Leather isn’t just for furniture and T-Bird jackets. Oh no, we’re using leather in all sorts of fashion DIYs, from purses to lamps to jewelry. Some might say we’re obsessed :) Remember this kit from a few months back? That’s right, we’re giving you four more ways to make leather jewelry, specifically earrings! So run down to your local furniture store to pick up some leather samples, or better yet, pick up your own Leather Jewelry Kit, and get ready to make some leather statement earrings that are sure to be your new faves.
Materials:
– pieces of leather (we used black, white and gray)
– ear wire
– jump rings
(Or get it all in our Leather Jewelry Kit)
Tools:
– X-ACTO knife
– awl
– gold paint pen
– ruler
– cutting mat
– flat-nose pliers
Chevron Stacked Earrings
Everyone will be asking where you got these.
Instructions:
- Measure a 1-inch square of leather and cut it out.
- Draw a chevron design that touches every side of the square and cut it out.
- Use the cut chevron piece as a template to trace and cut out two more chevrons in different colors.
- Using the gold paint pen, color the white chevron.
- Lay out your design, lining up three chevrons in a row. Punch holes in the tops of the chevrons and the bottom arches of the chevrons (except for the chevron that’s at the bottom of the earring) using your awl.
- Twist open a jump ring, and slide it through the bottom chevron’s hole and the middle chevron’s bottom hole, and close it.
- Open another jump ring and slide it through the top hole of the middle chevron and the bottom hole of the top chevron, and close it.
- Take the ear wire, open the the ring and slide it through the hole in the top chevron. Then close it.
- Repeat these steps for the other earring.
Take the white piece of leather, trace a one-inch square and cut it out. This will help you determine the size of each chevron.
Find the midpoint at the top of the square, and draw diagonal lines from that point to the midpoint of each side of the square. From the bottom corners of the square, draw diagonal lines that are parallel to the diagonal lines at the top. They should meet at the midpoint to create a chevron shape. Cut out your piece with an X-ACTO knife.
Once you’ve got the perfect chevron piece, this will serve as the template for the rest of the chevron pieces you need to make.
Trace the chevron piece onto the other two leather pieces, and cut them out. You will need three pieces per earring.
Take the gold paint pen and color the front of the white chevron piece to add a little bling.
Put your chevrons in the order you want them to hang. Make holes in the tops and bottoms of your chevrons, except for the bottom pieces, which will only have one hole punched in the top.
Line up the chevron pieces in the order you punched them, and begin opening and adding the jump rings. When you get to the top, add the ear wire instead of a jump ring.
Once you’ve completed one earring, you can copy the exact steps for the second one. Then you are ready to rock these stunners on a night out!
Geometric Triangle Earrings
You’re going to be shocked at how easy these are to make.
Instructions:
- Cut a triangle shape out of the black leather.
- Draw a geometric print on the front of the leather triangle using your paint pen.
- Punch a hole through the top of the triangle with the awl.
- Open the hoop on the ear wire, slide it through the hole and close it.
Cut out a triangle any size you want. Trace the triangle on another piece of leather to make the second earring.
Create a geometric design on the front side of the earring. We went for converging lines going in opposite directions.
Punch a hole at the top of the triangle with the awl, and loop an ear wire through the hole.
THAT’S IT! So simple, right?
Diamond Stacked Earrings
Because diamonds are a girl’s best friend.
Instructions:
- Cut a piece of gray leather that is 2 x 3 inches.
- Find the midpoint at the top of the short side, mark a quarter inch to the right and left of this point and cut diagonal lines from these points to two inches down the long sides.
- From the end of the diagonal lines on the long sides, cut short diagonal lines to the midpoint of the bottom short side.
- Take the finished piece (it will be the largest piece of your earring), and trace it onto the white piece of leather. The top diagonal lines will be the same angle, but they need to be incrementally shorter for your middle piece and your top piece. The bottom diagonal lines will be more horizontal for each piece.
- Paint the white piece of leather with the gold paint pen and let it dry.
- Stack all three pieces with the tops aligned and punch a hole in the top with the awl, puncturing all three pieces.
- Open up a jump ring, loop it through the stack and close it.
- Open up a second jump ring, loop it through the first jump ring and close it.
- Take the ear wire, open the ring and loop it through the second jump ring. Close it and you’re done!
Measure and cut out a piece of the gray leather that is 2 x 3 inches.
Find the midpoint at the top of the short side, mark a quarter inch to the right and left of this point and cut diagonal lines from these points to two inches down the long sides. From the end of the diagonal lines on the long sides, cut short diagonal lines to the midpoint of the bottom short side.
That was a lot of measurements! Really, this whole part is up to you. You can skip the measurements if you want, and simply draw what you think looks good. Just remember, this will be the piece used to trace the other pieces of leather.
Take the finished piece (it will be the largest piece of your earring), and trace it onto the white piece of leather. The top diagonal lines will be the same angle, but they need to be incrementally shorter for your middle piece and your top piece. The bottom diagonal lines will be more horizontal for each piece.
Color the front side of the white piece with the gold paint pen.
At this point, take each cut piece and trace it to make pieces for your second earring.
Stack each piece on top of each other from biggest to smallest, and punch a hole with the awl at the top center of the stacked pieces.
Open up a jump ring, loop it through the hole of the stacked pieces and close it. Add another jump ring to the first jump ring and close it — this will help the earrings hang nicely when you wear them! Last step is to add the ear wire to the second jump ring and close it up.
These will go with any of the clothes in your closet… or any new clothes you want to pick up.
Fringe Stacked Earrings
Fringe, leather *and* gold?! Count us in.
Instructions:
- Draw an organic teardrop shape on the gray leather piece (this is the bottom piece of the earring).
- Trace the gray teardrop piece onto the white leather, and use this as a guide to create your second piece, which should be smaller (like the diamond stacked earrings).
- Paint the white leather piece with gold paint pen and let it dry.
- Trace the gold teardrop piece onto the black leather, and follow the same instructions as Step 2, making the black piece a little smaller.
- Take each teardrop piece and cut strips about halfway up with the X-ACTO knife to create fringe.
- Stack all three pieces (biggest on bottom, smallest on top), and line them up at the top. Punch a hole with the awl through the top of the stack.
- Open a jump ring and loop it through the holes and close it.
- Open up another jump ring, slide it through the first jump ring and close it.
- Add the ear wire to the second jump ring to complete your earring.
Draw a teardrop shape on the gray piece of leather and cut it out — this is going to be on the bottom of the stack. The look is totally up to you, no measurements necessary! Keep in mind that this is going to be the biggest piece. Trace the gray piece on the white piece of leather to make sure the tops of the earrings are the same size, then draw this teardrop so that it is smaller than the gray one.
Color the white teardrop shape with the gold paint pen to add a little sparkle.
Trace the gold piece onto the black piece of leather, and draw a smaller version like you did in the previous step. At this point, trace each piece on the same color leather to create your second earring.
It’s fringe time! Cut thin lines in the bottom of each teardrop to create fun fringe-tastic pieces.
Stack the teardrops aligning the tops, and then punch a hole through all three using the awl.
Open up a jump ring, loop it through the hole you just punched in the stack of earrings and close it. Take a second jump ring and loop it through the first. This will help the earrings hang the right way. Open the ring of the ear wire, loop it through the second jump ring and close it up.
Totally channeling our inner free spirit with these fringe beauties!
Prepare yourself — you’re about to receive a lot of compliments on these earrings.
Mix and match earrings? We think yes.
Are you as wild about leather as we are? Let us know in the comments below and share your leather-earring DIYs with us using the hashtag #iamcreative.
