Bohemian elegance at its best! These DIY Crystal-Dipped Feather Earrings are the perfect accessory when you are looking for just a *hint* of sparkle to complete your look. The secret? Metallic nail foil that’s glued onto the feathers, giving them that gilded appearance…..
Feel free to choose any color scheme you want for your earrings. I always prefer black (who would have known!) but white really does look very ethereal, and better suited for daytime looks. Follow along below for the full tutorial!
Step 1
Gather materials. You’ll need feathers, metallic flake (gold or silver), crystal flatbacks, Gem-Tac or a crystal glue pen, 4mm crystal bicones, silver eyepins, silver bead cones, and silver earwires. You’ll also need Q-tips for spreading the glue, and a wax stick (I love the Crystal Katana tool) is super helpful for picking up and placing crystal flatbacks. You will also need roundnose pliers, flatnose pliers and wire cutters for creating the wrapped loop.
Step 2
Group feathers together in 2 pairs of 2. Keep in mind one feather will be placed on top of the other, and be cut slightly shorter. Cut the tops at a “v” angle. Mine measured about 3.25″ and 2.75″ You can make them as long or as short as you’d like! You don’t want too much bulk near the top of the feathers, so you might have to pull off a bit of the sides – this extra bulk won’t fit nicely into the bead cones.
Step 3
Using your Q-tip, spread a thin layer of glue at the top of your shorter feather. Use the other end of the Q-tip to place metallic foil on the glue, pressing down gently, to adhere flakes. Add flakes down the feather in a “v” shape, fading out the flakes near the halfway point of the feather for a “dipped” appearance. Let dry.
Step 4
Using the glue pen, place dots of glue near the top of the feather, but leaving about 0.25″ from the very top of the “v”. Place crystal flatbacks onto the glue dots with your wax stick or tweezers. I used a monochromatic mix of crystal and grey, and varied sizes as well.
Step 5
Glue the shorter feather on top of the longer feather you cut back in Step 2. Make sure to use a thin line of glue for this, and place the glue on top of the longer feather, right in the center. You don’t want too much glue oozing out! Match up the tops of both feathers for placement accuracy. Let dry.
Step 6
Take an eyepin and thread it up through the bottom of the bead cone. Place a good dollop of glue at the top “v” of the feathers. and stick into the bead cone. Let dry.
Step 7
Place a 4mm bicone on the headpin, and create a wrapped loop at top. Use the flatnose pliers to add the earwire to the loop, and repeat with the other earring, mirroring the design!
Mix it up a bit by using different colored findings – copper metal and turquoise feathers would give a super southwest-y feel, while gold metal and brown feathers would be a monochromatic match made in <crafty> heaven!
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Don’t steal them, it’s bad karma ☺.
