Do it Yourself: Flight of Fancy

I found a trio of pheasant feathers at an estate sale that I suspect once adorned a lady’s broad-brimmed hat. Instead of channeling my inner milliner, I decided to use the 20 gauge copper-coated wire I had left over from my vintage button ring project to make one very dramatic earring. I winged it in my design (pun totally intended), so this is a do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do tutorial.

This video by Craftulous explains how to make basic feather earrings in 15-20 minutes, using only beading wire, needle-nosed pliers, wire cutters, and fishhook style earwires. The crimp covers, crimping pliers, and other types of pliers Craftulous mentions are not necessary.

 

Because I wrapped all three feathers together into one earring, I couldn’t get the wire wrapped around them as smoothly or as tightly as the woman in the video did, and I was afraid they might not be secure. A dab of hot glue on the tips of the feather shafts, at the very top of the wire wrap, solved the problem. I chose long red and brown feathers to compliment my hair’s color and length. Be imaginative; the sky’s the limit!