I’ll throw a tassel on anything y’all. Purses, backpacks, keychains, my saddle, my rearview mirror, honestly it was only a matter of time before they made it onto my jewelry. As soon as I saw these adorable tiered tassel earrings on Shopbops website I was in love, I mean come on, pink tassels yall!
The price tag was a bit steep for me so I started looking for some DIY’s, fortunately for me, Mandi over at Making Nice in the Midwest had a fantastic tutorial. So far I’ve made two pairs (one solid black with 3 tiers, and one blue ombre with 4 tiers.) They were both super easy and only took about 30 minutes to make, and the best part? I only spent about $15.
I’m going to be showing you how I made my blue tiered ombre pair but you can easily adjust your color and tier preference.
Supplies
Thread Bundles (12 for 4 tiers/9 for 3 tiers)
*if making an ombre pair you want 3 bundles of each color
Earring Hooks
Scissors (you want these to be as sharp as possible)
Darning Needle
Let’s Get Started
*Keep in mind I am showing you how to make a 4 tier ombre pair, instructions for a 3 tier pair will be in parentheses
Step 1 – Remove the wrappers from your extra thread bundle and cut four 12 inch strands of each color (if making a 3 tier pair cut three 12 inch strands of each color) you should have 16 12 inch strands in total
Step 2 – Lay one strand on a flat surface, take a thread bundle of the same color and fold it in half DO NOT UNRAVEL IT. Lay the center of the folded bundle on top of the strand and tie the strand right in the center of the bundle. I like to flip it over and knot it again just to make sure it is secure
Step 3 – Take your scissors and cut through the loops of the thread bundle. Make sure to keep the long strings out of the way.
Step 4 – This was the trickiest step for me so if you have another set of hands that would be willing to help you it will go much smoother. Lay another strand of the same color on a flat surface. Take the thread bundle and fold the bundle in half. Place the folded bundle over the strand about 1/3 of the way from the top. Tie a knot to secure it. Once again I like to flip it over and tie another knot.
Step 5 – Take your needle and thread the ends of the string that you just tied. Push the needle through the tassel and out the bottom to secure and hide the knot.
Step 6 – Trim your tassels. You will need some super sharp scissor to do this well, but you just want to cut the strands that you just threaded through and make sure that your tassels are even.
Step 7 – Repeat steps 2-6 until you have 8 tassels (6 if you are making a 3 tier pair)
Step 8 – Line up all your tassels and decide which order you want them to be in. For my pair, I did lightest to darkest but the order is completely up to you. *if making a solid color pair I would use the longest and fluffiest tassel on the bottom
Step 9 – Take your bottom 2 tassels and set them aside. Take your needle and thread the top 2 strands from one of your remaining 6 tassels (4 remaining tassels if you are making a 3 tier pair) and thread them through the top of the tassel and pull until they are coming out the bottom of the tassel. Don’t trim these strands yet just in case anything happens and you need some extra materials. Repeat with other 5 tassels (3 tassels if you are making a 3 tier pair)
Step 9 – Take the bottom 2 tassels that we set aside. Thread only 1 of the top tie strands through your needle. Push the needle through the top of the tassel to hide the strand. Take the remaining strand and thread it through the needle, this is the strand that is going to hold the whole earring together.. Push the needle through the bottom of the tassel above. Continue pushing the needle through the center of all 3 tassels until they are stacked on top of each other. Pull tight to secure. At this point, I pushed my needle through the top of the tassel one more time to make sure everything was locked in place but it is up to you if you want to do that.
Step 10 – Take one of your earring hooks and thread the top strand through the eye. Tie a knot to keep it in place. thread the remainder of the strand and push it through the side of the tassel or wherever it can be concealed.
Step 11 – Once everything is tied and secured trim all your excess strands so that they all blend in nicely!
And there you have it! I know it was a lot of steps but it is actually super easy once you get started! Let me know if you make your own pair! And if you do make sure to post pictures and tag me so I can see!
xoxo
Liz
