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Welcome! It’s Day 1 of our Jewelry Around the World Promotion, and we’re so excited to share all of these DIY jewelry projects with you. You’ll be sure to find these Indian-inspired DIY Earrings by Divya N to be beautifully inspiring. We can’t wait to adorn our ears with these pretty earrings!
When people think of Indian jewelry it is gold jewelry that often comes to their mind because India has a rich, long multifarious tradition when it comes to creating with gold. Inspired by India’s love of gold and expertise in granulation as a method of Jewelry making, I am going to recreate a pair of traditional south Indian gold studs and Jhumka earrings using contemporary materials in this post.
Jhumka or Jhimki is a version of the ancient Indian ear ornament called “Karnaphool” which means the flower adorning the ear. These upside down, basket or dome shaped tassels are said to be inspired by the seed pods or real flower buds worn by mythical damsels. Ancient jewelers then accentuated the domes with filigree, granulation work, enameling, or pearl dangles adding to their beauty. These domes could be wide, narrow, elongated, heavy, or light and suit almost any face shape.
Conventional Jhumkas are made of either gold or silver, but contemporary designers make them out of everything from wood, glass, paper, and clay, or make lightweight jhumkas out of fabric. They are one of the very few designs/pieces in Indian jewelry that are not region (location) bound, but have a pan Indian and even global appeal. No wonder Indian women love them and have a few in their wardrobes to suit their moods and looks!
Indian women pair them up with not just ethnic attire, but also with evening wear like gowns. If you feel that the Jhumkas are too elaborate, then you can wear only the stud and still make a great fashion statement. These DIY earrings require almost no jewelry making skills and can be made in a few hours time.
Materials:
- 1″ round 4 holed gold sequins – 2
- 3mm antique gold round beads -44
- 5mm antique gold beads – 2
- Gold tone, stud base – 1 pair
- 3mm Quilling strips – 24 strips
- Quilling tool
- 4mm antique gold half beads -32
- 2mm topaz rhinestone chain
- Gold tone headpins – 2
- Gold tone flower beadcaps – 2
- Gold paint, copper paint & brush
- Mod Podge Matt or Glossy
- Liquid fusion glue
- Quilling doming template or wooden doming block (optional)
- Tools: Round nose pliers, wire cutters, scissors
India-Inspired DIY Earrings
Method:
Make the Stud
1. Apply liquid fusion glue to a sequins and glue the 5mm antique bead in the center. Glue 2mm beads in two rows all around it making sure that one of the 4 holes of the sequins is left uncovered. Wait for it to dry.
2. Glue the stud base at center back and wait for it to dry. Your stud is now ready, and can be worn as is. They will make a great statement when paired with anything from a simple white shirt to a dressy evening gown.
Make the Domes
1. Take one strip of quilling paper through the edge of your quilling tool and rotate it making a tight spiral. When you come to the end of one strip, glue another one to it and continue. Alternatively, you can glue 12 of your quilling strips together, making one long length of paper before you begin.
2. Keep joining strips and spiraling until you use up the 12 strips of paper. You can make the dome smaller by reducing the number of strips to 10 if required. The color of the quilling strips does not matter as we are going to paint over them. I prefer to pick lighter colors when I want a bright gold finish and darker colors when I want an antique finish. But you can reduce this step by directly using metallic gold colored strips.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to make another spiral. Make sure that they are both of the same size
4. Press the spiral over a quilling dome template or into a gap of the doming block to get the dome shape. If you don’t have neither you can simply press the spiral with your fingers into a dome.
5. Apply Modpodge inside the dome and let it dry. Once dried flip over and coat the outside with Modpodge. This helps the Jhumka retain its shape.
6. Paint all over the dome (inside and outside) with gold paint, distressing with a little copper. You can use silver, bronze, or any other metallic color paint if you are not too fond of gold. Let it dry.
7. Poke an eyepin through the center hole of your Jhumka. This will help you hold the dome as you do the following steps. Glue the half beads to the bottom rim of the dome.
8. Apply another coat of Modpodge all over the dome (inside and outside). The half beads I have used are coated acrylic so I sealed them too, but if you use metallic findings, then do no seal them with Modpodge and glue them only after sealing. Let it dry.
9. Glue a row of topaz rhinestones next to the beads. Let it dry.
10. Add a bead cap to the eyepin and form a loop with your pliers. Cut excess wire.
To Complete the Jhumka loop the dome through the free hole in your disc. Alternatively, you can use a jump ring to connect the loop to the hole, thereby wearing the earrings in two different ways, with or without the dome by simply opening and closing the jump ring. Your statement earrings are now complete.
What will you pair these gorgeous gold earrings with? Tell us in the comments!
Plus, don’t forget to share your jewelry making skills with #jewelryaroundtheworld!
Keep up with Jewelry Around the World and see our other jewelry tutorials here!
Divya N
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