Design Your Own Earrings

" You're watching Better.TV."

" Well, how about one of a kind earrings that you've actually made yourself. Julie O'Clare met up with the Metal Chick for a lesson in jewelry making. Take a look."

" Earrings come in all shapes and sizes and can be a simple elegant way to pull an outfit together, but if you want something really unique and special on you ears, you might consider designing your own. It's easier than you might think."

" It can be very easy, and you can use items that you can find anywhere."

" Victoria Tillotson better known as the Metal Chick is a designer whose jewelry has been enjoyed by celebrities like Scarlet Johansson, Hale Berry, and Gwen Stefani. I joined her down at her Soho Studio for a crash course on earring design. Okay, Victoria, I wanna be a metal chick. Would you show me how?"

" I would be happy to if you will."

" Is it hard?"

" It's sometimes very hard and also sometimes very easy."

" We're going for very easy today, right?"

" Very easy is good, and today, we're going to make a wonderful pair of organic sterling silver earrings with also turquoise and wood, something to dress up a summer look."

" Very pretty. Yeah very summery."

" Very earthy."

" Okay, let's do it."

" How we'll start?"

" So, the first thing you wanna do is take a piece of wire like this, and you're gonna put it through your bead."

" And what kind of wire is this?"

" We're using sterling silver, but you could also use any kind of wire you could find. You could even pick up wire like brass wire like this or copper wire like this at a hardware store. "

" Oh really?"

" You can really find inspiration for jewelry anywhere you look. Take your wires. This is just your basic kind of everyday pliers, and all you gonna do is loop around the top, so you make a loop."

" I'm not coordinated. I can do it really. Okay. Here we go."

" So, now, I'm just gonna hold my bead and with my other end of my wire, I'm gonna put it through the top of the hole in my belt buckle. Whatever this thing."

" Whatever it is."

" Now, I'm gonna curl it up like so. You know, the beautiful thing about a homemade pair of earrings that there a little irregularities here, it's a good thing."

" It's okay."

" It's a good thing."

" It's a good thing. It looks better. It looks more authentic. So now, I have my little "U". I'm gonna take my end of the wire that's still hanging out."

" Uh hum."

" I'm gonna wrap it around the other wire a couple of times like taking it down all the way, so it just looks like a coil. Perfect."

" Really?"

" Yours look better than mine."

" Stop it."

" It's tough."

" Oh come on. Cut it out. Okay."

" Now, we're just gonna trim the extra length of that wire off. I'll let you do it."

" Okay."

" It's a pair of shears. Just regular old shears."

" Trim it all the way?"

" You just trim it nice and close and then we're gonna pinch it down one more time."

" And now, just to finish it Julie, all we need to do is put on our----your wires, and these are sterling silver handmade ear wires you could buy them online. Really in a budget it replaces----with this. Okay, you just wanna open up the little hook. I'll thread it through. Now, you gotta pinch it shut."

" Oh my gosh. I made an earring."

" You did."

" We made 2 and I have a pair. Look."

" I think yours is nicer than mine."

" Come on, well. I made an earring."

" I think I'm actually out of a job."

" I think I have a calling. This was so easy. Inexpensive."

" Fun."

" And great to try at home."

" And fun. Yeah."

" Victoria, thank you so much."

" Thank you Julie. It's a pleasure."

" Cute earrings, Julie. Now, you just make sure you bring them back to mama, alright? For a step-by-step directions on making these earrings and more. Check out the metal chick's website. It's metalchick.com."

" Thank you for watching Better.TV. Please e-mail us your thoughts, ideas at Better.TV. Together, we'll make you home, family, and life better."