Paint Chip Earrings

I have a problem with paint chips.  I gravitate towards them in any store and stare longingly at the beautiful colors and combinations.  Too bad I live in an apartment where I can't change the wall color, therefore rendering the pretty chips useless to me.  It just bothered me that such a wonderful and free resource had no purpose, then I saw this blog by Jennifer Perkins and got inspired!

What you'll need:

-Paint chips in contrasting colors

-Scissors or a circle cutter

-Hole punch

-Small jump rings

-French Hook ear wires

-Jewelry pliers

Take your paint chips and circle cutter and cut out the larger circle.  Mine is 1 inch, only because that's the size cutter I had.  Come to think of it...I have an even bigger one I use to cut out buttons...I'll use that next time.  When you cut these, make sure you leave a little space between so you can make the most of the chip.  Waste not, want not you know.

Next use the hole punch to cut out the smaller, contrasting color.  I used a corner of the lighter color to go with my darker circle.  Now, after this step, a seasoned jewelry maker/paper crafter will tell you to brush a clear coat of sealer, like Mod Podge, on your circles once you've put them in place.  But I'm wingin' it, so we're totally omitting that whole step.

Now you can poke holes through both the circles.  I didn't glue mine together or anything, just loosey goosey.  After that, just put one jump ring through both circles, another jump ring through that one and then the hook.  Tada!  You've got some super easy, super cute earrings!

I left the back open so you can tell they were made from paint chips.  If you don't like that look, you can easily glue two together for a more finished back.  I would recommend gluing the pieces and letting them dry before cutting them out, you'll get a much cleaner product in the end. 

Hope you like it!  And please send please send pics if you make them!