Cupcake Earrings with Czech Fire-Polished Glass Beads, Crystal Passions® Beads and Gold-Plated Drops and Findings

The days of summer are sweetened with jewelry designs and accessories inspired by a mouthwatering parade of treats and confections. Make a delicious pair of frosted cupcake earrings using sugar-tinted glass, whipped-cream white cloisonné bead caps, a sparkling red crystal cherry-on-top and a dainty accent bow for adorable, guilt-free style.

String onto one headpin:

• One basket bead cap
• One 9x5mm faceted rondelle bead
• One 7mm cloisonné bead cap, white
• One 3mm crystal bicone

Using the chain-nose pliers, grip the wire, as close as possible, to the 3mm bicone bead then bend the wire to form a 90 degree (right) angle.

Using the side-cutting pliers, cut the headpin to approximately 1/4 inch past the bend.

Using a permanent marker, make a small mark 1/8 inch up from the tip of your round-nose pliers.

The mark gives you a place to come back to each time you make a loop, so the loops are consistent as well as denotes the best spot for making loops with 1/4 inch of wire. If you want larger loops, leave 3/8 inch of wire past the bend and work further down the barrel on your round-nose pliers.

Grasp the clipped end of the wire at the marked area of your round-nose pliers. While pressing the thumbnail of your non-dominant hand into the 90 degree angle of the wire, rotate the pliers away from your body so that the wire is wound around the barrel, forming a complete circle, centered over the beads. If necessary, adjust the loop so it is centered.

Using the chain-nose pliers, open the simple loop by gently twisting up on the open side of the loop, being careful to maintain the rounded shape of the loop.

Thread the opened loop through the bottom loop of the bow component. Close the loop on the headpin.

It may be necessary to slightly unfold the ''knot'' of the bow drop to accommodate the jumpring. To do this, use your chain-nose pliers unwrap the bow tab, reposition it by folding it down with your round-nose pliers so that there is a small gap at the top where the tab wraps around the center of the bow.

Using two pairs of flat-nose pliers (or one pair of chain-nose pliers and flat-nose pliers), twist open a 5mm jumpring and thread it through the top of the bow's knot and through the loop on an earwire. Close the jumpring.

Note: After threading the earwire onto the jumpring, dangle the earring to make sure that the bow will be showing right side out before closing the jumpring.