I love sterling silver! And sterling silver and gemstones are like a match made in heaven. Sterling silver can be quite spendy, but with these thin sterling silver blanks, you can make a pair of sterling silver earrings quite affordably. I have paired these sterling silver hoops with African jade and peridot for an earthy green look. See how easy they are to make below!
All the supplies for this project.
Materials:
- 3mm peridot round beads
Editor’s note: Peridot is often unavailable. Here are some other small green gemstone bead ideas — BC-Style Jade, 3 & 4mm dyed Jade, and 3mm green electroplated hematine beads - 4mm African jade round beads
- Sterling silver ball end earring wires
- 4mm sterling silver jump rings
- Ball end sterling silver head pins
- 3.3mm sterling silver daisy spacers
- Sterling silver hammered donut blanks
Tools and Supplies Needed:
- Liver of sulfur
- Polishing pads
- Metal hole punch
- Basic tool kit
- Plastic Bowl or Container
- Rubber Gloves
Now Follow These Easy Steps Below!
Place ten peridot beads onto ten sterling silver head pins.
Add ten sterling silver daisy spacers on top of the peridot.
Then layer on the African jade beads.
Use your round nose pliers to make a wrapped loop on the sterling silver head pins.
Repeat this step on all ten head pins.
Use your wire cutters to clip the excess wire end on the head pins.
Cut all the excess wire from the wrapped head pins. Also, use your chain nose pliers to pinch down any sharp tail left after cutting the wire.
Using a permanent marker, mark five evenly spaced dots on the bottom of the sterling silver donuts.
Using the metal hole punch, place holes where all the permanent marker dots were.
Collect all the items for the earrings. The punched sterling donuts, the wrapped gemstone links, the sterling silver jump rings, and the sterling silver earring wires.
Mix a small amount of liver of sulfur with hot tap water in a plastic container, then dip all the pieces into the liver of sulfur bath. Allow the pieces to oxidize in the solution until the silver turns black. Avoid touching the solution to your skin.
Using rubber gloves, remove the pieces from the liver of sulfur and rinse them with water. Use the polishing pads to remove patina from the raised areas. The patina will stay in the crevices, making the pattern really pop.
Polish all the pieces, including the jump rings, beaded head pins and earring wires.
Assemble the links to the sterling silver donuts with the jump rings using your chain nose pliers.
Add the earring wires to the top hole of the earrings.
Assemble all the elements to finish the earrings!
Completed earrings! Easy Breezy Sterling Silver Earrings!
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