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Thursday, October 1, 2009

Candy Corn Riot Earrings

These fun funky earrings are made with real candy corn!

I love the smell of candy corn! It's the smell of autumn for me. I got the idea to try this 15 years ago, and I still have the original pair. They are quick and easy to make, but you'll need several hours to condition the candy corn. Here's what you'll need to make these earrings:
  • Candy Corn (about $1.50 for a bag)
  • 1 Spool of 24 Gauge Wire , any color (about $1.30 for 17 yds)
  • 1 Pair of Earring Wires (about $1.30 for 6 pair)
  • Tacky Glue (about $2.50 for 4oz)
  • Assorted Beads
  • Any Kind of Acrylic Spray Sealer (about $2.50)
  • Small Wooden Skewer
Joanns has the next three tools for $20 in a pack
  • Needle Nose Pliers
  • Round Nose Pliers, the Wooden Skewer can be used in place of these
  • Wire Cutters, or Old Craft Scissors
1 Place several candy corns on a newspaper and in a well ventilated area spray them lightly with sealer. Let dry completely. Turn the candy corn over and repeat. Turn and repeat. Turn and repeat...You get the idea. You'll want to coat each side ten or more times. If you try to spray a heavy coat of sealer, the colors will run, so patience is key.

2 Cut about 2 inches of wire for each piece of candy corn. Fold about one third of the wire over the wooden skewer. Use the long end to wrap around the short end, keeping the short piece as straight as possible. What you end up with looks something like a screw with eye at the top.

3 Put a drop of Tacky Glue on the end of the eye screw and screw it gently into the top of the candy corn. You may also want to put a tiny drop of glue where the eye meets the candy corn. Let dry overnight, if you can. You should be able to give the wire a gentle tug and have no movement.

4 Now comes the fun part! Cut a three inch length of wire. Make a loop around the skewer not quite in the middle and don't twist it. Choose an accent bead and slide it on the wire. Now make a loop on the other side of the bead.

5 Slide the candy corn onto one of the loops and holding the loop with needle nose pliers, twist the straight end between the loop and the bead. Twist at least twice, then cut off the what's left sticking out.

6 Cut five 5 or 6 inch wire pieces. Choose one accent bead per wire. Thread one wire at a time through the loop below the bead. Slide the bead on and give the wire one complete twist so it won't work itself out of the loop.

7 Holding the wire on the bead side close to the pointy end of the skewer, wrap the wire around the point to make a coil. Slide it off and repeat with the other end of the wire. I repeated this with three different colored beads on the loop.

8 Slide the untwisted loop onto the loop of an earring wire and holding the untwisted loop with needle nose pliers wrap the end around to close it. add two more beaded wires and wrap the ends on the skewer point. The coiled wires can be arranged any way you like for maximum bling.





8 comments:

  1. LOVE these earrings! I'd never be able to make them, because I have an uncontrollable desire to eat candy corn. The smell alone is enough to send me into a frenzy!

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  2. These are super cute! Great tutorial.

    Cheers,
    Madge

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  3. "Maximum bling"
    That's my mom, ya'll!

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  4. would diamond work instead of spray? These look like a lot of fun!

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  5. These earrings are so much fun!!! love them!

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  6. These are so cute!
    I never really thought to use real candy corn.
    I have seen people use real gummy bears though.
    Thanks for the tutorial!!

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  7. Diamond glaze might make the colors run. My first try was dipping them in Mod Podge and it was a runny mess! you might be able to use a heavier glaze after spraying them several times. Let me know if it works!

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