Don’t have pierced ears but still want to wear earrings? In this week’s video I show you how to make a pair of clip on earrings and how to convert a pair of non-clip on earrings and vice versa.

Materials

Here’s what I used to make these earrings:

I offer all these items as a bundle deal.

Tools

The tools that I used are:

Instructions

At the bottom of this post is a layout diagram which shows how all the beads work together.

It’s best to make both earrings at the same time so that you get them both the same length. If you need assistance on how to do this, in this video I showed you how to measure your headpins when you cut them.

Make the Inner Dangle

Onto a headpin thread on one 3mm silver and one 4mm emerald bead.

Make a loop in the top of the headpin. If you haven’t made loops before, you can watch this video about how to make the perfect loop.

Open the loop and attach the dangle to the inner loop of the connector.

Make the Centre Dangle

To make the longest dangle which sits in the centre, add the beads to a headpin in the following order:

3mm Silver
6mm Emerald
3mm Silver
6mm Emerald
3mm Silver
4mm Emerald

Make a loop in the top of the headpin.

Open the loop and attach it to the centre loop of the connector. Always work with the connector upside down, bring the loop in from underneath the connector so that all of the openings in the loops face the back.

Make The Second Layer of Dangles

For the second layer thread the beads onto the headpin in the following order:

3mm Silver
6mm Emerald
3mm Silver
4mm Emerald
3mm Silver
4mm Emerald

Make a loop in the top of the headpin then attach it to the second loop as you did with the centre dangle. Repeat for the other side.

Make The Third Layer of Dangles

For the third layer thread the beads onto the headpin in the following order:

3mm Silver
6mm Emerald
3mm Silver
4mm Emerald

Make a loop in the top of the headpin then attach it to the third loop as you did with the other dangles. Repeat for the other side.

Make The Fourth Layer of Dangles

For the fourth layer thread the beads onto the headpin in the following order:

3mm Silver
4mm Emerald
3mm Silver
4mm Emerald

Make a loop in the top of the headpin then attach it to the fourth loop as you did with the other dangles. Repeat for the other side.

Make The Outer Dangles

For the outer layer thread the beads onto the headpin in the following order:

3mm Silver
4mm Emerald

Make a loop in the top of the headpin then attach it to the outer loop as you did with the other dangles. Repeat for the other side.

Attach the Clip On Ear Wire

Clip on ear wires come in a variety of shapes and sizes. In the video, I show you two which basically work the same way. They use a hinge action to open and close. The long thin part goes at the front of the ear. You will notice that it also has a loop on it. That’s where we are going to attach our earring.

Hold the bottom of the loop in the jaws of your chain nose pliers. Twist very slightly to open. You only want to open it enough that you can get the loop of the component into it. Slip on the upper most loop of the connector and reverse the process to close the loop.

Here’s a layout diagram to make it easier to create your beautiful clip on earrings.

Converting Earrings to Clip On

Now that you’ve seen me make these earrings, you can see how easy it is to convert a pair of standard dangle earrings to clip on earrings. You simply open the loop, remove the ear hook and add the clip on ear wire.

Converting Clips on Standard Earrings

Obviously, it works in reverse as well. If you want to change a pair of clip on earrings to standard earrings, you simply open the loop and remove the clip on earwire, then add the new earhook. Super simple.

Useful techniques:

Here are the techniques I used in the video. If you haven't used them before, please watch these videos.

How to make Basic loops.

Jewellery I’m Wearing

In this week’s video I’m wearing a lot of jewellery, simply because I’m wearing three bracelets. Click the images below for the tutorials for the bracelets I’m wearing.