Introduction: Embellished Chain Dangle Earrings

About: I'm a craft dabbler. I wish I could say I've mastered something but my attention only stays on one type of craft for so long before I'm onto the next thing. Mainly I've been making costumes for conventions in …

This instructable is a little more incomplete than I might usually do as I was rushed tonight to finish them in time for tomorrow!

It will give a good idea of how to go about creating most of the elements that went into this earring and allow you to create a similar pair.

For these earrings you will need:
Copper wire and Green craft wire in 20 gauge
2 seed beads
8 silver-lined cube beads
4 jump rings large enough to put the cube beads on (I made mine with pliers)
6 equal lengths of chain (I used bar chain by the foot bought online at Beadaholique)

You will only "need" pliers to bend the wire, cutters for the wire, a file, and hammer/anvil for tools... but a Wig Jig is certainly useful. And a rubber mallet can be nice so you don't risk marring the wire when you are just hardening it.

Step 1: Make the Connectors

These entire earrings are based around the first piece, a sort-of clover-shaped wire connector.

If you have a wire jig, put the pegs in as shown and make two.

If you aren't so lucky, carefully bend with pliers until you get a similar shape. And then do another as close as possible. You could also make an improvised wire jig with a board and some nails.

Use your anvil/flat surface and mallet or hammer to harden the connector shape and make it nice and flat.

Step 2: Make the Ear Wires

I made custom ear wires for these.

Measure out 2 inches of copper 20 gauge wire. File the ends so they are not sharp. Bend on the wire jig as shown. Form the tail into a spiral, starting with a loop at the end and twisting towards the ear section.

Do this again for the second earring wire.

Using your flat surface/anvil and mallet/hammer again, harden the wire. Make sure the end put through the ear is still nice and rounded and file again if necessary.

Bend the end out slightly so you can slide a cube bead onto each earring and then gently bend it back into shape. Sorry, no pictures for this, but the end result shows it pretty clearly.

Step 3: Make the Custom Head Pins

I wanted a bead to hang just beyond the chain and have a bit of sparkle beneath it. The easiest way to do this was to make my own "head pins".

Measure out two, 1-inch sections of the 20 gauge copper wire.

With the flat surface/anvil and hammer, flatten one end of both pieces of wire.

Step 4: Add Beads to the Head Pins

Slide a seed bead onto the head pin followed by a cube bead. Close it with a simple loop. (there are many places out there that show how if you don't know)

Step 5: Put It All Together

Attach your sections of chain to the connector piece as shown (one on the left, one in the middle, one on the right).

Figure out which earring will be LEFT and which earring will be RIGHT. From now on, you need to keep track of this or you may end up with earrings that are not mirror images of each other!

You want mirror images when making earrings and not "copy-pasted" images.

Attach earring hooks to each earring by opening the top loop of your connectors.

Using the jump rings, attach the cube beads to links in the chain. Again, keep track and make your earrings mirror images of each other. So in these earrings, the left earring has a bead on the last link, no beads on the middle dangle, and a bead on the first link. The right earring goes first link, none, last link. Mirror image, not copy-paste.

Finally attach the decorated head pins to the middle dangle and you've completed the earrings!