Recycled Valentine's Day Earrings Tutorial
Here's a tutorial for making a very unique and special pair of earrings from a recycled box of chocolates. I received a box of Lindt chocolates as a gift and fell in love with the lettering and pictures. On a whim, I created image transfers from it and was pleasantly surprised at how great the transfers came out. Since I used clear recycled packaging for the base, I also made transfers for the back of the earrings so that they would be opaque. If you're not sure how to make image transfers, I have a very easy tutorial here. These earrings also make great Valentine's day presents for your friends.
Materials:
- Clear Plastic Packaging
- Image transfers from a box of chocolates
- Image transfers from gold-colored packaging (for the back of the earrings)
- Clear adhesive
- Earring wires
- Jump rings
Tools:
- Scissors
- Small hole punch
- Circle punches (optional- you can also trace and cut out a circle from plastic)
- Bent Nose pliers
- Round Nose pliers
Instructions
Step 1. Use circle punches to punch out 4 circles out of recycled clear plastic packaging. Make 2 of them slightly smaller. If you don't have circle punches, trace and cut out the circles.
Step 2. Glue the plastic circles to the rough side of the transfers. Press firmly to get out bubbles and set aside to dry.
Step 3. Cut out the circles and glue the gold-colored transfers to the other side. This will make your earrings opaque since both sides of the plastic will be covered. If you want your earring to be transparent you can skip this step. Once you glue the circles to the transfer, set aside to dry.
Step 4. Cut out the circles and use the small hole punch to make the holes on the circles. Make 2 for each of the small circles for the top and bottom. On the larger circles make a hole at the top.
Step 5. Connect the small circle to the ear wires using a jump ring. Use another jump ring to connect the larger circle to the bottom of the smaller one. You are now ready to wear or gift your Valentine's day inspired earrings!!!
Other Ideas
I made these other pieces with the same box of chocolates. I used beads with golden tones to accent the chocolaty color of the truffles. These pieces are very lightweight, fun to wear and easy to make.