Cut Out + Keep

Origami Crane Earrings

Dainty little Japanese-inspired earrings.

https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/origami-crane-earrings • Posted by Scarlet

These were earrings that I made a while ago and just got around to posting here. They were inspired by the beautiful crane images seen on old Japanese fabrics and kimonos (last 2 images), and because I know that large amounts of sewing are not my strong point, I envisioned them as earrings instead :)

You will need

Project Budget
Almost Nothing

Time

1 h 00

Difficulty

Nice & Simple
Medium img 1259 1282156804 Medium img 1254 1282156818 Medium popup craneswirl royal 1282156920 Medium crane obi brocade 1282156926

Description

These were earrings that I made a while ago and just got around to posting here. They were inspired by the beautiful crane images seen on old Japanese fabrics and kimonos (last 2 images), and because I know that large amounts of sewing are not my strong point, I envisioned them as earrings instead :)

Instructions

  1. Small img 1238 1282157103

    Prepare your paper. You can go ahead and use origami paper if you like, but it's a bit too pricy for me to use regularly so I just colored strips of white computer paper with watercolor markers and paints. Just pick 2 or 3 colors for a palette and draw some fluid lines and swirls. If you use watercolor paints, you will obviously have to wait for your paper to dry completely before moving on to folding.

  2. Small img 1228 1282157526

    Next you will have to fold an origami crane. For the sake of space and typing, I'll leave that out of this tutorial. However, if you would like folding instructions, they can be found on my blog post here: http://scarletkitsune.blogspot.com/2010/06/origami-crane-tutorial.html

  3. Small img 1240 1282157574

    In order to waterproof and stabilize your earrings, you'll want to coat them in nail varnish. I used one coat of clear, then one coat of the shimmery color shown in the photo, and then one more coat of clear on top.

  4. Small img 1242 1282158085

    Next you'll have to wire your cranes so you can hang them on your earwires. Just cut a piece of pliable wire about 1.5 times the height of your crane. Poke it through the paper at the top of the triangular shape in the center, and then use jewelry pliers to make a small loop at the top and bottom of the wire.

  5. Small img 1257 1282157798

    You'll then want to prepare your beads. I used two clear glass beads colored with silver nail polish (much cheaper to buy clear beads in bulk than pick and choose colored ones). String wire through each bead and make a loop at the top and fold over the bottom so the bead can not fall off. I then made a swirly shape with another piece of wire to attach the bead to the crane with. I opted for the open swirl at the top so that you can make multiple colors and styles of dangling beads and interchange them on your earrings :)

  6. Small img 1259 1282157989

    After that, you're pretty much done. Attach the beads to the cranes and the cranes to earwires and they're ready to wear!