Alright, let’s talk about these silver barbell earrings I ended up with. It wasn’t exactly a straightforward thing.
See, I needed a new pair. My go-to simple barbells, the ones I wore pretty much daily, well, one decided to disappear. Probably down the sink drain or maybe it made a break for it in the laundry. Who knows? Point is, I was one earring short.
Looking Around First
So, the hunt began. First stop, the usual online places. Found tons, obviously. But they all kinda looked the same, you know? Thin, probably plated junk that would turn my ear green in a week, or they were asking way too much for a tiny bit of metal. I checked out a couple of jewelry stores in town too. Same deal. Cheap stuff that felt like it would snap, or fancy designer pieces that cost more than my weekly groceries. Nah. Wasn’t feeling it.
Doing It Myself (Sort Of)
Got a bit frustrated. Then I thought, why not just make them? I like fiddling with things, making stuff work. How hard could a simple barbell be? I decided right then I’d give it a shot. Wanted proper sterling silver, nothing less, and the exact size I liked, not too long, not too short.
Getting the materials together was the first step:
- Ordered some sterling silver wire online. Think I went for 16 gauge, felt solid enough.
- Dug out my trusty pliers and little files I keep for random fixes around the house.
- Realized I didn’t have anything to solder with, and wasn’t about to invest in all that gear just for this. So, the design had to be simpler.
Okay, tools and wire ready. I started by cutting the wire. Measured it carefully against an old earring I still had. Then came the tricky part – the balls on the ends. My first brilliant idea was to use silver clay. Total mess. Couldn’t get tiny perfect spheres. Gave up on that fast. Went back online and found some pre-made sterling silver screw-on balls. Felt a bit like cheating, but honestly, it saved me hours of frustration.
Next, I bent the main wire piece. Trying to get that slight curve right and keep both ends aligned took some patience. Lots of fiddling back and forth. Then I filed the ends super smooth so the balls would attach properly. Attached the screw-on balls to the ends I’d threaded (yeah, had to figure that out too, more careful filing). One ball I managed to fix more permanently, the other screws on and off.
Spent a good while polishing the whole thing up with a silver cloth. My fingers were definitely feeling it by the end.
The Final Result
So, what did I end up with? A pair of silver barbell earrings. They’re not machine-perfect, you can tell they’re handmade if you look closely. A bit quirky, maybe? But they feel solid, they’re definitely sterling silver, and they’re the exact size I wanted.
It’s kinda funny, this whole process. Reminds me of when I decided to re-stain our old wooden garden bench. Thought it’d be a quick weekend job. Ended up taking nearly two weeks with all the sanding, the unexpected rain delays, finding the right stain colour… a real saga. Sometimes these ‘simple’ projects snowball, don’t they? But like the bench, which actually looks pretty decent now, these earrings worked out. They feel more ‘mine’ than any store-bought pair. And most importantly? No green earlobes. Success, I guess!
