Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Can You Ear Me Now

I am probably the only person you know who doesn't have pierced ears. As such, I'm not much of an "earring" person which is why you rarely see the girls wearing them. But after numerous complaints--especially from those FR dolls who arrived with their own pair--I have finally given in with this post! Mind you, I really don't need to do a tutorial. Earrings are easy enough to make and at the very least, you can simply pick up an existing pair and be done with it. This post serves, primarily, as a source of ideas in the context of current trends.

Trends??!! Yes, there are trends in the jewelry business that are defined annually. They may or may not have anything to do with the clothing industry. But according to Vogue.com, the hottest look is the "statement" earring. Simply stated, those are super sized earrings. Sometimes they drop as far down as the shoulders. This is good news for the dolls because it means we don't have to worry about scale!


Materials
You don't need much to get started: 1) Eye rings 2) Flat nose stems to create end beads, 3) Stems with eye rings. You can create your own posts with them although the wire is quite thin. You might consider making your own using 20-22 gauge nickel free wire. 4) Some craft stores or shops specializing in jewelry making supplies have ready made posts. All you need do is to hang whatever bead or design from the small loop beneath the bead and you're good to go. 5-6) You'll need standard and round nose jewelry pliers. 7) No matter what you use as a post, eye rings are used in between the post and whatever you suspend. It's what creates the articulation of the earring. 8) And if you want to create a drop earring using beads, here's the diagram of what it needed: An eye ring is needed to join the top and the bottom of the snowflake. The top attaches it to the post, the bottom to the rest of the earring. A stem is bent into an eye at the bottom. The bead slides on and this stem is rounded at the top to attach to the eye ring at the bottom of the snow flack. Another eye ring joins the stem to a tear drop. If you have no tear drop beads, then thread an ordinary bead onto the flat nose stem and bend it into a eye at the top.


Bejeweled
Using this method, you can create bejeweled teardrops like the ones worn here by Waris and Claudia.

Nichelle and Katoucha are wearing earrings from ready made jewelry I took apart. To reproduce the look without these specific beads, you could make them from regular beads and flat nose stems. After finishing 5-6, suspend them from a single eye ring and attach to a post.

I had fun at my favorite bead store. I forced myself away from the usually silver and gold and dared to pick up some colorful enamel geometric shapes. What's interesting here is that the earrings have similar shapes but are not carbon copies.

Each element has an eye ring and is suspended from a single piece of chain. The orange arrows point out where eye rings attach to the chain. At the very end, the longest piece, the end of the chain and the post all share a single eye ring. You notice that when Aria wears them, they fall at different lengths.



Shootin' Hoops
Super sized hoops are all the rage night now. Making them is pretty easy. You could buy chain and cut them apart or you could make them.

1) This is 18 gauge wire that I have wrapped around a small bottle cap to get a perfect circle.
2) The wire is cut so that there is an overlap. Wrap one end around the top of the round nose pliers. Bend the other end so that it completes the circle of the hoop.
3) Here's the completed hoop. All that's needed is an ear post. I made this one myself.
4) I decided to add an eye ring in between the hoop and the post so that the earring would dangle more freely.


Tassels
Another popular trend, as seen on catwalks. Sometimes you can find tiny tassels, but if you can't, here's how to make them.

1) I used embroidery thread. Make about 3-4 loops about one inch wide.
2) Take the eye ring stem and slide through the middle of your looped thread.
3) Close the loop so that it is snug.
4) Clip the thread at each end.
5) Fold this in half.
6) Take another small bit of wire and wrap around the thread about 1/8 inch (3mm) from the top. Instead of using wire, you can also use a bead cone to finish the top.
7) Once finished, clip the bottom of your tassel so that the ends are even.
8) There is still a bit of the wire stem extending from the center of our tassel.
9) Bend this back towards the tassel, forming a loop. Add a eye ring and attach to a post.

Have fun with this look.

Karen wears tassel earrings that I have combined with chain. In this case, I bought a bit of chain that had a number of elements I knew I could use. For these earrings I only needed the part of the chain you see outlined by the orange box.
I attached my tassels to the chain using eye rings. The arrows point to where they are cached to the chain. Note that when laid flat, my chain is asymmetrical. This is because I wanted the earrings to fall at two different lengths.

Chain Gang
Chain is also big and very easy to translate into doll jewelry. The top and bottom right hand photos only needed eye rings that attach to posts. But Giselle (lower left bottom) is wearing an earring comprised of an eye ring strung with three lengths of chain.



Slipped Disks
This is a runway look I decided to make. Sometimes we can't find the beads we want. I used oven back clay to make my own here. Just be aware that you cannot make them too fine or they will break.

For these disks, my clay is only the size of a small pea. I used a straight pin to pierce them. You can leave it in as you back to ensure the holes won't close.

I left these au natural, but you can paint patterns on them for truly original designs.

Remember that chain I used earlier for the tassel earrings. Here, I've removed the large leaves. All by themselves, they are gorgeous.

Of course there are plenty of stamped metal pieces to create wonderful earrings.


