Weekly Inspiration: Lapis & Copper Pyramid Earrings

I've seen this project in various wire books, and it's pretty simple to do -- the addition of the little semi-precious chips was my own idea. You'll need to know how to make a basic loop with wire to do this project, and it helps if you've used a jig before. You will need:

20 gauge copper wire (we're having a sale of the ColourCraft wire at the store: 30% off!)
Semi-precious chip beads (I used lapis lazuli for these)
22 gauge copper wire (for the chips)
Ear-wires
Round-nose pliers (for making loops)
Needle-nose pliers (for everything else)
Cutters (for cutting wire)
Jig (optional)

You can do the wire loop-de-loos freehand, which is a little more challenging, or with a jig (we sell them for $20 -- 20% off with a class discount!). With the jig, you'll just line up a series of pegs in a row and loop your 20G wire around them. How many is up to you: on this example, the bottom row had 7 loops, and they ended up being about 3.75" long (real shoulder-dusters!).

I then prepared a bunch of little lapis chips, using 22G wire this time (slightly thinner to fit through the holes on the chips). I just made basic loops so it was easy to attach them to the loop-de-loos.

Once you've got your 2 sets of loop-de-loos, complete with dangling lapis chips, you'll just make little figure-8s (again, with the 20G wire) to connect them. Mine got a little bigger toward the bottom of the pyramid, to accommodate the lapis chips (see the side-view, below).

Then just attach ear-wires to the top, and voila! You have exotic, dangly, pyramid-style earrings, fit for an Egyptian queen!