My friend Erin Prais-Hintz at Earrings Everyday recently shared a May Day challenge: create earrings featuring flowers in baskets or cones, May pole ribbons, or other signs of spring.
My May Day Earring Designs
My problem is never having no ideas for a project; it's always being overwhelmed by too many options. Knowing this, I set a few limits on myself. First, I wanted to use materials I had on hand. No extra shopping! Second, I wanted to make a bundle or group of flowers, not just a single stem.
My first earring design used these round aluminum blanks that have a subtle basket feel with their shape: a narrow top (handle) and the wider body at the bottom. (I think of this shape as a 1960s go-go hoop.) I hammered the aluminum and riveted several copper-plated flowers on each one. (Yes, three flowers on one earring and two on another. I find a little asymmetry fascinating.) The lightweight earrings are finished with hypoallergenic ear wires and flower-shaped rubber stoppers on the ends. These earrings are available in my Etsy shop.
My second earring design kept growing in complexity as I worked. (It's a good thing I was working with a deadline or I'd still be fiddling with it!) I filled some filigree cones with wool that I gently felted to make it a little more dense. The green wool keeps the glass flowers and their wire stems in place. I debated whether to cut the stems short, but in the end decided to leave them long with curls at the ends. It took some puzzling to figure out how best to hang them. I eventually decided that I wanted the bouquets to be upright. I added simple wire handles that I embellished with a 26-gauge wire wrap. The second wire not only made the handles a little stiffer, it also held the ear wires in place.
More Flower Earrings
When I first read Erin's announcement, I remembered these May Flower Earrings I created for my book Unexpected Findings. I was so thrilled at figuring out that rings for your fingers could be turned into earrings.
I've designed many flower earrings over the years. Here are more blog posts with photos to inspire you:
- Sapphire Afternoon (Beadwork, April/May 2018)
- Pearl Joy (Jewelry Affaire, Winter 2018) and Unlocked Treasure (Beadwork, February/March 2018)
- Rosy Flower Pearl Earrings (Jewelry Stringing, Winter 2016)
- Jade Flower Earrings (Jewelry Stringing, Summer 2015)
- Pink Daisy Earrings (Halcraft USA)
- Happy Tears Earrings (Halcraft USA)
- Cinderella Earrings
- Winter At Home Earrings
Thanks to Erin for encouraging us to play! Visit Earrings Everyday to see the rest of the May Day earring designs.
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