DIY 101: Simple Post Earrings

     This weekend I decided to do a quick and easy project that I think is a great gateway craft for beginning DIY-ers. It's basically a method for taking any cute little thing you find -- novelty buttons, beads, what have you -- and turning it into a pair of earrings. It's ridiculously easy and cheap, but so many people don't realize how simple it is to make your own earrings (I know, I have a pair of earrings made from pink elephant novelty buttons that people used to ALWAYS ask me about, and when I told them I made them myself they looked at me like sorcery was involved). 

     Here's all I did: took some cutting pliers and snipped the loop off the top of these two bow charms. If you're using buttons that have a loop on the back, you can easily do the same to snip the loop off. If you're feeling like a perfectionist, you can take a file to it to get the back really super even. I didn't bother trying to file the edges on these bows because A) they're tiny, so there's really no reason to worry over every tiny detail, B) I didn't feel like it. Hey, I'm just being honest with you.

     I also decided to paint them gold, because although I like this finish sometimes, it wasn't what I wanted here. 

     Then I just mixed up some epoxy on a piece of foil using a toothpick...

     Then popped a generous glob of it onto the back of my bows...
 

     And dropped the earring post into the epoxy. 

     Then scooted it around until it wouldn't be visible from the front, and let it dry for a good long while. Then...ta-da!

     So easy, and you can really take this basic method and throw some imagination at it to make practically anything into a pair of earrings.