The Crafters' Way 87 - Tie Earrings

Here is this week's Messenger article.

Make a Pair of Earrings

By now you are all aware of my love of repurposing everyday items into new creations. In this column I’m going to show you how you can turn an old polyester tie into a pair of earrings.
You will need: the aforementioned tie, a soldering iron, a jump ring, and pair of hooks and a 20 cent piece.

A couple of words of caution before we begin, your husband’s soldering iron isn’t going to be suitable unless it has a very fine tip. Polyester is flammable so this activity is NOT suitable for children. You also need to work in a well ventilated area.

Step 1: Turn on your soldering iron. Mine takes a few minutes to heat up. Cut 2 pieces of your tie, approx 10cm square. Place one piece right side face down. Place the other piece on top right side facing up.

Step 2: Place the 20 cent piece onto the tie. Experiment with placement for best use of design. Press down on the coin to hold steady. Trace around the outside edge with heated soldering iron. Take care not to burn your fingers.

Step 3: The tie discs should pop out easily. There may be a few rough edges, carefully run the tip of the soldering iron around the edge of the disc till smooth.

Step 4: Using the tip of the soldering iron burn a small hole near the top of each disc. The hole needs to be big enough for your jump ring.

Step 5: Open out your jump ring, insert through the earring hole, add the hook and close the jump ring.

You now have your own pair of designer earrings. Just a quick note about soldering irons. Mine is a craft soldering iron, I purchased it at a discount department store in North Lakes. It came with 7 different attachments. It was also reasonably priced. If you’d like more information please contact me.

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