How to Make Leather Earrings

These earrings are super simple, easy to make and can make a great gift!

Pre cut leather earrings, tracing paper, a spring divider, a wool dauber, a backgrounding stamp, a swivel knife, a tracing stylus, some leather dye, resoline, paintbrushes, earing design templates, leather finish balm, a hammer and earring hardwear.

To start making the earrings you need to first choose a pattern to transfer it onto the leather. Once you have the pattern of your choice, take tracing paper and place it over the top of your pattern. Now trace the pattern onto the tracing paper. Wet the earrings with water and place the tracing paper over the top. Use a tracing stylus to indent the pattern onto the leather. Take the swivel knife and deepen the lines in the leather. Now take the spring divider and trace an edge onto the leather. Finally use the swivel knife to deepen the lines.

Now that we've finished with the transfering we need to start backgrounding. Dampen the leather then use your backgrounding stamp to create a slant around the outside of your pattern. Do this for the outside edge as well.

This step is optional. The Resolene will keep the spots where you apply it lighter when you dye the leather. Again, wet the leather. Take your Resolene and carefully apply it to the part of the pattern that you wish to remain lighter. Let it dry completely. Apply multiple coats as needed. I prefer to apply around 3 coats. The pattern will have a sheen to it when you are finished.

Now that we've finished applying the Resolene, the next step is to dye the leather. Take your leather dye and apply it to the earrings smoothly with a paint brush. Let it sit undisturbed until completely dry.

Now for the finishing! Take your leather finish (I use Fiebing's Leather Balm with Atom Wax) and apply it to the earrings, scrubbing them with a wood dauber until the extra dye is gone. Wipe the earring off until dry to the touch. Add more finish and let it dry for a little while. Then take a tissue or paper towel and polish the earrings until they start to shine.

Time to add the hardware! Take the earring hardware and bend the loop open on both of them. Then slip the loop into the hole on the earings. Now the earrings are done!

Now you have a beautiful handcrafted set of leather earrings which would make a meaningful gift for someone you love! I hope this instructable was helpful and you had fun making this project!