Whimsy Bird Earrings

by Ali on 08/18/11

Additional Images:

Project details:

These earrings are part of a series of earrings I have put together called "Non-Identical Twins". In this series, I explore how to make earrings match or go together without having to be identical. The birds in these earrings are captured in different moments within their day. One earring shows the bird dancing on the branch, while the other shows the bird sitting on her nest. Each earring dances on the ear with little surprises like the twirls of wire and sparkle of crystal, or the ribbon that turns into the branch.

↓ Step-by-step

↓ Buy the supplies

Supplies you’ll need:

2 Kylie Parry Ceramic Copper Patina Birds
2 Vintaj Naturall Brass Willow Branches
27 Crystal Faceted Rondelles 4mm
2' Rusty Bucket Hand-dyed Silk Ribbon
1 Beach Stone Pebble
3 3" head pins
2 ear wires
11 1" head pins
2 Czech Glass Bellflowers
3 Vintaj Natural Brass Etched Jump Ring 9.5mm
13 Vintaj Natural Brass Jump Ring 4mm

Helpful Hints:

Step 1

The ribbon can be made to look like a tattered branch by knotting it all the way down.

Step 2

I made a nest under the bird out of ribbon by "stitching" my headpin through the ribbon, zigzagging about 8mm apart. Then I put the bird on the headpin squishing the ribbon down into a nest.

Step 3

To balance the branch that the bird is sitting on, I made sure to have something weighting down each end. I used the bellflower to introduce some color and added sparkle with a few crystals hiding in and around the flower. On the opposing end, I created a twirling branch made from a headpin with crystal, stitched ribbon, and a few jump rings.

Step 4

To make the twirly headpins, string the beads you want onto a 3" headpin. Create your wire wrapping loop as you normally would, but instead of trimming off the remaining wire, coil it around your round pliers or a tiny straw or tiny stick. Voila, instant whimsy!

See Tip: Wire Wrap a Charm