Any other time, these would be considered out of scale. But in the current season, anything goes. These were made from a pair of vintage earrings.


You can give dolly a single earring or....the newest way to wear them--mismatched!


But at the end of the day, there's nothing like the classics. My girls were still thrilled with their "diamond" studs. If you buy the store bought variety, look for 3 mm stones which are perfectly to scale. On the right...I created "large" diamond studs using jeweled beads and a 5/8" straight pin.

Let me show you using pearls.
I add a bit of clear drying glue to the end of the pin and slide my pearl to the edge. Wipe away the excess and allow to dry. You can also find dressmaker's straight pins with the beads already glued in place.


Follow us on Twitter: @FashDollStylist
Like us on Facebook: Facebook.com/FashDollStylist
We're also on Pinterest: Pinterest.com/FashDollStylist
Come join us on Instagram and show off our stuff: Instagram.com/fashiondollstylist




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

22 comments:

  1. Earrings are a new thing to me, too. I just got my ears pierced, this year, as an adult, so my dolls and I are learning about it at the same time! I used to give them all the pierced earrings that came with my jewelry, but from now on, they will have to have their own. Thanks for the great ideas! So handy for dolls that the oversized earring is in right now. The possibilities are wide open!

    Your girls look lovely as always!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And thank you for your lovely words and visit. Have fun with this project. (All my girls are getting earrings this Christmas!)

      Delete
  2. Flat nose stems, eye ring stems and eye rings confused me at first. We call them head pins, eye pins and jump rings. Vocabulary issues aside, the earrings are fabulous. My favourite are the turquoise tassels. The baked beads have a lot of potential. You could use a nail stamping kit to print tiny uniform designs on them. I should make more doll earrings myself, they are so fun and add a lot to an outfit. I like to bend the top loops at a straight angle so they sit close to the head.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry it's taken me so long to respond. I've been down with a cold. I stand corrected. Thank you for the corrected terminology. The findings didn't come with proper labels and I did the best I could. I'll be sure to change the terminology to reflect the proper terms. And thank you for the compliment. Once I got started, it was hard to stop! Wondered why it's taken me so long to make these! Indeed the baked beads have lots of potential. I did make a pair of stamped ones but the gold finish didn't bake in well and I didn't want to get gold all over the doll's face. I'll be playing with this lots more!

      Delete
  3. Friends, dolls and followers, "lend me your ears" as said by our favorite poete and playwrite, W.S. I love the tassels, in part because they have been so popular this summer and because I want a pair. These, and all the rest are fantastic and such fun!!! Thank you April and girls - O

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you O. Yeah, I have the feeling some doll moms will be sharing earrings with their dolls!

      Delete
  4. Love this! You always come up with the most brilliant ideas! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. Well, it's like looking around and figuring out what to shop for today! LOL!!!

      Delete
  5. Lots of great ideas here! I love the tassel earrings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Phyllis. I love the tassel earrings too. Would love to make some more.

      Delete
  6. These are amazing! So much variety.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love earrings! I never leave home without them. I also wear pairs I make with charms. They are sort of mismatched, but a theme, like a red dress on one and lipstick on the other, or a chair on one and a desk on the other. I love that instead of them always matching.

    I buy several earrings for my dolls, usually studs or very small, but I like the 'statement' earrings you've shown. I never thought of that. I also think the title of your post is cute.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jaye. I had a lot of fun coming up with the title§ Charms are perfect for this. The statement earrings were easy, though I'd like to play more with smaller ones to see what possibilities are there too.

      Delete
  8. Well your dolls should be ecstatic now! You have gone all out. I have purchased earring making items many times over, but just haven't had time to really get into it. I feel naked without my own earrings, but I keep it simple for myself, and my poor dolls have probably suffered in the jewelry department for this reason. At least I know where I can come when I do get the jewelry making bug. Awesome job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Vanessa. Oh my dolls are having a hard time figuring out what to ask me for Christmas! LOL!! At least earrings are fast and easy to make. Once you start, it's hard to stop.

      Delete
  9. Hi April, another great ideas for the dolls. They look very well :):)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love these! Love it that you add instructions. And one of the things I like about this post is seeing your girls up so close! So gorgeous! Pretty! Such variety!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Jano. This is really so easy, it doesn't need tutorials; Yes, up close, the dolls are exceptionally stunning. They are loving their earrings too!!!

      Delete
  11. Bardzo ciekawy post! Tworzenie kolczyków nie jest takie proste, ale naprawdę efekt może zadziwić! Kolczyki dodają szyku i elegancji!
    Twoje dziewczyny wyglądają wspaniale!
    Pozdrawiam gorąco!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Olla wrote:
    Very interesting post! Creating earrings is not so simple, but the effect may really surprise! Earrings add a chic and elegant!
    Your girls look great!
    I greet warmly!
    Thank you, Olla. Actually making the earrings is easy provided you have access to all the right materials. I'm very happy with the results and so are my girls. See you soon!

    ReplyDelete

We love hearing from you. Your comment will be published shortly. Please note: SPAM IS NOT TOLERATED. It will be deleted immediately!!