Glue together centre and bottom bracelet links along the wide, straight edge, and set aside to dry.


DIY metal and lace and resin earrings

3. Cut a piece of lace big enough to fit the links in step 2.


DIY earrings tutorial

4. Trim around the flower pattern and cut the top part in the shape of a downward-pointing triangle (but still joined onto the flower!). The gathered section of the lace should be as wide as the top of your top bracelet link. 


how to make fashion earrings

5. Use flat nosed pliers to join the bottom centre loop of the top bracelet link to the top loop of the centre bracelet link with a jump ring. Check that it fits on top of the lace trim.


brand inspired metal and lace flower earrings

6. Dab glue along the top, gathered piece of the lace, and stick to the back of the top bracelet link. Trim off any excess lace around the side/top of the link.


DIY metal and lace earrings designer inspired how-to

7. Spread glue across the back of the two joined bracelet links (centre and bottom) and stick to the flower on the lace.


designer-inspired earrings

8. Glue the flower embellishment to the centre of the joined bracelet links. (I used a pretty generous amount of glue for this part)


designer inspired metal lace and resin plastic flower earrings

9. Attach earring hooks to finish, using jump rings, then go out and wow your friends with your fab new earrings!


I hope this tutorial was clear! This is part of my continuing endeavour to use up what I have to hand! (I still have loads of stuff though...)

Will be linking up to the parties listed below!

4 comments:

  1. Yours are so much better!

    In the interest of stashbusting, good work Kei! xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm not just saying this but I do like yours better, yours are more delicate! Very pretty! Thanks for sharing your creative inspiration with Sunday’s Best – you helped make the party a success!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Very nice! I really like your version. I can't even begin to imagine spending that much money on the originals, craziness. Thanks for sharing at Etcetorize this week!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Undoubtely these earrings are gorgeous! I just wonder where people like you get inspired from and how do they manage to have so much patience to do such wonderful things? Since this is a meticulos job, you have all my admiration for your job!
    myroona@where can i get cheap jewelry

    ReplyDelete

Reading all your sweet comments makes me happy! :) I appreciate each and every one and try to reply to all that I can!

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