It’s the middle of winter where I live in New Zealand and, as I looked out my window at the wind and rain, I thought it might be nice to make something that reminds me of summer. Today I’m using 8/0 seed beads to make a fun pair of pastel spiral earrings. These ones are super easy and don’t take much time (except how long it takes you to string the beads onto the wire).

I really love the pastel colours of these beads. I chose them because they go together well but you could choose any seed beads that you wanted.

The only thing you need to consider when choosing your colours is that the first bead needs to go with the last bead as the pattern repeats so they will be next to each other.

Materials

Here’s what I used to make these earrings:

Tools

The tools that I used are:

Instructions

Make a Loop

Cut a piece of wire approximately 28cm (11”) long, using the flush side of your cutters. Using the very tip of your round nose pliers, make a tiny loop in the end of the wire. Do not centre it on the wire. The loop will look a bit like a P.

Thread on the Beads

Thread the beads on to the wire in the following order:

Pink
Cyan
Papaya Whip
Lilac
Light Salmon
Aquamarine

Repeat 13 more times so that you have 14 repeats of beads in total. Put the bead stopper on the end, leaving a little bit of room for the beads to move around.

It is best to make both earrings at the same time. These beads are not always the same size so if your strung pieces are different lengths, you may need to remove a few beads.

Make the Spiral

Hold the loop in your chain nose pliers at an angle.

Gently press the beads towards your pliers so that the wire bends.

Repeat several times until you get the beginning of the spiral.

Using your fingers, spiral up the wire, just pushing it gently into place.

Repeat for the other earring.

Lay the components one on top of the other and manipulate until they are the same shape and size.

Make a Bend

Once you are happy that the earrings are as close in size and shape to each other as possible, take your chain nose pliers and bend the top the wire up with a nice sharp bend, about 2mm from the beads.

The Filigree Bead

Thread on the filigree bead, making sure that it is centred on the wire. These beads are full of holes and sometimes I manage to thread the wire through the wrong one. To check it’s centred, roll it around with your finger.

Add the Ear Hook

Make a loop at the top of the bead. This loop will be larger than the tiny one you created for the centre.

If you haven't made loops before, please watch this video about making Basic loops.

Open the loop of the ear hook, supporting the earring between your thumb and forefinger, and feed on the loop you just made.

Close the loop. Repeat for the other earring.

Jewellery I’m Wearing

In this week’s video I’m wearing the earrings I made in my clip on earrings tutorial. Notice that I converted them to conventional earrings by replacing the clip on with an ear hook.

I was also wearing my blue and green bracelet.

Scarf

I’m sharing this because I know you are all going to ask. Every time I wear this scarf on camera, I always get questions about where I got it. My sister, Dawn, made it for me. If you are keen to make it, or you can find a sister or friend who will make it for you, here’s a link to the pattern.