How To Make Homemade Earrings Inexpensively

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Here’s how to make homemade earrings, they are fairly inexpensive when you compare them to buying jewelry from a store. And making earrings also allows you to use your imagination to create something original and unique for a loved one!

Before you try making some of my homemade earrings take a moment to read through the basics below and check back here if you have any difficulties.

making homemade earrings

When making earrings the size and weight need to be considered, but apart from that, anything goes. There are jewelry making tools and materials to attach any type of earring, bead, or pendant to any ear wire.

Don’t despair if your ears aren’t pierced, clip-on or screw-on are used in exactly the same way as pierced earring findings.

Some findings can be quite small and it’s sometimes difficult to see how a technique has been created so for this reason I’ve given a mixture of real photos along with some drawing to make the technique more visible.

Using Earwires

For pierced ears, the most popular earwire’s are long ball wires. To attach your pendant or beads, the loop at the bottom is easily opened. The round nosed pliers are best because they will not bend the earwire’s loop out of shape.

Loop at the bottom is easily opened

Kidney wires are formed to close once in the ear. They have a partly formed loop onto which you attach a pendant or beads. Squeeze the sides of this loop together to secure.

jewelry making earwires

A stud and hook are suitable for a shorter and daintier style of earring. The loop is easily opened and closed with a pair of round-nosed pliers. A scroll back or butterfly is needed to hold the stud in place in your ear.

A scroll back or butterfly is needed

Those without pierced ears have a choice of clip on or screw on earring findings. Jump-rings are useful additions and help your pendants or beads to hang freely.

Clip on or screw on earring findings

Flatback jewelry findings are designed so that various pendants can be stuck to them. Choose pendants that have discreet holes and at least one side flat. Use an epoxy resin to stick the flat backed item onto your stud. Always follow the instructions on the glue packet.Flat back findings

Earrings Featuring Pendants

Some jewelry pendants can be joined directly to the earring wire. Others need additional findings. Pendants or beads with holes at the top which run from front to back, hang directly on to the ear wire.

Hanging earrings featuring pendants
Hanging pendants with jump rings

With holes that run from side to side, or for pendants that have a deep set hole, a jump ring or two will be needed. Holes that run from front to back, but are too deep for the earring wire loop need two jump rings or a bail and loop. These two findings can also be used to give your homemade earrings a bit of extra swing.

Two jump rings or a bail and loop

Two Jump Rings or a Bail and Loop

Earrings Featuring Beads

A simple homemade earring is created by threading your choice of jewelry making beads onto a headpin.

Long and flexible homemade earrings Step5
  • An important factor is the size of the hole in the most prominent bead. If the hole is too large to fit on the pinhead a plain small cup at the base will ensure that your bead does not slip off. If the hole is very large (2mm or over) you will need a small bead at top and the bottom of your feature bead.
  • Cut the headpin leaving a generous half inch. Bend the pin directly above the bead at a right angle and then curl the top of the pin into a loop with the round-nosed pliers.
  • Your first attempt may appear a little untidy, this is perfectly normal. What is important is that the loop is closed, if necessary make a small overlap, the loop can then be attached to an earwire.

The pictures below show a wire being bent at different stages with the pliers removed for maximum exposure, with practice you should be able to do this procedure in one movement.

Threading beads onto a headpin for homemade earings Step1
Threading beads onto a headpin for homemade earings Step2
Threading beads onto a headpin for homemade earings Step3
Threading beads onto a headpin for homemade earings Step4
Threading beads onto a headpin for homemade earings Step5
Threading beads onto a headpin for homemade earings
Long and flexible homemade earrings Step1
Long and flexible homemade earrings Step2
Long and flexible homemade earrings Step3

By joining a headpin and eyepin you can create long and flexible homemade earrings with maximum swing. It’s not important with beads on headpins and eyepins which way the loops are formed, as the beads don’t have a definite front or back (See above for making loops).

Long and flexible homemade earrings Step4
Long and flexible homemade earrings Step5

Hanging hoops enables you to arrange your beads in a circle. Fill the hoop completely or chose a few select beads. Open the hoop and add your beads. With flat nosed pliers bend the tip of the hoop slightly upwards before replacing it in the slot at the top.

Hanging Hoop Earrings

Feature Both Pendants And Beads

A pendant set off by beads on an eyepin is an attractive design feature.

Start by threading your chosen beads onto the eyepin. Be careful to make your loop at a right angle to the existing eyepin loop. In this way the pendant will hang correctly along the line of your ear.

Where the pendant hole is too deep to attach comfortably to the loop on your eyepin, a jump-ring comes in handy. In this situation turn the loop on your eyepin in the same direction.

Making earrings that feature both pendants and beads
Earrings That Feature Both Pendants And Beads

Let’s have a look at how to make these homemade clustered earrings.

Homemade Clustered Earrings

It’s hard to believe that this tutorial on how to make clustered earrings is still very much in the beginner’s section of easy homemade jewelry. Most of the beads I’ve used are from a basic glass bead mix that I had leftover from the homemade clustered necklace I created earlier.

homemade clustered earrings

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