{fashion} DIY Neon Yellow Earrings

I had these yellow beads (both small and large ones) laying around for some years until I finally got to use them. First I made a necklace, which you can see here. Then, last weekend I decided to do some earrings. As you can see they are somewhat inspired by Natalie Portman’s tassel earrings that she wore at the Academy Awards, but these are way simpler!

Without further ado, here are the instructions on how to make them (or in any case make similar ones):

The equipment:

4 big beads (I used those Murano like flower patterned beads)

An abundance of small beads in same color as the big ones (I used approx. 145 beads)

French hooks (for the earrings)

Nylon thread (here in Greece we also call it fishing line)

Step-by-Step:

1)     Cut a long piece of thread [approx. 50cm (20 inches) or more if you want longer earrings]. Pass the line through 20 small beads, one large bead and another small one. The last small one at the end of the line plays a “strategical” role!

2)     Make a loop with the thread at the end of the “lonely” small bead as seen in pictures 2. In that way that “lonely” bead plays the role of securing the strand of beads. Now take the shorter part of the thread and pass it through all the beads again as shown in picture 3.

3)     Now place another big bead and a smaller one passing them through both beads as shown in picture 4. These two beads will be the “head” of the earring.

4)     Make a loop again at the head small bead as shown in picture 5 and pass the thread through the big bead. Now you have a loose thread in order to line up beads again as shown in picture one. I didn’t make all 3 strands of the earring equal in size. I used 20 small beads for the first one, 22 for the second and 25 for the third.

5)     After placing all the beads (plus the large and small-“lonely” bead), you do a loop around the last small bead again and run the thread again through all the beads (and the “head” beads).

6)     Again you make a loop at the head small bead as shown in picture 5 and pass the thread through the big bead. Now you have a loose thread in order to line up beads again for the third strand.

7)     When finishing all 3 strands, you take one French hook and knot the thread multiple times as shown in picture 8.

Some notes: this method of passing the thread again and again through the head beads has some limitations as you can’t possibly pass many threads through the beads. Hence I did only 3 strands in each earring. Also this method of knotting is a rather amateur one, as there are best ways of securing the thread, but it’s the only method I truly know and use. Instead of nylon thread I could have used wire, but I like the flexibility of the nylon thread (and the way it moves).

A few DIY posts about tassel earrings can be found here and here.

 

 

 

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