Post earring roundup for I Might Make That! Monday

"Easy Peasy" post earrings from For the Love of Beads

Yikes, I'm discovering that this Monday feature is now competing with my Monday-night class for my precious Sunday hours. (Because, of course, I could do my reading and other homework over the course of the week, but inevitably put it off until Sunday night. Ditto this blogpost.)

Anyway, enough whining. I have been on the search recently for some earring tutorials. Tutes for ear wires, whether you mean French hooks, old-fashioned kidneys, or something more arty, are fairly easy to find. But frankly, I prefer to wear post earrings (either simple studs or something with a smallish dangle.)

Tutes for post earrings are much rarer. Most of what I found in my Internet quest involved buying posts with flat pads like this and then gluing a cabachon, half-drilled pearl or even a cute button onto. I have some of those findings, and yes, they're fine, but not terribly original.

Here's a roundup of some different looks.

The pic at the top shows some square spiral post earrings from the blog For the Love of Beads. I wasn't familiar with this blog, but the author is a glass artist. She has some other tutes, many of them lampwork-oriented, at this link.  (She throws in some hot dish recipes, too!)

Spiral Wave earrings by artless

In a similar squiggly mode are these earrings at left. They are called "Spiral Wave." Here's a link to the tute, which isn't free, but the price is only $3. The designer's name is listed as "artless."

And continuing on the spiral theme (I'm not going to post a pic for the next one, because I've mentioned the site before), WigJig has a tute for simple spiral posts here.

The next tute isn't a free either, but it's absolutely lovely. A steal at $6. The artist is the very talented Nicole Hanna.

Nicole Hanna's stunning geometric post earrings

If you're not familiar with Nicole Hanna's blog, she's very funny. This link will take you to the site for purchasing instructions to make what she calls "Geometric Post Earrings."

Below is a free pattern I found on Craftsy. I love this one.

Gailavira's Beaded Spiral Post Earrings

The designer is Gailavira. The link shows it in several variations.







And I'll finish up with this one. It does start with one of those flat-pad post findings, but it's unusual enough to include here. The designer uses poymer clay and nail polish to create an unusal finish for these studs.

Chic Metal Earrings from Quiet Lion

And if I do wind up making my own ear posts, I now know how to use a cup bur to file the ends, thanks to a great post by Pearl of Beading Gem's Journal on sanding and filing.

RAW-bezeled chatons for I Might Make That! Monday

Fusion Beads' Red Baubles

A short but sweet post this week--found these cute bezeled earrings as a project on Fusion Beads' website recently. What makes them different is that the bezel is right-angle weave, not brick or peyote stitch, which you see a lot more often. Another difference is that the centers are 8 mm chatons, not rivolis.

Link to the step-by-step tute, which has pretty detailed illustrations. The tute can also be downloaded as a PDF.

Bowdabra's Formal Necklace

I'll throw in one more pattern that came my way via Craft Gossip. It's from a site called Bowdabra, which sells gizmos for making bows.

Yes, it looks like lots of other multistrand necklaces, but what makes this one different is it uses a product I've never heard of, Ribbon to Bead. This is a spool of ribbon that has wire on the ends specifically designed for stringing it through beads (with 2 mm or larger holes). And no, I don't think you need to purchase the mini-bowdabra to make the ribbon flourish. It looks like some silly infomercial product.

Has anybody ever tried Ribbon to Bead or seen it sold anywhere?

Dyed pearls from Martha for I Might Make That! Monday

Dyed pearl and ribbon necklace
from Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart certainly doesn't need any promotional help from me, but this tute is old enough that I thought it might be new to readers.

At this link, which dates back to March 2008,  Martha shows how to use plain ol' Rit dye to custom-color glass pearls. It looks easy-peasy, and there is a video as well as written instructions.

I think it would be cool to make a lot of pearls with varying saturations of color for a monochromatic color palette--just by simply leaving them in the bowl of dye for longer and longer intervals.

There are separate instructions for threading the dyed pearls onto the ribbon. Lots of people have done this, but I like the twisted effect of hers. I also adore the richness of her chocolate version, above, and how the pearls have been dyed to match the ribbon perfectly.

I do love pearls, both freshwater and fake.

Crocheted ribbon earrings

And here's a bonus tute for crocheters (unfortunately, I am not): crocheted ribbon and pearl earrings. Wouldn't they be cute to pair with the ribbon necklace? They are from Valerie for Mommy Tyme Gifts and showed up on FaveCrafts.

P.S. I've noticed I've gotten a few new followers recently. Welcome! If you're new to this weekly feature, an archive of past I Might Make That! entries can be found at the link in the top right-hand corner.