Faux Leather Earrings

These earrings were an experiment at first. I wanted to work with a different material instead of cardstock and vinyl which is normally what I work with. I looked through other material I had stashed away. The Cricut paper-thin leather had been sitting around for such a long time so I pulled it out and tried it. I had fun making the earring I bought more leather on Amazon and made more.

The first package of leather I ordered had to go back. It smelled like fish even after airing it out and keeping baking soda right beside it. The second round I bought was great. I had no problems with it and it came super fast. Make sure you read the reviews to see what other people think and if they have used it for making earrings. Some of the reviews I saw said the leather wasn't the greatest for making earrings. 

For the fishhook earring hooks, the jump rings, earring backings and pliers you can get them on Amazon or Michael's there are probably more places online. I already had the jewelry pliers from ages ago. I make my own necklaces and bracelets from time to time. 

The earring cards were made from a template I found and just played with it till I was happy and used the Cricut to cut the kraft cardstock which I got at Michael's. You can buy them already cut out and you just have to add the earrings and anything else you want to them for example name or logo or anything like that.

Materials

• Faux leather sheets - from Amazon
• Fishhook earring hook pieces - Amazon & already had
• Posts/studs for earring pieces - already had
• Metal and plastic earring backings - Amazon & already had 
• Jump rings - Amazon & already had
• Jewelry pliers - two pairs or something to help hold the jump ring when needed
• Fabric glue - to attach the leather to the stud piece
• Cricut Design Space - tablet, phone or computer
• Cricut Maker 
• Deep point blade or rotary blade - depending on leather thickness
• Cricut spatula 
• Pink fabric mat or purple heave mat
• Leather punch - If you have one. If the hole for the earring doesn't cut through all the way or if you use cutouts from other earrings to create a hole
• Earring cards - made by me or you can purchase them 
• Brayer or anything to flatten the leather on the mat

Assembly

Adding to design space & sizing the earrings

1. Open Cricut Design Space and search for earring templates, there are so many options.*
2. Add the earrings you want to work with can be one or two different options or as many as you like. 
3. Now adjust the size of the earring. Between the fishhook and the leather, I did approximately 2.5 inches but play around until you get the size you want.

Adding leather to the mat

1. Place the leather on the pink fabric mat or purple heavy mat.
2. Take the brayer and run it over the leather to help adhere it to the mat.**

Cutting the leather

1. Make sure Cricut is turned on.
2. Load the mat into the machine.
3. Click "make it" at the top.
4. Set your machine to faux leather. This is where it can get a little tricky. You may have to play with the pressure a little because it depends on the leather. 
5. Place the proper blade into the machine either the deep point or rotary blade. This depends on the setting you are using. 
6. Once that's all set up "click go" and hit the flashing button and let it go.
7. When the cut is done peel the earrings off the mat. 

If you are using cutouts from earrings and need to add a hole, the leather punch comes in. Not everyone has a leather punch so I won't go into that now. I will create a separate post later for that. I will add a link when it's done.

Adding the jump rings & fishhook earrings piece

1. Take the jewelry pliers and separate the ends of the jump ring if needed. 
2. Once apart, thread the jump ring onto the hole at the top of the earring.
3. Then take the fishhook earring hook and thread that onto the jump ring also.
4. Then close the jump ring back up with the pliers. 
5. Adjust the leather, Jump ring or fishhook earring hook if needed. 
6. Repeat for the second earring or as many times as needed.

Adding earrings to the earring card

1. Slip the earring into the hole of the card.
2. Then flip it over and slide the plastic/rubber backing onto the fishhook earring piece.
3. Repeat as needed.

This was such a fun project and I enjoyed making them. I haven't sold any at the shows I had, but that's okay. I will keep putting them out in hopes someone will buy them. There are so many combinations of shapes, colours and other materials you can use!

Notes

*You can also buy templates from sites such as Etsy, Design Bundles and others.

**You can also use masking tape or painter's tape around the edges to help hold it down.

If you want to purchase, have any questions or comments pop a comment in the box below. I would love to hear from you!