DIY Leather Earrings

Earlier this week I shared a little tutorial with you on how to paint leather. I used those painted leather pieces to create some really easy DIY earrings that you can make in about 10 minutes. I actually used a pair of my favorite earrings as a guide {and I'm sharing the template with you} and think that I love this really lightweight pair even more than my old favorites. 

I have a great pair of triple teardrop earrings that are this fun tarnished gold color. They work with my fairly basic neutral wardrobe so I tend to grab this pair time and time again. They aren't too big, but they aren't too little. They have some color, but not too much. They have texture but aren't distracting. In an effort to recreate them to give me more options, I decided to make a few pairs out of leather and I'm showing you how to do it as well.

I started by tracing the teardrops onto a piece of cardstock with a pencil. I cut the tear drops out of the paper and used the paper as my template. I'm sharing the template with you. Click this link to download it. {for personal use only}

If you remember, this is the pile of leather that I bought at a garage sale a few months ago. I keep coming up with projects for it {like these key chains}, but before I could keep creating, I wanted to see if I could change the color of the leather since the light color of it wasn't my favorite.

I found that the best way to paint the leather was to paint the rough side and dab at it rather than brush it on. For more tips, see this post.

I actually had some leather left over from this vintage leather passport cover project. I save all my scraps if they are larger than a postage stamp. You just never know if you can use them or not. I also used silver and bronze paint for the medium size tear drop.

You will also need a small 1/16" hole punch and earring hooks. The oval jump rings are optional.  I actually constructed the earrings two different ways to see which way worked better. I think it may come down to personal preference. I will let you know how they both hold up over time though.

I cut my three different pieces out of leather and stacked them. I used my hole punch and was shocked that it worked through all three layers. This is not thick leather. It may be a different story if you have thick leather, but I didn't, so no special tools were needed.

I actually decided to not triple layer these earrings after I hole punched them. The leather I used is around 100 years old and while it's super awesome and buttery, it's also a little brittle. Once I started constructing it, the hole tore open on the small piece. It was just too small.

I inserted my jump ring through the hole and connected the earring hook and viola, had myself some earrings!

Option two requires a little bit of sewing. Not to worry, it's not too difficult. It's literally just a stitch up and down.

I found that if I punched a hole in just the biggest tear drop, that that worked best. Do that first and then layer your pieces and sew all three together. I used a regular needle and found it difficult to go through all three layers at once, so I just did one layer at a time and that worked. You just want to make sure you pull it tight as you sew and do an up and down, up and down and then knot it securely in the back of the earring.  Attach your earring hook {no oval jump ring needed on this method} and you are done.

I really love how they turned out. You can make these with scrap leather or purchase a small piece of leather. You can find them at most craft stores now. Since you can paint the leather, you don't need multiple colored pieces, which is great because then your materials go further.

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