A few days ago my brother presented me with a challenge. He found these two beautiful peacock feathers in the yard of a friend and asked me to make them in to earrings that he could give as a Christmas gift. I have made quite a few pairs of earrings in the past, but none of them involved feathers. I must say that I am please with how easy these were to make! Here is a little tutorial so that you can make some too.
Here are the supplies I used:
Pictured is a crimp tool (standard size), extra beads, scissors, crimps, earring hooks and feathers. I also used a small pair of rounded pliers, but forgot to place them in the picture. If you don’t have access to feathers around your home they are available for purchase all over the internets–even dyed ones.
This is a close up of the crimps that I used. They were very easy to work with and have a place to attach the earring hooks. I found them at my local Michael’s craft store.
The first thing I did was trim the feathers a bit. This picture shows how much I was left with after the first trim.
Next, I stripped the feather pieces that I did not need from the stem. Just strip it until you are left with a width that you like. Once this was done I was able to add my beads directly to the stem of the feather. I had a bit of difficulty at first and just worked with the stem a bit using my pliers until the beads were able to fit nicely on it.
Once the beads were in place I trimmed the stem down more until only about 1/4″ was left above the beads.
Now for those crimps. Here the picture shows the crimp in place, but not secured. This is just to give you an idea of the size and how it should fit.
Just one more step!
Once the crimp is attached all there is left to do is open up the bottom of the earring hook and stick it on!
There you have it–the final product. You can trim the ends or wear them as is.
Let me know what you think! I am also more than happy to answer any additional questions.
Send a picture my way of yours. I would love to see them.
Such a good idea! And saves money too!
Thanks! You’re so right- There are many options and ways to save!
These are awesome! I have an abundance of peacock feathers and have been looking for a way to use them. Thanks!
Thank you! I’m glad you like them. Enjoy your new earrings!
These are just beautiful & you did a wonderful job … loving the feathers they are so pretty. Picked out some perfect feathers.
Thank you so much!
What a great tutorial! I’ve been wanting some feather earrings and may have to raid my husband’s fly tying supplies for some really cool ones! Thanks for posting!
So beautiful! i love it very much, thanks for sharing.
Thanks! I’m glad you liked the tutorial! Sounds like you have a great place to find supplies.
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Really pretty earring… lately i’m into making feather earrings too, but I must say peacock feathers are the most beautiful ones…
Thank you! I love them as well.
Thanks for posting the pictures. My daugther wants to tackle this project and we are both visual learners so it was very insightful. Can you tell me the two sizes of beads you chose to use?
way better than the diy videos i found on http://www.youtube.com . do you know of a good way to keep these feather earrings safe when you’re not wearing thme? they’re kind of ruined if you get them wet or bent. thanks
So glad that you found the tutorial helpful! I have not done a lot of experimenting as far as keeping them from getting wet or bent. You could try using a waterproof spray sealer. There are some pretty good ones out there that shouldn’t mess with the colors of the feathers. Hope that helps some!
Superb! Glad I found this site.