I’ve often said before that one of the best things about making paper quilling earrings is that you can make it to exactly match your outfit!  I have a great example of that today.

A few weeks ago we were shopping and bought matching plaid shirts for our daughters.  They were going to wear it when we went visiting some friends, so Svara immediately asked me to make her some earrings that matched.  I asked her what kind she wanted and she said she wanted a square that had strips of paper across it to match the plaid design of the shirt.

So this is what I came up with!  It sort of looks like a little 3D basket.Sh

I don’t have a full photo tutorial for you for these, but I’ll tell you how to make them so you can still give it a try!

Supplies You Need (for one pair of earrings):

• 2 strips of paper 12″ long (if you make a smaller or larger square you may need a shorter or longer strip of paper) – I used cosmic pink in 1/8″ (3mm) width.
• 12 strips of paper 2″ long – whichever colors you’d like.  I used 4 each of black, cosmic pink, and periwinkle.  I used all 1/8″ (3mm) width.
• glue (My favorite is PPA which you can find at Custom Quilling, or here on Amazon)
• Border Buddy by Quilled Creations (you can find it at Custom Quilling and on Amazon)
• sealant for making your earrings water resistant (click here to read more about different sealants)
• medium and small jump rings (I use a 5mm diameter jump ring to attach to the earring design and then a 3-4mm jump ring to attach that to the earring hook).
• Screw back clip on earring findings or other earwires of choice.

*note* If you don’t have a border buddy, but you still want to make today’s earrings, no problem!  Click here to read all about how to make the shapes without a border buddy.

Instructions:

• This design is quite simple once you follow a few good tips for using the Border Buddy.  If you haven’t already, check out my first post on tips for using the Border Buddy!  You will be wrapping each of the strips around a certain layer on the Border Buddy.  If you have numbered the layers on your Border Buddy, it will be easier to keep track of which layer you are on.  My number 1 layer is the biggest layer.   Make sure as you are wrapping, you apply glue all around the border as you go, to keep a nice sturdy triangle shape.  Just be sure to wrap very carefully so the edges line up or you’ll end up with the edges looking uneven.  I apply glue to two sides at a time to make it a bit quicker.
• Wrap each 12″ strip around level 5 of the square Border Buddy.  Let it dry completely so it is sturdy enough for the wrapping steps.
• Now you will glue your strips on one by one.  What I did was I glued on the two pink strips first, wrapping them all the way around the front and back of the square.  One horizontal and one vertical.  Then I did both periwinkle blue strips, and finally both black strips.  I did a little bit of weaving with them, but it’s not necessary.  I just thought it added to the plaid look of it.
•  I worked on both pairs at the same time to make sure that I put the strips in the same place, did the weaving in the same place, etc.  So I put on one pink on each, then the other pink on each, etc. It gives one a chance to dry while working on the other as well.
• When you are finished with the design, attach a couple jump rings and your earring hook as desired.  Here I used screw back clip on earring findings as I do for all of my daughters’ earrings.  If you or others like to use clip on earrings but find them painful, try this style!  Svara can’t stand wearing the usual clip on earrings, but these are MUCH more comfortable because you can adjust how tight they are.

• Now it’s time to make your earrings sturdy and water resistant!  Click here to read the many posts I have about sealing your quilled jewelry.  For this pair what I did was use Ceramcoat sealer  first.  I painted it on and then let these hang to dry. Then, to make them extra water resistant I paint with a topcoat.  You can use 3D Crystal Lacquer, Diamond Glaze, PPA Gloss, PPA Matte, Crystal Coat Glaze, and others.

hope you enjoyed this pattern, let me know what you think!

• Click here to view more free paper quilling tutorials!
• Click here to view paper quilling tips and tricks!
• Click here to view a list of places to buy quilling supplies around the world!
• Click here to view some of my own quilling projects, with tips so you can make your own if you’d like!

*All products and supplies mentioned in this post I purchased and/or made on my own.

*This post contains some affiliate links, and some non affiliate links.  If you purchase products through the affiliate links I get a small percentage (at no extra cost to you!).  I only link to products that I believe in and/or love to use myself.  Thank you for supporting my blog!