And so it begins...

While I was contemplating what to make for my by-hand project, I wanted it to be something that I could use. Up until now, the majority of things I've made have only been things that I can set somewhere and look at. This time around, I wanted to branch out and make something that had both an aesthetic value and a use. So I decided upon making earrings. I love collecting earrings, especially unique, hand-made ones. My favorites earrings are the ones that I've purchased from street vendors in Toronto and from global gift shops. This project gives me the chance to make my own unique creations and display them in my everyday dress.

I had researched jewelry making online and found out what tools I would need in order to make the kind of earrings I wanted. So tonight, I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up what I needed to get started. That included:

- A set of different pliers and wire cutters











-Fish hook earrings and head pins










-An assortment of beads











After trying out a few different bead arrangements and struggling to figure out how to securely connect the head pin to the fish hook, I finally succeeded in making my first pair of earrings =).












Now that I've figured out the basic method behind making dangling earrings, my next step is to continue to find beads that catch my eye and incorporate them into new designs for other earrings. I'm excited to see where this project takes me and can't wait to have even more pairs of unique, hand-made earrings =).