Serendipitous punk.

No, it's not the name of a band - although it should be!  It's what happened as I was clearing off my cluttered work table yesterday.  Check these out:

I was almost finished tidying, when I noticed these four items sort of grouped together in a mini montage.  Still life with safety pin and chains.

I was carried away by a brief creative session, and made these little punk earrings.  They please me.

I like the fact they are small and feminine, but with a spicy punk edge.  Tutorial, anyone?  This one is not for the faint of heart, but it is super fun.  You will need round-nose pliers and a strong wire cutter.

Don't use your nice jewelry wire cutters; find something big and tough.  The first step will be to snip the tiniest bit off the end of the pin:

See?  All you are doing is removing the point.  Before you do it, though, listen up, this is important.  This de-pointing of safety pins is kind of gnarly.  So wear safety glasses.  I mean it.

What's that?  Honey, I don't care if they're ugly.  You're wearing them.  If you need to embellish them with ribbons and pearls first, I understand.

So once your point is snipped, grab the end of the pin in your pliers:

With all your might, turn a teeny loop.  It's not easy - safety pins are made of ultra-hardened  Kryptonite.  Here's the before and after.

Attach a little piece of chain between the teeny loop and the rounded end of the safety pin.  You can use jump rings, or just open and close the end links of the chain, as I did here:

Add another little chain hanging down, then attach your earwire to the other end of the safety pin.

If you're not familiar with attaching an earwire, this photo might help:

I hope you can see how the loop is twisted sideways, not pulled straight out.  Once you add the safety pin, twist the loop back into place to close.  That's it!  You can wear it single, or make a second earring if that's how you roll.

Your little punk earrings are done.

You could also change them up with extra dangles and mixed metals...

Cute, eh?  I guess my favorite is still the original, though.  Serendipity is hard to beat.

Sorry if I was kind of mean about the safety glasses.  I yell because I care.