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DIY drop earrings made with clay in a gem theme
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DIY Dangle Earrings

Learn how to make easy drop earrings out of clay! No knowledge of jewelry making required.
Prep Time15 minutes
Active Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 1 pair of earrings
Cost: $5

Equipment

Materials

  • Polymer clay in white
  • Embossing powder Copper and Gold, or colors of your choice
  • Embossing ink
  • Eye pins
  • Earring posts
  • Jump rings
  • E-6000

Instructions

  • Knead your polymer clay until pliable with your hands, and press into the mold to make gems in the shape that you like. Chill the polymer clay in the fridge while still in the mold to handle it better, about 20 minutes. Make two sets of each shape (a top and bottom).
    Polymer clay pressed into a silicone mold
  • Cut off the excess clay with an X-Acto knife or box cutter.
    Trimming clay off of a gem shape with a craft knife
  • Attach an eye pin on the sides where you want your shapes to connect using bent-nose jewelry pliers. Make sure the clay is still chilled before you do this step will prevent the gems from deforming.
    Bake your clay according to the package's directions.
    Eye pin attached to a polymer clay gem and a pair of bent nose jewelry pliers
  • After it cools, press about half of the gem (the side without the eye pin) in an embossing ink pad as shown in the photo.
    Clay earring pressed into embossing ink
  • Next, dip it into your copper embossing powder and tap the excess out. Using your heat gun, melt the embossing powder until it's shiny and flat (it takes about 1-2 minutes).
    Adding embossing powder to clay gem shapes
  • Do the same with the rest of the white parts, except this time dip it into the gold embossing powder. Brush off the powder in the areas where you don't want the gold in (like the majority of the copper areas).
    Dipping the other half of the clay into the embossing powder
  • Coat the backs of the gems that will dangle down.
    Since the back of the gems with the ear post won't be seen (they'll be pressed into your ears), I skipped coating it in embossing powder. You may choose to do it.
    Melted copper and gold embossing powder on gem shapes
  • After embossing your gems, attach an earring post on the back of the top earring piece using some E-6000 glue.
    Earring post glued to the back of a clay gem shape
  • Finally, attach both of the pieces with a jump ring and jewelry pliers.
    Attaching the top and bottom of the earring with a small jump ring

Notes

You have the option of coating the back as well with embossing powder, but I only did the back of the teardrops for mine.