Tassel Earrings

Tuesday has come around again, and I hope everyone has had a wonderful Father's Day weekend! This week I have created cute and simple pair of beaded tassel earrings with crochet thread- easy to make for beginners in beading and perfect for everyday wear (I even wear them with my work uniform!). If you already do basic jewelry making, you should be all set for the tools- if not, there plenty of sets in our store that definitely have all the tools you'd need in one package; these do not take much at all to make! Let's get started!

Materials 

• Crochet Thread (color of your choice)
• 20 Gauge Wire (same color as earring hooks)
• Earring Hooks
• Beads (w/hole big enough to string on the wire)
• Needle Nose Pliers
• Round Nose Pliers
• Wire Cutters
• Scissors 
• Beadalon Tassel Maker

Instructions

• First, take the crochet thread and measure 2 lengths of about 10.5 feet. You can measure out more or less, depending on how full you want your tassel to be. Next, set up your tassel maker, putting both pins at the second to the outermost hole on each side, then wind one of the lengths of crochet thread until it is completely wrapped around the two pegs.

• Next, cut four 6-inch pieces of thread. Take one piece and tie the wrapped thread around the center, and make sure it's tight! Tying a double or triple knot should suffice. You can then slide the thread off the maker. Fold the bundle of thread in half where you tied the knots, then take another 6-inch piece  and tie the folded bundle, making a taut knot towards the folded top portion. 

• Taking your scissors, slip them through the bottom looped portion of the tassel, and then snip the adjoined thread. You can now trim the excess pieces and trim the bottom of the tassel to adjust the length. You now have a completed tassel! 

• Next, cut a 3 to 4 inch piece of 20 gauge wire. Slip one end of the wire through the center of the tassel where it is folded in half, and wrap around that joint piece once or twice, tucking any excess wire into the center to avoid poking. 

• Now, you are ready to string your beads! I picked a shiny spacer bead and a blue bead the colors go nicely together.string the beads through the wire so they sit on the tassel.

• Taking your flat nose pliers, bend the wire right above the beads into a 90 degree angle, then switch to your round nose pliers (holding the same spot) and wrap the wire back over the top so you now have a loop. take out the pliers and slip an earring hook into the open loop.

• With the excess wire from the loop, wrap the wire around and over the top of the bead until you have no excess wire left. (Alternatively, you can trim the wire down if you are not fond of the wire wrap look)

• You are now done! (With one earring) Now, repeat these steps one more time to get your second earring, and now you are done for real this time! Have fun with your lovely new pair of earrings!
  
  
  
  
  

-Helen C. -

Craft Coordinator
Kahului Ben Franklin Crafts