A couple of weeks ago I posted about the colorful, vintage-inspired jewelry I’ve been seeing everywhere. When I found these old clip-on earrings in my jewelry stash, I knew I had the perfect subjects for a makeover. And I turned to my old standby, nail polish, to do the job. I love nail polish for re-styling jewelry. It’s shiny, comes in tons of great colors, provides even coverage with just a coat or two, and for something like earrings or a necklace, which won’t get much wear and tear, is durable enough. Plus, you probably already have some on hand (no pun intended).
Materials:
Clip-on earrings to re-style (Etsy, Ebay, and vintage stores have plenty, or you may be able to find them at thrift stores, garage sales, or your grandma’s jewelry box)
Stud earring blanks
Nail polish (I used this kind)
Nail polish top coat (I used this one)
Glue (E6000 is my favorite)
Wire cutters or pliers
Methods:
1. Take one of your vintage earrings and cut off the clip-on mechanism. How you accomplish this will depend on your earring, but for mine the metal was thin enough that I could have bent it back and forth a few times and broken it off. Make sure not to leave any sharp edges that could cut you. Either bend them down, or file them off.
2. Repeat until you have removed the clip-on portions of both of your earrings.
3. Glue on the pierced earring blanks, and allow to dry. Although the clip-on piece may have been centered on the earring back, you’ll want to orient your studs toward the top edge of your earrings to account for the fact that pieced and clip-on earrings hang from the ear differently.
4. Using your nail polish, paint your earrings. Depending on your polish, a couple of coats should be sufficient. If you get any paint where you don’t want it, don’t worry, you can just touch it up with nail polish remover after you’re done.
5. Add a topcoat to your nail polish layer, then touch up your paint to remove it from anywhere you didn’t mean to get it. Let your nail polish dry completely.
That’s all there is to it! Now go out someplace fancy so you have an excuse to wear your new earrings.