DIYU: How To Make Dangle Earrings from Soda Can

Hi, I'm Claire and I make simple, everyday jewelry out of copper. You can find my work, and my blog showing work in progress, on my website - Embergrass.com. I also keep a blog called Create>Pixelate where I explain some of the technical side of selling and marketing online.

I'm so excited to be here at DIY University because (as you may have guessed) I love helping people to learn new things and sharing my knowledge.

In this post I'm going to teach you how to make a really simple pair of earrings, made from a recycled can.

You will need:

• Empty drinks can
• Metal shears (scissors will do but metal shears are much easier)
• Metal hole punch (1/16" or smaller)
• Pliers
• Sharpie
• 2 Jumprings
• 2 Earwires

You can find all the tools and the earring components online, from sites such as Fusion Beads. You should  also be able to find the components (and maybe some of the tools) in a local bead shop.

STEP 1:

Cut off the top and bottom of the can, so you are left with a nice sheet of metal.

STEP 2:

Use the Sharpie to mark out the shapes you want for your earrings. I've used 2 different sizes of triangle for a very simple design but you can use any shape that you can successfully cut out! Think about the design already printed on the can, you might want to use specific areas for your shapes.

STEP 3:

Cut your shapes out of the metal sheet. If they have any sharp corners, snip off the tips so they aren't pointy enough to stab you.

STEP 4:

Clean the pen marks off the metal with some nail polish remover. Or use the Sharpie to colour in the pieces completely... or to draw patterns or designs on it. Get as creative as you like!

STEP 5:

Use the metal hole punch to punch holes in your shapes where you want them to be connected together. I punched the top and bottom of the small triangle and the top of the big triangle.

STEP 6:

Use the pliers to hold the jumpring while you push the other side away with your finger (if the jumpring is tough, you may need 2 pairs of pliers for this). Slide the jumpring through the holes you punched to connect the pieces together.

STEP 7:

Do the same with the bottom of the earwires and connect them to the metal pieces... and that's it! You probably have lots more metal left just from 1 can so have fun trying other shapes and ideas!

As you can all imagine, I am tickled to pieces to have Claire joining us and sharing this creative reuse for soda cans! This is actually something I've been wanting to try since I saw it similarly done with antique tin cans in a boutique of Santa Fe. I love that she encourages us to get creative by even coloring in the metal with sharpie markers- you can seal with a spray or mod podge to keep from smearing off! 

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