How To Fix Broken Earrings DIY Tutorial

For my first tutorial, I thought I would start off with something simple that will help solve a common jewelry problem: How to fix "broken" earrings.

You know the drill, you're wearing your favorite pair of earrings, when all of a sudden, the unthinkable happens - and one of them breaks! If you're like me, and you own a lot of cheap costume jewelry - you knew this would happen sooner or later, but it doesn't make the situation any less depressing :(. Typically, a common reaction (after sadness & exclamations of "Oh, No!" ) is to throw the earrings away.

Well, here's a tip - DON'T THROW THEM AWAY! Many times, all it takes is a quick and easy fix!

For instance, one of the most common ways that an earring breaks, happens when the closure (the part of the earring that you put through your earlobe) separates from the actual earring.

(Here are some of the most common types of earring closures.)

If this happens, you're in luck (well, sort of :)) because it's typically an easy fix! Actually, I recently had a coworker bring me a pair of earrings, in which this exact thing happened. So, naturally,  I'm going to be using her earrings as an example in my tutorial.

Her earrings had a hook wire closure, so if your earrings have a similar closure (wires & hooks) this tutorial should work for you. If your earrings have a post closure, on the other hand, it will not. But no worries, post earrings are even easier to fix - all you typically need is a dab of glue (I like to use the E-6000 brand) on the back of the post closure to connect it back to the actual earring, and with a little drying time (preferably at least 12 hours) they should be good as new!

Before we begin this tutorial, you will need just a few supplies:

• The broken earring(s)
• A pair of needle nose jewelry pliers (I got mine from Walmart)
• Jump ring(s) in a matching metal color - For this project I used a 4mm  gunmetal color jump ring (can be purchased at Michael's in a variety pack, or at most craft stores)
• Matching earring closure -  for this project I used a gunmetal-colored hook wire closure (can also be found in the same variety pack from Michael's, or at most craft stores)]

Step 1: To begin, you will need to pick up the jump ring with your needle-nosed pliers, like so:

Step 2: Next, you'll want to "open' the jump ring by holding onto it with the pliers in one hand, and using your thumb and index finger of your other hand to pull it "open", like this:

Step 3: Then, you need to hook the opened jump ring through the back of the broken earring, such as this:

Step 4: Now "add' the earring closure to the opened jump ring, like this:

Step 5: Finally, carefully "close" the jump ring, by holding it with the pliers in one hand and using your thumb and index finger of your free hand (similar to how you "opened" it). Make sure to close the jump ring so that the two sides of the ring meet up flush, and that there are no gaps that the earring closure could slip through. It should look something like this:

And Viola', there you have it - Your earrings are good as new! :)

 (I told you it was easy!)

-xquitecreativex

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