feather earrings

i have made lots and lots of feather earrings. this is a pretty basic design that is easy to make.

i have gotten most of my feathers at places like the dollar store, and yard sales. i find that more natural feathers are harder to find. obviously the feathers i used here are not natural colours, but pink was requested, so pink it is!!

other stuff like the earring hooks and decorative lacing i used here are pretty standard craft store fare. the wire is “floral wire” - it’s thin and pretty easy to work with.

as i said, pink was requested, so i chose nice bright pink feathers to start, and added a large white feather to give it some volume. the little pink lacing is also something i had around, and thought it made a nice touch.

i start out by trimming the feathers to the length i want them - in this case some were bigger than others, but i want the earrings to be the same size, so i took off some stem to make them even. then i arrange them how i want them to hang - so in this case with the white feather in the back, the pink in the front, and the lacing alongside that.

then i start with the wire. i always use a double loop for the earring hook (thin wire is easier to work with, but i want the extra strength).

next, lay the loop alongside the feather arrangement. the wire should be short (maybe 1 cm) on one side of the loop, and looooong on the other.

you have to make sure you are squeezing the feathers and things nice and tight at the top so they don’t slip around, and they stay in the arrangement you have set up. then starting about 1 cm down from the top of the feather stems, wind the wire tightly around the feathers to hold them securely in place.

continue winding the wire tightly all the way up to the top of the stems, and a bit beyond that.

clip off the end of the wire, and wind it in nice and close.

the last step is attaching the hooks.

the part that loops onto the earring will open up, and allow the earring to slip on. then you can use pliers to turn the hook so that the feather arrangement faces out when you wear them.

and there you are! a lovely pair of earrings!