DIY Fruit Earrings

What are your favorite things about summer? I have a long list, but it includes drippy ice cream cones, overflowing gardens, late night sunsets, and all the fresh fruit. I decided I needed to memorialize something from summer that I could wear all year round, acting as a little reminder of those blissful summer months. My solution? DIY Fruit earrings! Little beaded gems reminiscent of apples, oranges, and pineapples!

In punchy colors, these are the perfect touch to an outfit that just needs a little something. Inspired by some sold-out earrings J.Crew created a few months ago, this is a simple DIY that will guarantee a mood boost on a dreary day.

Assembly Instructions:

1. Cut a long string of thread (about 24” long). 
2. String one seed bead onto the thread, and when it’s about 3” from the end, loop the thread back through the bead so it stays in place. Tie a knot around the bead and leave a tail. This bead will be the end of your string and will keep the other beads from sliding away.
3. String more seed beads onto thread. You’ll need about 12-18″ of beads to wrap around the wood bead.
4. After stringing 12-18” of beads onto your string, loop the thread back through the last bead (like you did with the first one) to steady the beads and keep them from sliding around. 
5. Place the tail of the beaded thread and a metal head pin through the wood bead so that the beaded part of the thread sits just at the bottom of the wooden bead and the metal end of the headpin extends at the top of the bead. Secure the head pin and string of beads with glue. 
6. Beginning at the base of the wood bead, apply some jewelry glue to the bead and wrap the string of seed beads around the entire bead, applying more glue as you go.
7. When you get to the top of the bead, make sure all the beads are secured with glue. Remove any excess beads from the thread and loop it through the last bead, then tie a knot. Glue this bead down and trim the excess thread.
8. For the leaves, thread 6 green beads onto some fishing twine. Tie the two ends together tightly, to make a small loop of beads. Do the same thing with 3 green beads.
9. Place a dot of glue on the top of the covered bead, at the base of the headpin. Slide the loop of 6 green beads onto the headpin, so it sits atop the seed covered bead. Place another dot of glue on top of the 6 green beads and slide on the loop of 3 green beads.
10. Slide a fish hook earring wire onto the headpin. With pliers, bend the head pin into a small loop and twist to ensure that the earring hook won’t slip out.
11. Repeat for the other earring.

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