The blog is back! Huzzah! Thank you so much to everyone for your patience during my embarrassing technical hiccup. You are the best, readers!
Moving on; today I’ve got a very special St. Patty’s Day project for you. I know, not the most glamorous of holidays, but it’s a big deal here in the Boston area and it would feel weird to skip it.
Everyone who went to school in the US knows you’ve got to wear green on March 17th to avoid getting pinched. (I couldn’t find any information on the origins of the pinching—anyone?)
This year, I’m arming myself in my very own DIY color block triangle earrings in shades of mint and teal—so much more stylish than a dollar-store green plastic top hat (though admittedly less absurd).
What I love about these earrings:
A) Brassy triangles. You know how I love me some brass and copper.
B) Not shamrocks – wearable anytime of the year.
C) Easy to make, yet impressive looking (in my only-slightly-biased opinion).
D) Did I mention they’re brassy triangles?
What You Need:
- embroidery floss
- 20mm gauge wire
- earring findings
- clear-drying craft glue, like Tacky Glue
- needle-nose pliers
- wire cutters
- embroidery scissors
- clothespins or paperclips (optional)
What You Do:
First I’ll walk you through making the earrings themselves.
Cut two lengths of wire about 7″ each.
Fold the ends of the wires towards each other to form a triangle shape, leaving “tails” at the top. The easiest way to make the triangles the same size is to hold and bend both wires at the same time during this step (easy to do since the wire is so thin).
Twist the tail ends together a few times (3 should do it) to secure the triangle.
Trim the end of one tail, leaving the other sticking straight up.
Form a small loop with the remaining tail, and thread the earring finding onto the loop.
Tightly close the loop and trim the excess wire.
Next, on to the color. This part was tricky to photograph (gluey fingers and fancy cameras just don’t mix), so let me know if anything is confusing!
Cut a piece of embroidery floss roughly the length of your arm. Starting on one side of the triangle, apply a dab of glue to the thread, leaving a 1″ tail, and wrap the thread around the wire 3 or 4 times. Using your finger, smear the glue along the wrap and wipe away the excess. Hold here for a few minutes until it’s dry enough to stay in place.
Put on some good music (The Chieftans if you want to stay Irishy), and continue wrapping the thread tightly around the wire until you’ve reached the other side. Keep the coils tight and close together so that no gaps are visible. If you need to take a break, clip the last coil in place with a clothespin or paperclip.
When you’re about 2 coils away from the end, add a dab of glue, wrap 2 or 3 more times, and smear the glue over those last coils as before.
Once the glue has dried enough to stay in place, trim the ends of the threads as close as you can. If some threads are sticking up at the end, you can use a mini smear of glue to secure them.
Repeat the steps above with a second color thread. This round will be much easier since the thread can’t slide around on the wire. Go ahead and get started on the second earring while the first is drying.
And that’s it! I know that seems like a lot of steps, but it’s very easy to do, promise. And look how pretty! Totally worth getting glue on your fingers.
Do you have any plans for St. Patrick’s Day? I’ll be making a vegan shepherd’s pie and green cupcakes for dinner with Alan’s (Irish! from Ireland!) family on Saturday. And hopefully not getting pinched by his nephews and nieces.
Its happening—I’m off to Germany!
