Easy Beaded Dangle Earrings

I love easy.  Obviously – with my one-hour-or-less theme around here (and even better, the 10-minute project category)!  Today’s project is one of the quick ones – this simple design will let you make beads of all kinds into charms for earrings, bracelets, pendants – anything you can dream up.  Because it only takes 2 beads, you can choose something extra-special, too.  I’ve been hanging onto these old Arabic prayer beads that I got from Happy Mango Beads a while back, and they were perfect for this project.

Here’s what you’ll need to make easy beaded earrings for yourself:

• 2 – 2-inch head pins (if you’re using larger beads, choose 3-inch pins)
• 2 beads you love
• 2 metal spacer beads (or coordinated beads, or bead caps)
• 2 earring wires
• 2 – 4mm jump rings
• Round-nosed pliers
• Wire cutters

To create your earring charms, you will thread the beads onto the head pin.  If the hole is very large on your main bead, you may need a spacer bead underneath, too, to help it stay on (the same way a washer works when you’re building).  This photo illustrates:

First, tip the pin over one side of your pliers slightly (you can see I angled right).  Then, wrap it up and over the top of the opposite side of your pliers (you can see I wrapped left).  Finally, take that tail and wrap it around the bottom of the loop you just formed.  1-2 wraps is enough to hold, but if you have extra space, you’ll want to keep wrapping to fill the whole gap between the loop and your spacer bead.  Nip off the excess with your wire cutters.

If you would prefer to see this technique in action, I’ve also got a video tutorial that shows how to make jewelry charms. That post shows you how to make a charm bracelet, but the technique is the same no matter what style of bead you use, and what project you add it to.

Repeat the process to make two matching charms.  Finally, assemble your newly-made charms onto your earring wires.  Just twist the jump rings open with your pliers, and close them back up after connecting the two loops.  And that’s it!

I just love the red for this time of year, and the prayer beads make them particularly special – I love beads that are a part of history. Best of all, they make a great, quick Christmas gift for the ladies on your list – use whatever color and style suits them best!  The same technique can be adapted to any number of designs and styles.

Happy beading!