As your trimming your tree, banister and mantle, lets not forget to trim our earlobes as well! There’s nothing more merry than a holiday shopper buzzing around in fun, holiday styled jewelry to brighten up the common red or green sweater. Here are my favorite picks for this years holiday earrings…
 
My all time favorite:
The magic of the holiday season starts early after Thanksgiving with home owners adorning their abodes with lights of all colors. Its one of the very best things about the season. Everywhere you drive or walk you’re bound to catch a glimpse of some twinkling colorful lights. And there’s a way to capture that magic to wear. One glance at this design and in a milli-second I knew I had to have a pair. The “ingredients” to make this delightful pair of earrings is quite simple. 
 
Swarovski is full of holiday magic
These crystal Christmas tree light earrings are going to make everyone who notices them smile. And then they’ll want a pair! You simply need to have 4 Swarovski crystals in article 5500 (that’s the teardrop shape where the hole goes through the length of the bead), 4 tiny spacer beads in silver for the top of the light, four headpins and 2 pieces of 1” of silver chain that is small, but loopy. Oh, and one pair of ear wires.  Just stack a crystal with the point side down on a headpin with a small bead cap on top, and attach it to one end of the 1” piece of chain by wire wrapping a loop and coil. Do another one on the other end of the chain, perhaps using a different color of crystal. Then measure about 1/4 of the way down the chain from one end and hook your ear wire onto that loop of chain. It will make your lights be slightly off center and will show them off better. Simple and beautiful!
 
Jingle all the way!
Last year I received a gift from a friend and it had a fantastic simple little jingle bell on it. I was enthralled! This year I’m putting jingle bells on all my packages. But here’s how I’m changing it up… I’m buying many different sizes, and then I’m enameling them red and green. Simple silver bells can be changed to a glorious color using enamel spray paint. I learned this from Heather, co-owner of The Beadin’ Path in her post called ‘Painting Filigree-Customizing your Jewelry’. Read the entire article on the site under What’s in Store with Heather. Anyway, just use enamel spray paint to give your bells a blast of color and let them dry completely. No clear coat needed. 
 
A tinkle for your lobes
So take some tiny bells and give them a dash of color, then hang them from some chain. Add a few leaves (I recommend our awesome Lucite leaves!) to give it a holly berry feel, or maybe a ribbon tied in a bow would look festive. These bells would look great on a braclet, too. Just attach them with jump rings and you’ll be making music all holiday long. 
 
Frosty lobes
Fooey on those who say you can’t wear white after Labor day. I say a snowball is perfect for winter wearing! The clean look of an opaque white bead in a simple round shape is elegant and festive. This pair happens to be white onyx, but I highly recommend our white Lucite beads. They have a fantastic luster and are lightweight to wear. Paired with some silver bead caps, this look will last well into chilly February! Or...if you want the frosty look of ice, go with some frosted Lucite. Jackie frost would wear them if she could. 
 
Holiday ornaments
Imagine store aisles with rows and rows of boxes containing Christmas ornaments… they always catch my eye. Why is that, since the boxes are rectangular and the ornaments are round….boring! Well, its that color and glitz on the ornament itself. Metallic red, blue, green and more colors just come alive in those boxes. So its only natural that I’d want to incorporate that magic into an earring design. So here is one idea: any beautiful round shiny red bead will do, maybe something in Vintage red (so pretty!) topped with a bead cap to give it that ornament feeling. Any bead cap will do, as well, in gold or silver. Hung from an ear wire that look so similar to an ornament hook. In fact, you could make a bunch of these and hang them from a tiny tree! 

Earrings by Melanie of squeakybug.etsy.com

There’s plenty of time!
Whip up any of these pairs so that you can enjoy them all season… or make some for gifts. There’s time still… but its going to tick down quickly!
 
“Earrings saved me last year at holiday time. They’re times savers and lovely for gifts. This year I’ll do it again, without the pressure!” ~Annette Silvaine, jewelry designer
 
Check out these resources…
http://www.etsy.com/shop/offbeet?ref=top_trail
http://www.etsy.com/shop/decoratethediva?ref=top_trail
http://www.etsy.com/listing/33992462/cherry-red-ornament-earrings-happy