Every teacher will love wearing a pair of these Pencil Arch Earrings to school!
Pencils are one of the most important supplies to have in the classroom, and are a classic icon for teaching. Teachers everywhere are always looking for fun ways to dress up, and I think that these Pencil Arch Earrings are the perfect accessory for the first day of school! 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 always makes a great gift idea! Hopefully this tutorial will inspire you to give handmade jewelry a try and to treat your favorite teachers with something special.
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 with it. 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 Pencil Arch Earrings, you will need these supplies:
- xTool M1 or xTool S1 laser cutting machine
- Pencil Arch Earring Design
- 3mm Basswood
- Acrylic Paint Markers - yellow, pink, black, silver
- Clear Sealant or UV Resin
- Adhesive
- 2 Earring Posts
- 2 10mm Jump Rings
- 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 Pencil Arch 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 yellow acrylic paint marker (or a brush and acrylic paint) to cover the main part of the pencil on both earring pieces. If necessary, add another coat of paint for full coverage (I needed about 2 coats using the marker). Just make sure to let the first coat dry completely before adding another.
Next, paint the eraser with pink acrylic paint marker (or a brush and acrylic paint). If adding extra coats of paint, remember to let the first coat dry completely before adding another!
Use black acrylic paint marker (or a brush and acrylic paint) to fill in the "lead" triangle at the end of each earring piece.
For some extra shimmer, I covered each of the ferrules (I had to look that one up) with a metallic silver paint marker. Of course, you can always use a brush and metallic silver acrylic paint to cover the it instead of using a marker.
To give the earrings a finished look, dome the top with one last coat of UV resin. Use a toothpick to cover the entire surface with resin, making sure to get it right to the edges. Pop any surface bubbles with alcohol, and then cure under the UV light. I would also recommend covering the opposite side of the earrings.
Turn the top/circle earring pieces over, and attach an earring post to the center using strong adhesive and cover with UV resin to give it a more permanent hold.
Last, but not least, attach the findings to the earrings. Use pliers to open a jump ring for each earring. Hook the rings through the holes in the top of the pencil earring piece and attach it to the top circle piece. Close the jump rings with the pliers. Make sure they are completely closed so that they don't come apart!
I absolutely LOVE how these wooden Pencil Arch Earrings turned out, and would love to hear what you think! I am so excited to make and share more of these earrings with teachers as they start their new school year. As always, I would love to see what you're making! Share your creations on Instagram, Facebook, or leave a comment/photo on the project pin on Pinterest! #AFMCrafts
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