How to Make Bead Earrings With Real Peacock Feathers
If you love jewelry that includes natural elements in the designs, try creating a pair of beaded earrings adorned with real peacock feathers. For this technique you can use any kind of feather or even fake feathers. Using real feathers does not harm the peacock--the males drop their colorful feathers in autumn, leaving behind the beauty for you to use in your jewelry designs.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- 2 real peacock feathers
- Scissors
- 20-gauge wire
- Wire cutters
- Round-nose pliers
- Beads
- Earring hooks
Instructions
-
-
1
Buy some real peacock feathers, either at a store or from an online supplier. Real peacock feathers are generally inexpensive. Gather the colors of the beads that you want: Consider green, blue and gold, the colors found in a peacock feather. Choose a few metal spacer beads and get some gold-plated, 20-gauge wire and gold-plated earring hooks to match.
-
2
Trim the fringe around the "teardrop" shape in the center of the peacock feather (this step is optional if you are already pleased with the look of the feather or you like the long fringe sticking out around the center). Trim the stem of the feather so you have about one inch of stem left below the "eye."
-
-
3
Cut at least 6 inches of wire with your wire cutters, to make sure you will have enough for wrapping. Start coiling the wire tightly around the stem close to the eye of the feather and make your way up to the end. You may need to double back and make two layers of wire wrap to make sure it is secure and your feather will not slide off.
-
4
Start feeding your beads onto the wire when you've reached the end of the stem. Create a pattern with the different colors of beads and include metal spacer beads to add more interest to the design. Hold the feather up to your ear to see how long it is. You don't want the earrings so long they are lying on your shoulders. Consider that you will be adding length with the earring hook.
-
5
Cut the wire about a half-inch from the last bead when you are done beading. Create a bend in the wire right above the last bead. Grip the end of the wire with your round-nose pliers and start turning the wire in the opposite direction of the first bend. Slip the loop at the bottom of the earring hook on and close the loop. Repeat steps 2 through 5 to make the other earring; make it match the first one as closely as you can. Your peacock earrings will then be ready to wear.
-
1
