DIY Life

My bead addiction is a little out of hand. I order online, and anything that even looks halfway interesting somehow ends up in my collection. It is a little too easy just to click "Add to cart", I guess.

So I ended up with an assortment of crackle glass beads. They are two-toned, and I could never quite figure out what to do with them.

Inspiration struck last night, and I am thrilled at the way my design turned out. In fact, I made pairs of earrings with almost every color of the beads I had, just to see how they looked. My favorite pair are the ones made with the black beads, but with the right outfit, the pink and the red would be appealing too.

Join me after the break to learn how to make crackle glass earrings.



To create these crackle glass earrings, you'll need:

• 2 silver-plated headpins
• 2 earhooks
• (4) 4mm silver cones
• (6) 4mm dotted rondelles
• (2) 8mm two-toned crackle glass round beads
• (2) 6mm clear crackle glass round beads
• round nose pliers
• wire cutting pliers

The assembly is easy.

1. Thread the beads onto the headpin in the order shown in the picture.
2. Using the round nose pliers, bend the headpin about 1/4" from the top of the last bead.
3. Put the headpin through the loop on the earhook.
4. Use your round nose pliers to bend the top of the headpin into a loop, as shown in the gallery. Follow this tutorial or visit my gallery if you've never done it before.
5. You are done! Who knew crackle glass could be so elegant?