Squiggle Gear Earring Design

I give pointers about making gift earrings on Beading Daily today, so I thought I'd whip up a pair of funky Steampunky-style wire earrings inspired by the work in Denise Peck's new book, 101 Wire Earrings.

Here's how I made them:

Materials
2' of bronze 20-gauge wire
4' of brass 26-gauge wire
4 ~10mm watch gears in gold and silver (beadbury.com)
2 gold 2" eye pins

Tools
Wire cutters
Round-nose pliers
Chain-nose pliers
Metal file


1) Cut the 20-gauge wire in half. Form a wrapped loop at one end of one wire.


2) Use chain-nose pliers to form a U-shaped bend 3/8" from the bottom of the coiling.


3) Slide on 2 watch gears (one gold, one silver).


4) Coil the working wire around the first bit of wrapping.


5) Cut the 26-gauge wire in half. Messily coil the wire around the 20-gauge coiling.

6) Use the widest portion of round-nose pliers to bend an eye pin 1/3 of the way down from the loop; file the end of the wire smooth. Connect the dangle.

7) Repeat all for the second earring.

What do you think? I think there will be no gifting with these babies...I'm keeping these for myself!