How to Make Drop Earrings

Making Simple Drop Earrings

Gather your materials. For each earring, you will need a headpin, a French hook earwire (or other earwire or earpost), and an assortment of beads. You will also need wire cutters, needle-nose pliers, and flat pliers. You can use any combination of beads you like, as long as at least two can fit on a headpin. French hook earwires, also called earhooks, are the portion of the earring that is in direct contact with your ears. As their name suggests, they consist of a large hook, which hangs from your ear. On the opposite end of the large hook is a small circular loop (a "jump ring") used to attach the hook to the decorative portion of the earring. Earwires are typically made of hypoallergenic metals that are resistant to corrosion and discoloration.

Lay out your bead design. Before you "string" your beads, it's a good idea to plan your design first. Start by placing a headpin on its side to keep its length in mind. Next, organize beads in a straight line parallel to the headpin. Don't take up more that about two thirds of the headpin's length. Swap beads around until you've found a pattern that works best. Many drop earrings have a large dangling piece at the bottom. Consider a string of small spacer beads on top of one big ornate one.

Add your beads to each headpin. "String" your beads onto their headpin, starting with the bottom-most bead and ending at the top. You may find that the design doesn't quite "work" for you once actually on the pin. At this stage, it's easy to simply remove and reorganize the beads as many times as you'd like.

Bend the free end of the pin into a 90 degree angle. Hold the pin just above the top button with the tip of either pair of pliers. Use your thumb to press down on the free end of the headpin until it is completely horizontal in relation to the rest of the pin.

Create your loop. Grip the headpin with your needle-nose pliers just above the bend. Pull the wire down around your pliers. Rotate your pliers slightly by turning your wrist clockwise. Finish the loop by pulling the end of the wire back around to form a small circle.

Trim away the excess and flatten the loop. If there is any excess wire at the end of the bent headpin, trim it away with your wire cutters. The tail end of the loop should just touch the beginning without overlapping. Squeeze the loop with your flat pliers so the entire loop is flat and level.

Hang the earrings on the earwires of your choice. Because the loop you just made functions as a jump ring, you can attach your new earrings to any type of earwire or earpost you'd prefer. Simply use your needle-nose pliers to push down on the tail end of the jump ring to open it. Hook the ring around the earwire's own jump ring or other attachment loop. Close the jump ring by pushing up in the opposite direction to complete the loop.

Crafting Wire Drop Earrings

Gather your materials. For these earrings, you will need 22 gauge wire, small wire cutters, jeweler's pliers, French hook earwires, and rondelle cut beads. While specialty jeweler's pliers will be easier to work with, any other type of round nose pliers will also work fine. Other small pliers will do in a pinch. Rondelle beads are small, round, flat beads typically used as spacers in beaded jewelry. They can be made of anything from glass to precious gemstones. Pick one to three colors to work with. Depending on the exact size of your rondelle beads, you'll be using about three per earring.

Cut your wire. Unravel a small piece of your wire from its spindle. Straighten it out so you can get an accurate measurement. Measure out four inches of wire for each earring and cut using your wire cutters.

Bend your wires to form a flat loop. For each earring, use your fingers to bend a length of wire so that it forms an oval or teardrop shape. Have the two ends cross at the top into a V-shape. The entire wire should now resemble a fish.

Add your beads. Slide your beads of choice onto each wire loop. Add only about as many will fit on the bottom edge of the teardrop. This will be about three rondelle beads.

Make a loop into your right side wire. Use your pliers to hold the right side wire. Twist it gently to form a loop. Fold the right side wire underneath the left.

Wrap both side wires into a coil. Using your fingers, wrap your right side wire around the crossing point twice. Trim off the small portion of right side wire that remains. Then, wrap your left side wire around the crossing point from top to bottom. At this point, your earring should be made up of two loops separated by a short, tight coil. Your beads will be at the free end of a much larger loop opposite a tiny, more circular one.

Hook each of your earrings onto an earwire. Use your pliers to gently open up each earwire's small circular fastener (its jump ring). Hang each of your earrings onto an open fastener by its smaller loop. Use your pliers to close the earwires back up, and you now have a finished set of handmade earrings.