Lend Me Your Ear: How to Make Leather (Statement) Earrings

Want to make leather earrings? Here’s how!

I’m always up for a little DIY statement jewelry over here. So today I’m sharing these large leather earrings (each pair is at least 3-4 inches long, so they make an impact) that you can make yourself in about 15 minutes. Bonus! They’re lightweight too, so they won’t weigh down your earlobes.

Don’t have pierced ears? No worries! You can still rock this look with one simple adjustment. Click through for the tutorial.

Materials

• small sheet of leather (8.5 x 11 or smaller is fine) or leather scraps*
• earring posts and backs or clip on earring backs
• jump rings
• sharp blade
• needle nose pliers
• leather hole punch
• super glue

*The leather I used has a rough texture, is a medium thickness, and is super lightweight. It almost looks like cork, which could potentially be another unique material to use if you can’t find any leather that will work. But I bought my leather on Amazon (here), so you can order it online super easily if you can’t find it at your local craft store.

It’s the same one I used for the leather cabinet pulls project and the DIY statement tassels. So if you have any leather leftover, you could tackle one of those projects with the scraps.

How to Make Leather Earrings

1. Begin by cutting out a variety of shapes from the leather. You can use wooden blocks or any other household items as a silhouette to trace onto the leather. Or create your own, freehand.

2. Once your shape is traced, cut it out using a sharp blade (or scissors for the straight lines).

3. Next, use a leather hole punch to create a hole for the jump ring to go through on every shape you’ve created (the smallest hole punch option is probably the best fit for this step). Then attach the two pieces together with the jump ring and close it back up to keep it secure, using the needle nose pliers to open and close the jump rings. Just FYI – In attaching the two leather pieces, I found that some designs required a larger jump ring than others to hold both pieces. So keep that in mind.

4. The final step is to attach the earring posts to the back of the earrings using super glue and wait for them to fully dry before using. It’s best to select a glue that works for bonding multiple surfaces – in this case leather bonding to metal. 

Don’t have pierced ears? You can just as easily make these earrings clips on, by attaching a piece like this to the back instead.

Want more DIY jewelry inspiration?

• Love these DIY wood earrings with cute faces.
• My most popular DIY earrings are made of polymer clay. And there’s a bunch of different techniques for making different patterns for that one too.
• This DIY beaded necklace is an oldie but goodie. I LOVE the beads we used for this one.
• And last but not least….my favorite piece of jewelry I’ve made… hand necklace!

DIY Leather Earrings (Statement Jewelry)

Brittni

I'm always up for a little DIY statement jewelry over here. So today I'm sharing these large leather earrings (each pair is at least 3-4 inches long, so they make an impact) that you can make yourself in about 15 minutes. Bonus! They're lightweight too, so they won't weigh down your earlobes. Don't have pierced ears? No worries! You can still rock this look with one simple adjustment. Click through for the tutorial.

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Ingredients

  

• small sheet of leather 8.5 x 11 or smaller is fine or leather scraps*
• earring posts and backs or clip on earring backs
• jump rings
• sharp blade
• needle nose pliers
• leather hole punch
• super glue

Instructions

 

• Begin by cutting out a variety of shapes from the leather. You can use wooden blocks or any other household items as a silhouette to trace onto the leather. Or create your own, freehand.
• Once your shape is traced, cut it out using a sharp blade (or scissors for the straight lines).
• Next, use a leather hole punch to create a hole for the jump ring to go through on every shape you've created (the smallest hole punch option is probably the best fit for this step). Then attach the two pieces together with the jump ring and close it back up to keep it secure, using the needle nose pliers to open and close the jump rings. Just FYI - In attaching the two leather pieces, I found that some designs required a larger jump ring than others to hold both pieces. So keep that in mind.
• The final step is to attach the earring posts to the back of the earrings using super glue and wait for them to fully dry before using. It's best to select a glue that works for bonding multiple surfaces - in this case leather bonding to metal.
• Don't have pierced ears? You can just as easily make these earrings clips on, by attaching a piece like this to the back instead.

Did you make this?Mention @paperandstitch or tag #paperandstitch!

Photography Amelia Lawrence

I think my fave pair are the ones with squares and circles. But which ones do you like best? Spot a favorite that you would wear?