Leather Backed Cork Earrings DIY

Make your own cork and leather earrings

It’s easy to make leather backed cork earrings with a Cricut Maker. Just select from an amazing assortment of cork/leather material, a knife blade, and your basic earring and Cricut tools.

What I use to make these leather backed cork earrings

Cricut Machine – Because of the thickness of the leather backed cork, I use a knife blade, which can be used on the Cricut Maker or the Cricut Maker 3. Unfortunately, you can’t use the knife blade with a Cricut Explore
Transfer Tape – I’ve pretty much moved to this transfer tape for EVERY project I do. It is much more economical that the Cricut-branded transfer tape. Note that it is 50 feet (not 50 inches).
Earring Backs
Cutting Mats – Okay, so I’ve moved away from Cricut cutting mats, again to save money. I’ve tried many brands. The adhesive on some a really sticky and have damaged my materials. The ones I use for everything are available here.
Leather hole punch (Larger holes, smallest is 2)
Basic Cricut Tools
Cricut Brayer
Huge Cricut tools Bundle
Leather Backed Cork – I have a few favorite shops for leather backed cork.
- My favorite shop, biggest selection
- Another great shop, good quality, not as many design options
- I love this shop too.
Wood earring components. I get almost all of my earring wood components from two different etsy shops.
- Click here to access my favorite (more sizes and shapes).
- Click here for my other favorite.
Jump Rings – I have to use these larger jump rings due to the thickness of the wood earring components. I’ve tried several but these are my go forward jump rings, especially since they are tarnish resistant. They’re available in a gold color here and they’re available here in a silver color.
Basic earring components

Other Great Go-to Items for DIY Earrings

Leather Scissors
Here is what I use to smooth my leather edges.
Crafter’s Pick Fabric glue
Cricut Transfer Tape, Standard Grip
Leather hole punch – This leather punch makes much smaller holes than the one above.
Earring Cards – I use these because they are tall enough that my earrings can fully hang while in the jewelry bags. If your earrings hang longer than your cards, they will not look as good when you put them into the plastic bags.
Plastic bags for earrings
Cricut Easy Press – for any projects with HTV
Cricut Easy Press Mat

Leather Backed earrings SVG

Select an earring template.

Your first step in making these leather backed cork earrings is to select an earring template. For this project I selected the SVG found here. This is my favorite SVG site as they have so many options and most are fine to use in my small business (for commercial use). Often on etsy, sellers of the SVG files don’t allow this.

You’ll notice in the image below that the cut pattern for the diy earrings includes the circle shape as well. In this project, I use round wood pieces in place of the round piece.

Leather Backed Cork

Select the leather backed cork that will be used for this leather backed cork earrings project.

There are so many leather backed cork earrings designs available and from many shops. I’ve linked my favorites in the list above. You’ll notice that the thickness of leather backed cork varies. Even within in the same shop you’ll find differences. You’ll also notice that the color of leather on the back of the cork varies to coordinate with the cork design on the front. I’ve even found that when I’ve reordered the leathered back cork that the color of leather on the back was different than when I had previously purchased it. I’m sure it was probably shown correctly in the Etsy listing and I liked it both ways

For this project, I’m using this almond mum leather backed cork. I’m linking up the shop right here as well. One of the things I’ve noticed is that the designs sell out pretty quickly and I often can’t get them in again. I put so much time into creating my listings so if I don’t have enough material to make more, it’s a problem for me. So I’ve moved to purchasing several sheets of the design, instead of just one (since I put them into my etsy shop).

Prepare the file in Cricut Design Space

I will capture a few key points in this blog post, but step by step directions for making these leather backed cork earrings can be found in my YouTube video below.

Preparing the Cutting Mat

Selecting the mat type

There are many options for cutting mats. There are multiple brands and within brands there are often options that have varying levels of adhesive. It’s important to have enough adhesive so that the material holds firmly to the mat during the cut. If the material lifts, the Cricut machine may get jammed or the cut lines might get messed up.

I used to only use Cricut branded mats. I’ve done some experimentation over the past couple of years as mats are a significant expense to my business. (My shop has almost reached 4,000 sales of earrings). Some of the “off brands” have caused damage to my materials. I’m not sure if it was they type of adhesive or just that there was too much (yes, some have sooo much). But I have found an off brand that I like. And, while I never like to put prices in here because they’re always changing, I will say that there is a significant different between prices of this brand and Cricut.

Here is a set of 3 of the mats
Here is set of 10 of the mats. You’ll notice an even lower price when buying this larger amount (about a dollar less per mat).

I use the standard cutting mat to cut this project, but I always confirm that the adhesive is still strong.

Place transfer tape on the mat.

Even with double sided material, debris still gets on the mat when the material is cut. I use transfer paper/contact paper on my mat each time I do a cut. This helps keep my mat cleaner and it also keeps the adhesive on the mat longer.

I start by cutting a piece of transfer paper to the size of my material.

Then I apply the transfer tape to the Cricut mat.

Next, I remove the backing of the transfer tape, leaving the adhesive/sticky side facing up.

And finally, I place the leather backed cork piece that I cut to match the project size on the cutting mat.

Press material firmly to the mat

I use a Cricut brayer to make sure the transfer tape and material are pressed nicely on the mat, without bubbles. Having the transfer tape and material lying flat helps keep the material flat to the mat during the cut.

