How To Make Pretty Crimp Bead Earrings

If you are looking for a lovely unique homemade gift that’s kind to your wallet then look no further. These pretty crimp bead earrings are very simple to make using almost any type of bead.

I priced up two pairs of these crimp bead earrings, with some average and some semi-precious beads. I purchased all of the beads and findings I needed and got to work.

The first project below is a three-beaded, three-strand earring, it’s made with 6mm glass beads and they cost me just 70 cents per pair to make at the time of writing (and this is being conservative). If I had used 6mm Swarovski Crystal Bicone beads they would have cost $1.50.

The second set is the pink 6 bead earrings, I made them with a mix of both 4mm glass beads and the 6mm Swarovski Crystal Bicone beads and they cost me around $1.50 to make.

Making The Crimp Bead Earrings

So I’ve spent the last couple of evenings making up a good batch of these earrings ready for any birthdays or last-minute gifts I may need. I’m thinking that this is going to save me a small fortune this year.

The only problem I’m having now is learning how to part with them all… they look so good!

What You Will Need

• Stranded beading wire
• Jewelry Beads 6mm or 4mm
• Jewelry Findings Crimp beads and Ear wires
• Crimp pliers
• Flat/round nosed pliers
• Wire cutters

Method

Step1 Cut two lengths of beading wire of about 2 inches (3 for a longer earring).

Thread one of the cut beading wires through the earring wire and bend the wire over leaving one end slightly longer than the other one. Then thread a crimp bead onto both wire ends pushing it as close to the earring wire as you can.

Step2 Close the crimp bead using your crimp bead pliers. (See notes on closing crimp beads) Repeat with the other earring making sure they are both the same length.

Step3 Choose one bead and thread it onto the end of one of the wires followed by a crimp bead. Close the crimp bead at the end of the wire using your crimp bead pliers. Choose another bead and crimp bead and attach them to the second wire in the same way. Repeat the process with the second earring.

Cut two more lengths of beading wire of about the same size as the first ones. Thread one wire through the earring wire in the same way as you did with the first one. Slip on a crimp bead push it up to the earring wire and close it with the pliers. Now, because I only want 3 strands of wire on these earrings I’m going to snip the fourth strand off.

Step4 Repeat this with the second earring.

Step5 Hold your earring up and check the length of this last wire strand, it needs to be slightly shorter than the other two, if it’s not, trim to size. Once you’re happy with the length attach the last bead and crimp bead to the final wire strand as with the other two wire strands.

Step6 Once again repeat with the other earring.

The crimp bead earrings below are another great example. I created these with the same method as above, only this time I’ve used six strands for each earring and 4mm beads.

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.

Make These Earrings