I feel like I am pretending to be experimental archaeologist for this post! The inspiration for this tutorial happens to be a TierraCast pair of earrings as you can see in the promotional brochure below (also on their website).  The in-house designer did a fabulous job in coming up with a unique pair of tassel earrings. Was it Tracy Gonzales?  If so, brava! [Update : I heard back from TierraCast - the designer is Kierston Aiello!)

Boho tassel earrings are all the rage. They are colorful and fun!

There are several unique features - the two tier style with a wire wrapped loop and circling beads and the tassel part which is made with TierraCast's wonderful crimpable cord ends - their Marrakesh collection. For retail quantities check here. As with all TierraCast's collections, the findings come in all sorts of finishes - antiqued silver, gold, copper and brass. 



I received these antiqued brass pair from TierraCast for review.  I decided to see if I could replicate the design and in the process learn about how to make a proper pair of tassel earrings. This is akin to what experimental archaeologists do to find out how people used to make things. 

Instead of the wire wrapped metal hoops, I used a pair of my super lightweight wood hoops. 

You do not need to use anything special to make tassels. A simple DIY cardboard version will work too. I just grabbed my hairpin crochet lace tool to use.  My mother gave me a whole bunch of her embroidery floss so that was what I used.  


Snipping is a breeze when you have a vague U shape to use.  I place a scrap piece of wire to keep the floss bits together - a just in case action.


A knitting needle became the mandrel to help me tie bunches of floss with some Fireline. 


I tied up another bundle and attached it to the first. I continued in this fashion until I thought I had enough for the crimp ends. 



I used the Fireline to gather the bundles as shown below :


I checked to make sure that the bundles do fit the crimp ends. 


I did try wrapping a contrasting colored floss around the wood ring but I still preferred TierraCast's wire wrapped beads idea. 


This is the fun part!  I used the fine tooth end of a comb to separate out the floss strands. Hold on tight to the bundled top while you are doing this so you avoid accidentally combing out strands. The tassel on the right looks so much better than the uncombed one on the left. 


I used Starbond Medium glue. I added a drop inside the crimp end.  Had to work very quickly to stuff the tassel inside the components! 

Use Code BGSB15 at checkout to save 15% amount on your Starbond glue purchase. Or purchase the Medium from Amazon.


I didn't quite make one side even. So I tried using Starbond's glue remover to loosen the grip enough for me to reposition the tassel on that side. The glue remover comes with an in-built brush so I just carefully dabbed inside that end of the crimp. 


Next the hair cut!  I just used one of my wood pendants as the form to help guide me in the trimming process. 

I laid the finished one on top of the untrimmed one to get the second side done. 


I used my small pinch bails instead of jump rings to connect to the ear wires.  If you don't like such long earrings, just have the crimped tassel earrings by themselves!

Notice there are dark areas in the blue embroidery floss nearest the crimp ends?  I added drops of glue to secure the floss and really like the slight ombre effect. 




Photography I used  my iPhone 8+ for final product photography in natural light. I used the Orangemonkie studio which comes equipped with LED lights - for artificial light photography in my windowless basement studio for the tutorial shots. The Foldio2 Plus is excellent . I use the Foldio3 because I need the room for tutorial photography.  

My online class Easy Guide to Smartphone Jewelry Photography is now available. Read more about it here.  

Before You Go:

Disclosure 
 
This blog may contain affiliate links. I do receive a small fee for any products purchased through affiliate links. This goes towards the support of this blog and to provide resource information to readers. The opinions expressed are solely my own. They would be the same whether or not I receive any compensation. 
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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM