Hi there this time i will show you how to make your own stain glass earrings for only 1$ a pair. This is a fairly easy tutorial but the glass cutting can be dangerous. You can get it cut from a glass maker and get it polished for the finish to be even better! This is done by my mother not me :)

Items Required:

Stain glass sample pieces (4mm thickness).
Hooks from art supply store.
Glass cutter.
Copper foil of size 7/32 , 1/4th width.
60/40 Lead free solder wire and flux.
Pencil as a burnisher.
Two pliers to break the glass.
Soldering Iron.
Copper Patina (optional).
Breadboard Wire (for the wire inside).
Painting brush.

Step 1: Preparing the Stain-glass

Diagram 1:

Take the stain glass sample pieces and decide on the shapes you need and make a stencil for a clean shape. Then use the stain glass cutter to cut the desired pattern as shown in the diagram there is also a video demonstrating this process.

Diagram 2:

The second diagram shows the shapes of the glasses cut. The patterns can be of your choice. The cut glass can be a little rough go to a glass shop to cut the entire piece and get it finished. The glass needs to be polished to get a perfect finish. the better the edges of the glass are the better the copper will stick on to the edges.

Diagram 3:

The cut glass is then wrapped by the copper strip so that the glass is evenly placed along the copper width.

Diagram 4:

One wrap is enough and the ending part should overlaps over the beginning part.

Diagram 5:

This diagram shows the final wrapped glass piece.

Diagram 6:

Press the outside edges, this step is called crimpling. The corners should be folded one over the other and burnished (pressed).

Step 2: Preparing the Joint

Diagram 1:

Take a small bit of the breadboard wire and using a wire stripper remove the metal part inside the wire. This serves as the reinforcement for the earrings and connects the hook to the earrings.

Diagram 2:

This image shows the wrapping of the wire to form a loop on one end and the other end is folded to match the stain glass shape to be soldered.

Diagram 3 & 4:

These images show the shapes of the wire to match the stain glass shape. Try to keep the length of the wire edges shorter as they may be difficult to solder.

Step 3: Soldering the Joints

Diagram 1:

This step shows the soldering procedure for the copper strips,always apply flux before soldering for the free flow of the solder. I apologize for using ordinary lead solder so please use lead-free solder cause the flux and the solder may be harmful for your health.

Diagram 2:

Applying patina is an optional one because the finish will be good but if u want a more antique look you could apply copper patina. This chemical is an acid so please handle it with caution. Wear gloves and eye protection for safety. If u get any traces soak your hands in water to remove the acid. The patina is applied using a brush. The change in the appearance is almost immediate and clean the earrings in soap water to remove the flux coating and polish with a metal sealer.