One weekend we were starting to think about our dining room and looked around Steven Shell to get some ideas after breakfast (we ended up buying a dining room table, but that’s a whole other conversation).  Well… as we were deciding whether to get this table we loved or not, I spotted some oyster shell earrings near the cashier.  After inspecting them I realized I could totally make them, then after I saw the price of $57, I decided I most definitely would make them for myself for a fraction of the price!

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Oyster Shell Earrings

What you’ll need:

• 2 small, skinny oyster shells
• 5/64″ drill bit
• Drill
• Gold paint
• Clear sealant
• 0.2″ silver plated jewelry wire
• Needle nose pliers
• 2 Kidney earring clasps

Okay, so I have stores of oyster shells (and clam shells, mussel shells, etc) in my office, but most people probably don’t.. so find 2 small, flat and skinny oyster shells that are about the same length.  The lowcountry local cluster oysters are pretty great for this 🙂 Make sure they are scrubbed clean and have gone through a nice clorox & water bath for a few days before you start.

Then use your drill & drill bit to put a hole towards the top of the oyster shell.

After drilling the holes, paint the shells how you’d like.  I always like the natural beauty of oyster shells to show, so I typically just paint the back & edge.  I painted them gold and then finished the front and back with a clear sealer to protect the paint.

Now it’s time for the part that’s out of my wheelhouse.. actual jewelry making.  I actually had all of the supplies from my brief attempts at dabbling in necklace making with my beaded necklace for the National Championship last year and painted shell necklaces before that.

I chose the kidney earring clasps because they just seemed like the easiest option to work with and the earrings would dangle like I wanted.  Cut a ~1 1/2″ piece of the jewelry wire and loop it through the hole in the oyster shell.  Make it a circle by wrapping the ends of the wire around the other piece it’s overlapping, then put that end through the oyster shell.

Use your pliers and hold the top of the loop and then slowly twist the oyster shell and bottom of the wire so it tightens up around the shell.  Leave a small loop at the top and put that on the earring clasp. Repeat for the second earring and then you’re done!

My wire skills aren’t perfect and they shells aren’t the same size or exactly the same length from the ear, but they are an improvement from the oyster necklace, my first earring project and I’m happy with how they turned out!

These earrings another fun way to rep oysters when I’m out and the best part was they cost me $0 – seriously, I had everything I needed already so they were free!  Way better than the $57 to buy them and I learned some new skills, hooray!

Every time I wear these I get a ton of compliments and people always ask where they can buy them – surprise, you can actually make them yourself and impress your friends!