O-Ring Earrings.pdf

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O-Ring Earrings

Rubber rings paired with Swarovski crystal and silver.

by Charlene Anderson

I love to combine traditional jewelry materials,

such as silver and Swarovski crystals, with

slightly edgy materials such as the rubber

O-rings in these earrings. I had an idea of

the finished look I wanted, but the sticking

point seemed to be with attaching the

O-rings to the ends of the crystal and silver

elements. The solution came to me as I was

just drifting off to sleep one night...use craft

wire to sew through the O-rings and use

a good glue to keep the wire from pulling

through the O-rings.

Photo of finished piece by Jim Lawson; all

other photos courtesy of the author.

Resources: Fire Mountain Gems and Beads, firemountain.

com; craft wire from Michaels, michaels.com.

MATERIALS:

2 earwires (Fire Mountain #H20-1415FN)

28-gauge craft wire

2 bead tips (Fire Mountain #H20-6672FD)

2”x 2” crimp beads, 2 (Fire Mountain #H20-6257FN)

15mm rubber O-rings, 2 (Fire Mountain #8474FD)

9mm rubber O-rings, 2 (Fire Mountain #8435FD)

7mm rubber O-rings, 2 (Fire Mountain #8422FD)

4mm bicone Swarovski crystals, Tanzanite, 6

8mm bicone Swarovski crystals, Tanzanite, 2

12 spiral tube 1mm x 17.5mm sterling beads

(Fire Mountain #H20-6580MB)

SKILL LEVEL

Easy

TOOLS:

Loctite 409 Glue

Embroidery needle (sharp) with eye large

enough to thread wire through

Crimping pliers

Side cut pliers

Flat nose pliers

Round nose pliers

TECHNIQUES

Wirework

page 1

publishers of Step by Step Wire Jewelry …join the online beading community at BeadingDaily.com

O-RING EARRINGS

Cut the craft wire into six 1’

lengths. With an embroidery needle

threaded with one length of wire, sew

through one side of an O-ring from

the inside to the outside. Stop before

pulling the wire all the way through

the O-ring.

Place a dab of Loctite 409 glue in the end of the wire. Carefully pull the

wire until the end of the wire just disappears into the O-ring. The glue will be

pulled in behind the wire into the O-ring. If any glue remains on the outside

of the O-ring, carefully wipe it off. Set it aside to dry thoroughly. Repeat Steps

1-2 with the remaining O-rings and wire. Let all six pieces (three for each

earring) dry thoroughly.

On the wire that contains the

largest O-ring, thread a spiral tube,

4mm bicone, spiral tube, 4mm bicone,

and a spiral tube. The wire is a

tight fit in the tubes so carefully

feed it into the tubes little by little

with pliers. This keeps the wire from

bending back onto itself while you are

feeding it through the tube.

The second largest O-ring/wire

combination gets a spiral tube, a 4mm bicone, and another spiral tube. The smallest O-ring gets a spiral tube. Repeat

these three components for the other earring. When you have threaded all the components you will have three wires

for each earring.

Gather together the three component wires for each earring and thread

through an 8mm bicone.

page 2

publishers of Step by Step Wire Jewelry …join the online beading community at BeadingDaily.com

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

O-RING EARRINGS

Thread a bead tip on all three wires. Thread a crimp bead on all three

wires.

Making sure all the silver tubes are pulled up firmly against the 8mm

crystal, crimp the crimp bead firmly.

Step 7 Use a dab of Loctite 409 glue to make sure the crimp bead stays

secure. Set aside to dry. When the glue is thoroughly dry, clip off the excess

wire. Attach an earwire to the bead tip.

CHARLENE ANDERSON grew up in Hemet, Calif., on a

Thoroughbred horse ranch. She then lived Hawaii for 20

years before finally moving to Jackson Hole, Wyo. Being

fortunate enough to extensively travel the world, her time

exploring the cultures, architecture, and artwork in over 100

countries has given Charlene an international perspective to

design. She borrows inspiration from different cultures and

continents, and combines them in original and eclectic ways

to make it a hallmark of her work. Charlene still lives at the

base of a mountain with her imported British husband Ron,

and her Hungarian Vizsla, Arazi the Wonder Dog.

page 3

publishers of Step by Step Wire Jewelry …join the online beading community at BeadingDaily.com

Step 5

Step 6

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