Monday, March 11, 2013

Make-it-Monday: One Earring

Is there anything sadder than losing just one earring?

Um, yes.

But losing an earring is a special kind of frustration. It leaves you with one perfectly functional, yes useless, piece of jewelry. I have a graveyard section on my jewelry tree devoted to earrings who lost their mate. But thanks to some creative thinking (and clever suggestions from the Internet) I'm slowly repurposing them.

My favorite way to use an old earring is to turn it into a necklace. It's ridiculously easy to do this with hook earrings. Go to Wal-Mart, Michaels, or JoAnn's, picked-up some silver chain, jump rings, clasps, and a pair of jewelry pliers. It took me all of five minutes to turn my pretty earring into a pretty charm. Voila, new life for an old earring!


IT'S ALIVE!

Got a solitary post earring? Try using it as a thumbtack for your corkboard.


(Photo by Cup + Penny)

You can also attach a brooch back to an old earring - wear it on your lapel like a champ. Or glue it onto a headband for a little extra sparkle.

Really, just about anything can be bedazzled it with old jewelry. I took a spin through Pinterest, and found some really great ideas. For most of these, all you need are pliers, wire cutters, and metal adhesive.


(Photo by georgiapeachez)

(Photo by georgiapeachez)

(Photo by theresamariejewelry)

(Photo by Ryoan)

(Photo by Ruffles & Stuff)

(Photo by Ruffles & Stuff)

(Photo by Ruffles & Stuff)

"All this is great, Galen, but what if I just don't want to lose my stuff in the first place?" Well, if your earring comes off while you're at home, you can try to find it using the hose attachment on your vacuum cleaner. Put a pair of pantyhose over the nozzle and run it over the floor. When you get to the earring, the pantyhose will trap the sucker for you (this also works for contact lenses). Thank the lovely Gillian for this tip - she's the one who taught it to me!

I once heard someone say that for post earrings, you can put a dab of eyelash glue on the backing. It'll give you a boost of holding power. You'll have to clean your earrings every time you wear them, though - be sanitary, ladies!

UPDATE: Tune-in next week when I show you how to make your own necklace in less than ten minutes. I guarantee you'll spend more time assembling your lunch than your jewelry.

3 comments:

  1. Here are words that I have never used in a sentence: jump rings, clasps, and a pair of jewelry pliers.
    What if i gave you my single earrings (I can't BEAR to throw them away--why is that?) and you applied all those things to them and made them purty again?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll do you one better - I'll describe those foreign terms next week, and I'll include a full tutorial. Deal?

      Delete
  2. I never thought of the earring to necklace idea. BRILLIANT. Changed my life!

    ReplyDelete

I've set-up word verification to avoid spam comments. All comments will be posted once they are verified.