Wear red, white, and blue proudly this 4th of July with a handmade pair of Patriotic Flip Flop Earrings!
Looking for something red, white, and blue to wear on the 4th of July? Besides sporting a pair of 4th of July flip flops on your feet, these Patriotic Flip Flop Earrings are the perfect accessory for the big day! Made of wood and painted with vibrant colors, these earrings are easy to make using the xTool S1 laser cutting machine. Handmade jewelry is a lot of fun to to assemble, and make a great gift! Hopefully this tutorial will inspire you to give handmade jewelry a try.
New to laser cutting? Be sure to check out how to get started with the xTool S1 Laser Machine!
The crafting possibilities are endless when it comes to using the xTool S1 laser cutting machine, and it's actually very easy to use! Once you have one of these, the hardest thing you'll have to do is decide what to make first. If you want to learn more about how this incredible machine works, be sure to check out my complete xTool S1 review.
To make your own 4th of July Patriotic Flip Flop Earrings, you will need these supplies:
- xTool M1 or xTool S1 laser cutting machine
- Patriotic Flip Flop Earring Design
- 3mm Basswood
- Acrylic Paint Markers - white, red, blue, silver
- Adhesive
- 2 10mm Jump Rings
- 2 Earring Hooks
- Jewelry Pliers
*Save extra 15% off on xTool selected materials: AFFMTRS15
Place a piece of 3mm basswood into the xTool S1 machine. Manually pull the laser box with your hand so that the red "+" is located on the material - it doesn't have to be centered.
In XCS, you will see "Distance (mm)" in the right menu bar. Click on the target icon to the right of that space, and the machine will automatically measure your material.
For more details on how to complete this step, be sure to check out my review of the xTool S1 Laser Machine!
Upload the Patriotic Flip Flop Earrings design into xTool Creative Space. When you upload an SVG design, you need to make sure each part of the design is set for cutting, scoring, and/or engraving. For this project, everything in black needs to be set to cut, and the blue needs to be scored. In the right menu bar, change the material setting to 3mm Basswood.
Make sure that the earring design elements are within the marked bounding box in XCS, and then click the green "Process" button in the bottom right corner to proceed to cutting the project.
After removing the earring pieces from the machine, I would highly recommend cleaning the soot away from around the edges of the wood using a Magic Eraser or baby wipes to prevent making marks all over your hands and workspace.
Use a white acrylic paint marker (or a brush and acrylic paint) to cover the stars on the right flip flop and the stripes on the left flip flop earring pieces. If necessary, add another coat of paint for full coverage (I needed about 3 coats using the marker). Just make sure to let the first coat dry completely before adding another.
Use red acrylic paint marker (or a brush and acrylic paint) to fill in the remaining stripes on the left flip flop earring piece.
For some extra shimmer, I covered each of the flip flop straps with a metallic silver paint marker. Of course, you can always use a brush and metallic silver acrylic paint to cover the straps instead of using a marker.
Use pliers to open a 10mm jump ring for each earring. Hook the rings through the holes in the top of the flip flop earring pieces. Close the jump rings with the pliers.
Next, attach the earring hooks to the jump rings. Make sure they are completely closed using the pliers so that they don't come off!
Once the jewelry findings have been attached, the earrings are complete! If you want, you can add a coat of clear sealant to the surface of the earrings to keep them looking their best for as long as possible.
I absolutely LOVE how these earrings turned out, and would love to hear what you think! If you are looking to start a small business using the xTool S1 machine, these would be a great product to sell, especially around the 4th of July. As always, if you make any of these projects for yourself, I'd love to see your creations! Tag me on Instagram and Facebook, or leave a comment/photo on the project pin on Pinterest! #AFMCrafts
Looking for more 4th of July inspiration?
Check out this collection of OVER 100 creative 4th of July crafts and recipes!!
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