Thursday, January 12, 2012

Polish Earrings

Hi everyone! I mentioned in a previous post that I had been making nail polish earrings for my friends as Christmas gifts. A few of you expressed that you were interested in learning more about the process and seeing some of the stuff that I made. Unfortunately, I have already given away most of the pairs that I had made (since I made them as gifts, and all).

However, I did manage to scrape up a few pictures that I took during the process, so I can at least show you those if I can't show you every pair of earrings that I made! I will also (verbosely) discuss the process later on in the post, so stick around!

I would like to thank Rebecca and Laurie for helping teach me most of this information!


So, what you see above are six pairs of finished earrings. Since I know you are curious, here are the polishes I used to make each pair.

Starting with the black and green pair at the top and working clockwise:
  1. NYX Enchanted Forest and black
  2. Wet N Wild Tangled In My Web and OPI Ogre the Top Blue
  3. Black, Zoya Cola, OPI Legs Celebrate
  4. Lynnderella Gotta Love Brains and China Glaze Sea Spray
  5. Wet N Wild Diamond in the Rough
  6. Lynnderella Connect the Dots and Color Club Poptastic
Here is another pair of finished earrings... UNICORN PUKE! Okay, technically it's Clairvoyant. But I'm calling it Unicorn Puke 4EVA. Four coats, I think...



And a close up, cause I can...


I also made some nice earrings using stamping, but I don't have any photos of that, unfortunately.

To make your own polish jewelry, you will need hardware. Whether you're making pendants, rings, or earrings, there are two basic pieces you will need. One is the little glass bead on top, called the cabochon, and the other is the metal piece, called a backing, finding, tray or blank.

I bought my earrings at CandyTiles, which was nice, because the cabochons ("cabs") came in a package with the blanks. That was particularly nice because I knew that the cabs would definitely fit in the blanks. If you purchase from eBay or some other place and get the pieces separately, make sure that the size of the cab is the same as the size of the blank. These are 12mm each.

Once you get your hardware, you can start creating! Your designs are going to be painted on the flat part of the cabochon (the back). Start by painting the layer that you want to end up on top.

LET IT DRY. I know it is easy to get impatient with these because they are so exciting! But trust me, I learned the hard way! Go do some crunches or something while you wait!

Continue adding your layers until you are satisfied with the completed product. Again, let it dry COMPLETELY. Here are some finished cabochons before they get put into the blank.


Now all you need to do is glue them in! I used super glue gel. You do not need a lot of glue. On some of my first pairs, I put too much glue on, and then when I put the cab in, the glue got squished up and out the sides and dried grossly and looked bad. Just a tiny dot in the center of your jewelry blank will do the trick.

Pop your bead in and press down. Rebecca suggested clamping the bead down with a clothespin while it dries to prevent bubbles from forming. I didn't take that good advice and ended up with bubbles in a few of my earrings. Let it dry for as long as you can stand it! I am pretty impatient, but for best results, letting them dry overnight is a good idea.

And that's it! You are now the proud owner of your very own custom nail polish jewelry. Polish jewelry is a really great way to show off some of your favorite combinations, or to preserve a bit of your favorite HTF polish! Enjoy!
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47 comments

  1. This is SUCH a cool idea. If I don't get my hands on a bottle of connect the dots soon, I'm going to jump off a bridge.

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  2. I always wondered how these were made! Thanks for sharing with us. They are all gorgeous! And totally convinced me that I MUST get Connect the Dots....

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  3. Hey, thanks a lot for all the info! I've always wondered about it :) The earings you've made are so pretty and I had never thought about it that way, I mean, about having a piece of your favourite nail polish kept for "eternity" :P I guess I'll be making some :D

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  4. This is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!

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  5. thank you thank you! I've been wanting to do this for a while, but I had no clue how to start. Now I'm off to get some supplies~

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  6. Oh, wow! I love them! Thanks for sharing=) I need to try it!

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  7. These earrings look really pretty!

