May Day Earrings (We're All Ears Reveal)

May Day was the theme selected by Erin of Earrings Everyday for this month's We're All Ears Challenge. She suggested making earrings inspired by floral baskets or cones or even a Maypole. The notion of the flowers was what instantly appealed to me, though I didn't have an idea yet. It was only a couple of days ago that I realized I needed to hop on this challenge before it passed me by. And, I spent an entire afternoon struggling with designs before I finally landed on one that worked for me.

I love how the above earrings came together, but it was a long road to get there. Since I knew I was leaning in the floral direction, I began by thinking I might use tin to make some flowers. However, that seemed a little more complex than I had the time for. Instead, I decided to look through my tin bits to see if there was anything that might work a little more readily. I quickly found the sides from a Mary Engelbreit tin.

I thought that maybe I could cut it so that the yellow part would be a cone or basket with the flowers at the top. So, I tried to make a go of it.
While it is pretty cute in this picture, I couldn't help seeing it as some kind of weird ice cream cone. And, it was awfully big and kinda weird for an earring. So, I knew this wasn't the design for me and put away all my tin.

I sat and thought for a few minutes considering the inspiration. I even toyed with the idea of creating some kind of woven Maypole with kumihimo. But, then I realized that I probably had some glass flower beads in my stash that I could wrangle together into something. Sure enough, I found a small stash of them. I thought that I could use wire and twist them into some sort of bouquet that would fit into some findings to create a cone/basket. I specifically picked a pair of large antiqued brass flower bead caps because the petals were open and would work to attach a basket-handle. However, the wire-twisting was unpredictable and frustrating.
 I twisted three versions of that little bouquet before deciding that that technique just wasn't going to work. In exasperation, I considered just not participating in the challenge this month. But, I finally decided that I couldn't let some flowers get the better of me. 

There was a little bag of ball-end headpins on my bead mat. So, in a last-ditch effort, I stuck one into each of the six flowers I had for each of the earrings then stuffed the whole bunch into the flower bead cap. It looked pretty good. But, what was I going to use to hold them there? Well...I simply twisted one of the ends of a headpin under the base of the bead cap. And, it worked!!

 I pondered how they would hang for a minute or two, then grabbed a couple of long headpins and cut off the head. Simple loops were turned on each end, and the wire was curved over a marker. The loops were connected to the flower bead cap to make the basket handle.
Then, ear wires were added to complete the earrings.

I couldn't believe the solution was so simple. It was a fantastic reminder that sometimes I don't need to overthink things. 
And, the simple loveliness of these just screams of spring. 

Big thanks go out to Erin for the interesting theme. I definitely would not have come up with these beauties without her prompt. Now, head over to Earrings Everyday and check out the other designs made from the inspiration.

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13 comments:

  1. Turning the beadcaps into baskets is a really cleaver idea. Did you burr the ends of the wire to finish them?

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    1. Divya, Thanks! It wasn't the most original idea (you'll see that Michelle did the same thing), but it was a relief to finally get something to work. As for removing the burrs on the headpins, it wasn't necessary as I didn't cut the ends of the pins. They are already smooth. Great question though!

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  2. Your earrings look just like a bouquet of flowers. Well done! It is amazing how long it takes to come up with an idea and I find that it isn't until I sit down and start to create the jewelry that I can tell if the idea will work. I can see that the same thing happens to you. The tin is a good example of how once you started to make something you realized it just wasn't going to work. I am glad you got your earrings made for this challenge.

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    1. Kathy, Yay! Thank you. Yes, sometimes it just takes getting your hands on the materials to figure out the course of action. I do sketch out ideas from time to time and ponder the engineering in my head. But, it's all about letting the supplies mesh together. I'm relieved too that I was able to get something made. I seriously considered just not participating this month. And, while t hat would have been fine, I'm so glad I persisted and came up with this design! They're so cute. I'm glad you agree. Thanks again.

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  3. These are adorable! They remind me of when we would pick flowers for some of our neighbors on May Day when we were children. Perfect!

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    1. Mary, Thanks so much! I guess if that's what they remind you of, then I've done the challenge justice. I appreciate your feedback so much. :)

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  4. Oh! These are adorable! I love hearing the story of how you engineered it all. Very inspired construction, I must say! I found a little baggie of some flower beads like this but just couldn't come up with anything new but this is a fun construction that you could keep playing with! Thanks so much for playing along with me! Happy spring! Erin

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  5. I love how these turned out! The lines are so clean and crisp and the flowers make a nice burst of color. Isn't it funny how sometimes we need to make things more complicated before we find the "easy" solution? I sympathize about the tin. I have one that's been on my table for months that just hasn't found the right project yet.

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    1. Michelle, Thanks again! I don't know why I do try to over-complicate things sometimes. It's the simple designs that I prefer myself almost every time. As for the tin, I have SO MUCH of it - everywhere! So, I do try to incorporate it into loads of designs. But, I knew I was using some for a reveal tomorrow and wasn't too heartbroken to not have it work out for this challenge. Good luck with finding the right project for yours.

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  6. These are so super cute! I love them.

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    1. Aw, Ann, thank you! I'm so pleased that they finally came together in a design that just seemed so perfect. I can't believe I didn't come up with it sooner. But, it's good that I worked my way to it at long last. Thanks so much.

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  7. This is a very beautiful design, Hope! As Divya said, using large bead caps is a great idea, I have some and never used them :) Plus, the head pin arch is also a good one!

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  8. Hope,
    You did not give and perseverance prevailed. Well done!
    I love your little bouquets! They are perfect for the May Day challenge.

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