Ear Ring Dream Catcher

Do you ever find that you have a tangled mess of earrings sitting in your Jewelry box? I know I had that problem. I kept mine in a little bag and would have to dump them all out whenever I was looking for a pair to wear. So, one day when I was in the local Hot Topic, I saw that one of their displays for earrings was a dream catcher with a mesh back ground and I was immediately inspired to make one for myself and tackle my earring organization problem.

In order to start your creation you will need to gather your materials. Most of which, can be found in your local craft store.

You will need:

Metal Ring

Leather cord (about 4yrds)

Black string

1/4 yard of Red Toole or amount that will cover the ring

Needle

Tapestry needle

Scissors

Fabric Glue

Q-tip

Typical Dream
catchers have beads on the tassels, but for me I used some of my chain mail and scale mail leftovers. So these next few things are optional:

2 flat head plyers

14 open jump rings

14 scales of varying color

Take your leather cord and begin wrapping the metal ring using your hand, leg or table to help pin the loose end down. Otherwise it will unwind and frustration with your project will ensue.

As you wrap your ring, make sure it stays tight to prevent the metal from showing though. So if you have had an episode of unwinding and are frustrated, take it out on the cord and show it who's boss and make it tight!

When you get to the end of your wrap, keep going, passing over the beginning wrap. This will help lock in the beginning.

After going about an inch and a half make a loop that is a little loose and thread your tapestry needle under it and the last 4-5 wraps. Place the end of your leather cord though the eye of the tapestry needle and pull the needle through leaving the tail alone. Both ends of your leather are now locked! YAY no more unwinding frustration!!!! :)

With the left over

leather cut (2) 8 inch strips, (2) 9.5 inch strips and (1) 18 inch strip

Now you do not have to follow what I did here. If you want them longer, you can make them longer However, we will be folding these in half, so you may not want to make them shorter.

As I mentioned earlier, fold the strips in half and make a larks head knot around the tie off of your newly wrapped ring. I started with the longest strap and worked my way out.

You may notice I was wrapping the tassels around the tail as well. This will help prevent it from pulling out and undoing your fine work from earlier. After you are done wrapping the tassels you can then trim the tail from earlier so that it is now hidden.

You have now completed the tassels!! This thing is starting to look like the real deal so let's keep going!

Now we are going to add the backing. Take the Toole and place your ring over it. Using scissors cut the Toole so it slightly overlaps the ring.

In order to keep the Toole in place, tack it down using a needle and some thread in a few areas around the ring.

Now the fun begins! To start making your web take your needle and thread and make a knot like you did in step 4, however this time you will not cut the string. Next you start moving from one side of the ring to the other with your string and making a wrap around the ring when you go to turn. Then just get creative with it. I would go partially across and wrap my string around a thread through the mesh to tack it down to the string and then start off in a different example. You can also weave your string through the mesh to give a back ground effect. When you feel you are done then tie off your string around the edge of the ring.

You are almost there!! But now is the time to decorate your tassels! As I said earlier, I used some of my leftover scale mail to decorate my tassels. I would pull the leather strip through the eye of the scale and then slip a closed jump onto the leather after it. I would then weave the strip back through the eye of the scale and pull. I also added a loop at the top of the ring so I can hang it up.

Ta Dah!

I repeated the process for the other tassels, adding more to the central tassels than the outer ones.

If you have beads then you can also add them on at this stage, just make sure what you are using as your tassel material can go through the hole of your bead.

You have worked so hard and to keep your work looking good, take the fabric glue and start tacking things down. I started with the Toole, going around the edge of the ring with the fabric glue and then taking a Q tip and tap the Toole to the glue to the ring.

Then you will want to put dabs of glue in the gaps of your tassels and in your tassel finery (the beads) to help keep them all in place

YOU ARE DONE! Now is the time to enjoy the fruits of your labor and decorate your new Dream Catcher with your earrings.