DIY: Easy Skull Earrings Tutorial

I'm a very bad DIY blogger because I've been holding on to these gorgeous skull beads for over a month because...well, life. Anyway, the very nice people over at Auntie's Beads gave me a $25 gift certificate to go nuts (as if I could ever buy just $25 worth of beads, but it was a nice gesture) and I picked these up along with a few other awesome jewelry making pieces and I knew exactly what I was going to make with them. These DIY skull earrings are super easy to make and you can customize with any kind of beads you'd like, so I thought they might make for a fun tutorial!

Before I get to the how-to, a little bit about Auntie's Beads. I worked with this company before years ago at my very first job working with Favecrafts.com and I have to say that Auntie's Beads has definitely stepped up its website game. I was very pleasantly surprised with how easy the site was to navigate to find exactly what I needed (or rather, what I needed and much more).  They have all kinds of jewelry making tools and supplies as well as whole projects, videos, and tutorials. It's pretty sweet. Other perk? If you're looking for something, but the price isn't quite right, you can make an offer. What? I know. What other site offers that? I was more than pleased with the quality of everything when it arrived too. The metal beads felt heavy, not just like painted plastic which you often find at craft stores. I will definitely be buying from here again (swearsies, this is my real opinion, no money was exchanged for me to say nice things).

Now, to the fun stuff!

Skull and Stone Drop Earring Tutorial

Materials:

• 2 ear wires 
• 2 small jump rings
• 2 head pins
• 2 Metal skull beads from Aunties Beads
• 4 stone beads (These are pretty and similar to the ones I used)
• 2 pairs of flat nose pliers
• 1 pair of wire cutters
• 1 pair of round nose pliers

Instructions:

1. Collect your beads and arrange them how you would like on the head pins.

2. Once you have the beads on the pins, grab your round nose pliers and pinch the wire at the very end right next to the beads. 

3. Hold the pliers in one hand and use the other hand to wrap the wire around round pliers to create a loop. This is what you'll use to connect to the ear wires. 

4. Wrap the extra once around the base of the wire. 

5. Trim the extra wire with your wire cutters. 

6. Open a jump ring using the two flat nose pliers to bend the loop in opposite directions. Make sure not to pull the loop apart! That's how you break a jump ring. Trust me ;)

7. Hook your beads and your ear wire onto the open jump ring. 

8. Close the jump ring the same way - use both flat nose pliers and bend the end back together. 

9. Repeat steps 1-8 for the second earring and you're all done! 

That was easy, wasn't it? Now you have a beautiful, handmade new pair of earrings to show off to all your friends. They also make great gifts, you know, with the holiday season coming up and all. 

  

Of course, if you absolutely love these and just have to have them, I think I can make an exception. Just take a look in the jewelry Etsy shop! 

Questions, comments, concerns? Leave them in the comments section and I'll be happy to help you out with any stumbles. Making jewelry is fun, but sometimes it gets confusing. I've probably made all the mistakes by now. 

Like this tutorial? I have others! Make sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest to see when the next one goes up.