DIY Feather Earrings for Making a Statement

Is there anything more dramatic than feathers? The rich colors, organic patterns, the delicate softness. Swoon. With the holidays here, I was looking to switch out my summer, Terrazzo earrings and kept seeing feather statement pieces popping up. But I could never quite find the metal finish or feathers I liked, so on to the projects list it went!

I’m so in love with how these turned out! My sister thinks they look Madewell-esque with the brass, and I have to agree. She keeps asking me to make them as holiday gifts, so anyone out there looking for ideas, give these a try.

You’ll Need
gel super glue
brass blanks, 4 per pair or ribbon crimps, 2 per pair
earrings findings
feathers!

Alrighty. So the hardest part of this DIY was finding the supplies. I hit the jackpot with this Etsy shop that has a huge assortment of brass findings at really affordable prices. The brass blanks were thinner than I expected, but that ended up being perfect for layering! The shipping is pricey and took about 2 weeks as they are based in Tukey, but that just made me want to sneak more items into my cart.

For feathers, you’re best bet is Etsy if you’re looking for a specific kind. I highly encourage getting feathers that have been gathered and not harvested. Gathered means someone picked up the loose, shed feathers while harvest is, well, you can imagine.

I burned through a lot of feathers and brass blanks figuring out the best way to make the earrings work and managed to make two pairs! Unfortunately, a lot of testing meant superglue on my hands, so there aren’t any process pictures, so feel free to ask questions in the comments 🙂 .

1. Arrange your feathers on a brass blank. It helps to do the set at the same time so you can see how well the pair matches.
2. Trim away any of the softer, down parts of the feather and the stem, leaving as much as possible to glue to the blanks. Trimming the down keeps the glue from traveling to the rest of the feather.
3. Re-arrange back on a blank, keeping the jump ring hole clear. Apply gel superglue to another blank and sandwich over the feathers and base blank.
4. Press and hold for 30 seconds, making sure not to shift the pieces.
5. Flip over, and if the base blank is loose, glue down as well.

Tip: Gel super glue is the way to go. Liquid shifts the layered blanks, takes longer to set, and leaks out on to the feathers.

6. Once dry, attach the rest of your earrings findings and you’re done! A super simple DIY with high drama for the holidays.

My favorite part of the guinea fowl feather pair is that my ears can now match puppy’s 😂. He’s so patient for photos.