How to Make Cat's Eye Fiber Optic Earrings

Making your own jewelry not only releases a little pent-up creativity, but gives you truly distinct pieces of jewelry that convey your personal style to the world. Fiber optic beads, sometimes called cat's eye beads, are beautiful, glossy and make the perfect focal bead for any jewelry project. With a fiber optic bead component and a contemporary look, these enchanting earrings are sure to bring you compliments.

Things You'll Need

• Jewelry pliers
• Wire cutters
• 2 head pins
• 2 14mm fiber optic beads (any color)
• 2 fish hook ear wires
• 2 1-1/4 inch round earring hoops
• 2 3mm jump rings

Instructions

1. Thread the head pins through each of the fiber optic beads. Leave a centimeter of the head pin sticking out of the top of the bead, but use the wire cutters to snip off any extra length of the head pin.

2. Bend that extra centimeter of head pin over on itself, using jewelry pliers, so that it forms a loop. Pinch the loop closed, also using the jewelry pliers. Repeat process with the second fiber optic bead and head pin.

3. Twist the 3mm jump rings, using jewelry pliers, so that they open enough to hook onto the loops you made with the head pins at the top of your fiber optic beads.

4. Connect the 1-1/4 inch earring hoops to the fiber optic beads via the open jump rings. When you've got both the fiber optic beads and the earring hoops on the jump rings, pinch the jump rings closed with the pliers.

5. Open the loops at the bottom of both fish hook ear wires, using the pliers. Open just enough so that you can hang the earring hoops on them. Pinch the loops of the fish hook ear wires closed.

6. Look over your project. Your fiber optic beads should be dangling from the centers of your earring hoops, just as they are in the picture.

Tips & Warnings

• Use pliers made specifically for jewelry for this project. Regular pliers, even needle-nose ones, are usually too big and cumbersome to make working with small components easy.

• After you've used the wire cutters to trim the extra length from the head pin, collect that little snipped off bit and throw it away so that you don't step on it later!

Resources

• Buy catseye beads from Beading Fantastic.