How to give an odd earring a new lease of life

Everyone's had that moment when you’re walking down the street, or playing with the kids, or just sat at your desk in work and you put your hand up to your ear and...No earring! ‘Maybe I forgot to put them in this morning?’ You quickly touch your other ear…earring! 'Noooooo!' You swiftly get up, check your collar, check your hair, check down your top, give yourself a little shake…nope, still no earring.

Now, depending how much you loved those particular earrings you might just give up looking there and then, but, if they are a special pair you retrace your steps. You drive miles to the last place you’ve been, you ask in every shop, the cafe you had lunch in….all with the hope that suddenly you’ll see it glinting on the pavement, or maybe, just maybe some good Samaritan found it and gave it in…

It’s a sad day when we lose an earring, and what do you do with the surviving earring? Some of us throw it away but most of us will keep that earring. We put it in a box with all the other odd earrings and broken bits of jewellery, like some kind of weird twisted shrine to all the deceased jewellery. Every couple of years we open that box, we have a little look and give a big sigh, those poor, poor earrings, once loved and now forever forgotten.

Well, good news guys! You can give those earrings a new lease of life and its super easy! Odd earrings can easily be made into pendants and charms and here's how to do it.

Most jewellers (us included) will sell links, catches and other useful bits and pieces. Combine these with your odd earring, add a little imagination, and you’ll end up with a new pendant or a new charm. Your odd earring will thank you, no more will he sit forgotten in a dark box.

If you have a Silver Scene shop close by, just pop in and we will be happy to help you bring new life into those earrings, we will even put it all together for you. Clip on bales, catches and links will never cost the earth, somewhere between £1 and £6 depending on what you go for. If you don’t purchase these from us then make sure that they are real silver otherwise it’s likely to discolour or break.

Here’s a few pictures and instructions on ideas of what you can do. Save those poor forgotten earrings and upcycle while you do it!

Making an earring into a pendant using a clip-on bale:

1. Use jewellery pliers to take the original hook off. Sometimes these can be soldered on, just cut it open but be careful not to cut off the link on the earring.

2. Add a clip-on bale onto the earring link. Ta-dah! New pendant!

Making an earring into a small pendant or charm using an open link:

1. Using jewellery pliers, take the hook off the earring.

2. Feed the open link through the earring link.

3. Find a bracelet, bangle or cuff you'd like to add it to, add your new charm on and close the link up as tightly as possible. Ta-dah! New charm and you've given an old bracelet a new look, double ta-dah!

Making an earring into a charm with a catch:

1. Using jewellery pliers, take the hook off the earring.

2. Feed the catch link through the earring link and close.

3. Attach your new charm onto your bracelet.

At Silver Scene we are firm believers that jewellery is to be worn and should not sit in a box unseen, so now you know how easy it is to give odd earrings a new lease of life, have a go yourself!