Project Tag: NeedlesNiche

Informal Tutorial Blog Post to Encourage Product Sales

Context: A tutorial blog with an extremely informal tone, meant to demystify DIY arts and crafts and create a feeling of camaraderie between the company and clients.

Read the original post here, or scroll down to read the text-only version.

How to Make Flower and Bee Earrings

Just look at those beauties. You wanna make ’em, you know you do. I’m selling a pair in my Etsy shop right now, but I wanted to give you the insider information on how to make them yourself. It’s very easy, and a good start for a beginner to wireworking.
It’s a cute little flower with a bee and some swirly stamens. What’s better than foliage and insects dangling from your earlobes?
I could have worded that better. Anyway, here’s your supply list:
  • Chain Nose Pliers
  • Flush Wire Cutter
  • Wire Looping Pliers
  • Safety Glasses
  • The Flower and Bee Earring Pack
Don’t get scared because of the safety glasses, we won’t be pulling out the chainsaw or anything. It’s just a precaution for cutting wire.
As you can see, I already made the first earring, and I’ve got the remaining materials set out. Two head pins, two eye pins, one silver bee, four crystal beads, one lucite flower, one silver bead cap, one silver spacer bead, and one silver earring hook. Fancy.
First, thread one of the blue crystal beads onto a head pin, followed by a bee. Then make a closed loop  at the far end of the pin and set aside.
Thread another blue crystal bead onto a head pin. Use your chain nose pliers to make a  tight curl in the pin, like a J shape. This shape should hold the bead in place.
With the widest end of your wire looping pliers, make another  curve going the opposite way, turning your J into an S. Make a closed loop and set this one aside too.
My favorite part is coming up. Thread a crystal onto an eye pin, and let it rest all the way at the end. Then make a spiral on the other side with your wire looping pliers and chain nose pliers. You can play with this spiral to make it fall exactly where you want later, but you can’t go wrong with a little extra swirl. Then use the chain nose pliers to make a bend in the metal. This will both help the spiral stand out, and prevent the bead from sliding down too far.
Here are all three completed stamens. See what I mean about that curly wire? It’s fabulous!
Okay, calm down Snitch. Don’t scare away the visitors.
Now just open up the loop of your final eye pin with chain nose pliers, and slip all three stamens on. Close the loop with the chain nose pliers, and make sure it’s tight. You want your stamens to dangle and move freely, but not fall out.
Thread the lucite flower bead, silver bead cap, crystal bead, and silver spacer bead onto the eye pin. Let gravity pull them all the way to the bottom, to cover up the connection between the stamens and the loop of the eye pin.
Make your final closed loop with wire looping pliers, wrap the extra wire around the base with the chain nose pliers, and trim off the excess with the flush wire cutters. This is the part you need the safety glasses for – flying metal is nothing you want near your eye.
Now, simply use the chain nose pliers to open the loop on your ear wires and thread that puppy through the closed loop you just made. Close the ear wire loop back up, and you have an earring!
Naturally, you have to go back up to the top to finish the second earring, unless you’re the type who likes to walk around with just one.
And there you have it! Here’s that list of supplies again, because the top is a long way up:
  • Chain Nose Pliers
  • Flush Wire Cutter
  • Wire Looping Pliers
  • Safety Glasses
  • The Flower and Bee Earring Pack
So there you have it, ladies and gentledudes! Flower earrings which will make you the envy of all the gardeners!
(Disclaimer: The Snitch is not responsible for any high-speed hummingbird chases which result from wearing these earrings.)
Do you have another beginner wire wrapping tutorial you’d like me to try? Any thoughts or stories about hummingbird chases? Let me know in the comments!