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  8. OMG these are to die for! Amazing! :D When I saw the pic of all the cabs laying there I couldn't help but imagine a pair of 50's button earrings...but a clip-on (or pierced) black would be needed. Hmmm. That last photo also made me think of a long dangly pair with a bunch of little connected cabs... I have a short bob so I am craving long earrings! I need to get crafty and make some polish earrings. I loooooove these! I'm so inspired now! :D Thank you for all the info! <3

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    1. I loooove these ideas! Get to work on them already! ;)

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  9. THESE LOOK AMAZING. Thanks for sharing!

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  10. Hu, that's a REALLY cool idea!! I think I wanna try this out soon.

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  11. They look so good! I wish I had my ears pierced :D

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  12. love the leopard ones!

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  13. Thanks for sharing this info. I'd love to give this a try and see what I can come up with...I'm thinking that patience may be my downfall...lol. =)

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  14. These turned out absolutely amazing!!!!!!!! I love them! :)

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  15. Great post! The earrings are so cool! Is it hard to get the cabochons to sit still while you paint them? Thanks for sharing. I will surely be making some.

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    1. Yes, painting on the smaller size cabs can get tricky. I just held them between my left thumb and pointer while I painted the backs. You have to be very careful when setting them down again though, as it is easy to smudge something so small!

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    2. Try pressing them into some plastiscine or silly putty; that'll hold them still while you paint and you wont risk your fingers getting in the way :)

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  16. What a fun post! I really enjoyed seeing these few earrings you made and made me curious about the stamped ones :O

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    1. I am out of cabs and backs right now but hopefully I will be able to buy some more soon! Then I will make some more stamped ones and take pics for sure!

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  17. Gorgeous, I love this!! You had some awesome colour combos too!

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  18. Ohhh this is super cool!! This is going in my craft scrap book.

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  19. I don't like to do crunches while waiting for mine to dry, instead I read a steamy romance or talk to you online and give you a hard time for giving me crap all the time lol! I love making nail polish jewelry especially rings. I find I love seeing the crackle look in a ring or earrings more than on my nails too! Can't wait to try my crococrack on a ring and earrings!

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  20. Great idea!

    http://cassiakizzy.blogspot.com/2012/01/unhas-douradas.html

    Kisses .. =*

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  21. I find these look a lot better than some people have done with just solid colors. The sparkles/hexes add so much detail! I especially am loving the pink with the white and black. If I could get my hands on that polish...

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  22. Great idea. I think I might try this once I get some supplies.

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  23. I see mine in there! Thank you my lovely!!!! <3

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  24. I love the designs you came up with! Definitely have to try my hand at this one of these days! :D

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  25. The earrings you made are gorgeous!! Thank you for the tips and links, maybe I'll try some DIY too!!

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  26. These are so cute and such great ideas!

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  28. These are FANTASTIC!!!!! I'm totally making these. It'll make me feel a little less guilty about all my polish if they can be used as gifts... :)

    Thanks again!

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  29. It does takes a bunch of patience to finish these cute and trendy earrings. We buy earrings online and this one's interesting because you gave me an idea on how to make polish earrings.

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  30. I finally persuaded myself to give it a try, knowing I'm really poor at crafts. But hey, it's so much fun! I even tried stamping but somehow it's so hard to stamp properly without the bead moving around, even when I tried using a tweezer to hold it in place. Any tips in terms of stamping on the bead? TIA!

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  31. I finally persuaded myself to give it a try, knowing I'm really poor at crafts. But hey, it's so much fun! I even tried stamping but somehow it's so hard to stamp properly without the bead moving around, even when I tried using a tweezer to hold it in place. Any tips in terms of stamping on the bead? TIA!

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    1. Usually to stamp on the bead I get the image all ready on the stamper, and then hold it stamper side up (so you can see the image). Then, I gently place the bead down on the stamper. Once it's situated, press down on the top of the bead. It should pick up the image flawlessly!

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  32. Okay so how exactly can you make a pendant? :) I would love this as a necklace of some sort :D

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    1. Follow the same instructions but with a pendant blank instead of earrings. :)

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  33. this is interesting and inspiring. as i wanted to make a keychain with a mini stopwatch and this idea might work for it. thanks :)

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