I am so excited about these earrings! I saw them in a catalog and just knew I had to make them! BTW – they were $130!!!It wasn’t easy, I don’t usually make jewelry, so I really had to think it through but the end result was sooo worth it. When I first saw these, I thought “Wait a minute, aren’t these the same earrings I saw at the 99 Cent Store?” And they were! $130? I think not!

So I went the next day and had to dig through multiple bins but found a few pair. Now on to Michaels to search for the add-one to dress them up. The originals have citrine (which they didn’t have), and I don’t wear much yellow, but I do wear lots of aqua (which they did have), so I opted for some gorgeous glass beads with swirls of turquoise, white, and a tiny bit of citrus.

So onto the project.

Here is what I did:

The earrings I found were gold so I spray painted them. I gave them 2 coats of paint in Rustoleum Espresso. Then I dabbed on some Martha Stewart metallic paint in Copper for a bit of shine.

Then I wrapped the beads. I started with 26 gauge gold wire, made a loop at the top, threaded it through the bead and wrapped the rest around. Tried to make it look like the original, and it does, but a bit more dense. Then I attached the beads to the earrings with a jump ring that came in the kit I bought.

The last step was to switch out the wires for gold ones. All done! I have a whole new respect for jewelry makers. It’s hard! It hurts the eyes, the little pieces get lost, and the fingers get in the way sometimes. But the end result is bliss.

Linking up to this party: http://www.notjustahousewife.net/