I have cut dozens of different double-sided materials, and I find that it works best for me to keep the cork side up and the leather side down (facing the mat). I’ve had my cork damaged when I face it to the adhesive. I do have adhesive stick to the leather side sometimes and I have to clean up the earring backs in these situations. It comes off pretty easy.

Tape the material to the mat

After I press the material to the mat, I place Painter’s tape on each side of the material to hold the material into place.

Cut the Material

Select the right material type in Cricut Design Space

Each material setting in Cricut Design Space has an associated amount of cut pressure, along with the number of times it will make the cut. Picking the right setting means the machine will apply the right amount of pressure and complete the right number of cuts.

Picking the right material from the material settings can be challenging especially with thicker materials, made with more than one material type. Cutting leather backed cork is the perfect definition of a challenge. I’ve found that there are always a few different materials that typically work for a cut, because remember the true magic is the pressure and number of cuts assigned to a particular material.

I’ve found a few material types that work, but my favorite material setting for leather backed cork is Heavy Chipboard. This setting applies a 650 cut pressure and does 24 cuts. This material setting requires the Cricut knife blade. And you probably already know that the knife blade isn’t compatible with the Explore models of the Cricut machine. I’ve owned several Cricut machines and when I purchased my last one I really debated whether to get the Explore Air or the Maker. I’m so glad I got the Maker so that I can cut this kind of material that requires the knife blade.

While I use the knife blade to cut almost every leather backed cork, I have found a few that are thin enough to cut with a deep cut blade. For those of you that love this look, but don’t have a Maker (or a knife blade), here is the material that I was able to cut with my deep cut blade.

Making this cut with the knife blade takes a long time! When I cut a full sheet of leather backed cork, it takes HOURS. I check the cut along the way so that once it does cut all the way through, I can end the cut early, when possible.

Make sure the Cricut machine makes a good cut BEFORE you eject the mat.

Take a peek at the mat after the cut before you eject it. This is important because if the cut doesn’t go all the way through, you can do additional cuts.

Simply press the Cricut logo button shown below. This will send the machine through an additional cycle of cuts. Then, you can press the button to eject the mat.

Remove earrings from mat

Remove the earrings from the mat.

You may need to carefully remove any Painter’s tape that is on the earring.

You’ll notice that sometimes the transfer tape sticks to the cut earring components, and you also need to carefully remove it.

Earring Assembly

Place a hole in the top of the earring.

I use a leather punch to put the holes in my diy earrings. This punch cuts through multiple layers of the earring at the same time. Here is an option for a smaller hole leather punch.

Prepare wood components for earring assembly

There are so many great wood shapes for earrings. I linked up my favorite vendors above. I like to lay out my components before I start to assemble the earrings.

For this project, I’m using wood circles with two holes. There are various sizes, but I like the .675 inch ones.

Attach components and earring hooks

The basic fishhook earrings below are easy to work with. With thin materials, you can place an earring material directly into the circle on the bottom of the hook. With leather backed cork, I need to use jump rings to attach to the wood component. Because of the thickness of the wood components, I use larger jump rings (7mm) for this project.

Working with Earrings Hooks and Jump Rings

To work with hooks and jump rings, you’ll need two pair of pliers or a pair of pliers with a jump ring tool. You can get the two tools below along with a full kit of earring hooks and jump rings AND sheets of faux leather in this inexpensive DIY earring kit on Amazon. It is the perfect starter set and a great gift for anyone that likes to DIY.

The jump ring tool and pliers below come in the starter kit. Keep in mind that this is an inexpensive starter kit and doesn’t have the highest quality hooks and jump rings. I don’t use these hooks or jump rings for the earrings in my shop. But I still use my pliers and jump ring tool years later!

Make sure your earring will face forward.

If your hook has a non-perpendicular loop, you’ll need to turn it so that the loop is perpendicular. OR.. You could add an extra jump ringing which would also get the hanging earring to face forward instead of

Of course, you’ll want the earring to face forward. There are three options you can take for this.

Purchase earring hooks with a perpendicular loop. These are harder to find and you’ll normally need to pay a little bit more for them. Here are some antique bronze ones. Here are some silver ones.
Add a second jump ring to the earring, assuming that you’re already planning to use one. The second one will turn the design to face forward.
Use your pliers to carefully turn the hook loop to be perpendicular. This is the option I typically use.

Take a close look at the image below and find the side that isn’t connected.

Using Jump Rings

A jump ring isn’t closed. This means with the right tools, you can open it to put on the earring components and dangle the earring from the hook. In this project, I also used them to connect the wood pieces.

When using jump rings, I first decide which size of jump rings I will use. A 4mm jump ring is good if you only have one item or a couple of thin items. A 6mm jump ring will hold a bit thicker material. When I’m using wood components I use 7mm jump rings.

Gather up a couple of jump rings in the size you need.

These are the two tools that I use to open and close my jump rings. They’re both in this awesome starter kit.

I hold one side of the jump ring with my pliers. With my other hand, I use my jump ring tool to push one side of the jump ring back (to open). It is important not to open the jump ring by pulling them to the left and right. If you do it that way, it will be hard to close the jump ring, while keeping the shape. Instead, push the ring back/front to open the jump ring.

Note: If you’re using the jump ring tool, find the slot on the tool that is sized right for the jump ring.

Put a hook onto a jump ring for each earring.

I like to start by putting a jump ring onto the hook and then close the jump ring. I do this before I even begin to put the earring components onto a jump ring.

That’s It! These leather backed cork earrings are done.

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My Favorite Faux Leather

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