Introduction: DIY Jem and the Holograms Earrings
Truly, truly, truly outrageous. If you grew up in the 80's, most likely you know and love Jem and the Holograms. The cartoon series that starred Jerrica and her secret rockstar identity Jem. Along with her bandmates, The Holograms and Synergy a holographic computer designed to be the ultimate audio/visual entertainment synthesizer. As you can see, the cartoon was nothing short of amazing.
There is a movie coming out, but from the look of it, it doesn't do much to honor the 80's series, or it's creator Christy Marx. In my opinion it's truly a missed opportunity for an outrageous, synthed out, near future movie with great fashion, music and kick-ass females. However, it has sparked an interest in Jem again and have reminded my generation just how cool the color pink can be. So, as a small homage I have created Jem's star earrings that blink and twinkle when pressed.
Using glitter glue and store-bought LED earrings, these are very quick and easy to make. The batteries in the earrings can be replaced, so they will last a long time. To activate a flashing effect, twist the earring backs. Or, press on one to get a momentary flash (as you say "showtime synergy", of course).
Step 1: Gather Materials
☆ [2] LED earrings : buy 2, they are not sold in pairs. Many other kinds of LED earrings can be found on Amazon too.
☆ Crayola glitter pens : 1 red and 1 pink
☆ Red glitter glue sticks : 4 will be enough for 1 pair of earrings
☆ Printer
☆ Heat gun (optional)
Step 2: Print and Prep Earring Template
Download the attached image file and print out the earring template. If you want them larger or smaller, you can scale the stars in the printer preview.
Tear off a piece of parchment paper that is a little bigger than the earring images. Tape each edge, smoothing it down as you go.
Attachments
Step 3: Glitter Glue!
Plug in your glue gun, load a red sparkly glue stick and wait for it to warm up.
Each earring can take up to 1 whole mini glue stick, so keep extra around in case you need to pop one in as you go.
Step 4: Trace and Fill
When the glue gun is ready, start tracing the star shapes. I did a combo of tracing the outer line and filling in the middle. Let it sit for a second and fill in any gaps to make the top surface as even as possible. It's ok to go out of the lines, the shape will be cleaned up later.
When dry, if the top still looks uneven, hit it with a heat gun on low heat and it will melt the top and smooth it out.
Step 5: Peel and Cut
When the glue is dry, peel the stars off the parchment paper. To sharpen the outline of the stars cut the star shapes from the template and tape one on the back of each star. Check to see if they are mirrored.
Grab the straight blade and start cutting around the template. Peel off when done and check out the new clean shape!
Step 6: Glue on Clips
Think about which way you want the star to hang on the ear and place the clip accordingly. Glue all around the base without covering the seam where it comes unscrewed. Place and glue the second clip to match.
Step 7: More Glitter Glue!
Now for the finishing touches.
The glitter hot glue is pretty, but it's a little dull and not quite as sparkly as it could be. This is easily fixed with a glitter glue pen. Cover the whole top face to make it brighter and more colorful. I used pink in the middle and outlined each earring with red. After they dry, you are done! Twist them on, grab a mic and sing out!
I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and my campy GIF.
Participated in the
Halloween Props Contest 2015
