Skull Earrings DIY

These skull earrings are perfect for Halloween!

I had so much fun with this skull earrings DIY. I made so pairs with many different designs and materials. OIn this post, I’ll show you several versions of this faux leather earrings Halloween project. I’ll link up my materials to help you repeat the project with the same materials. I’ll also share how-to basics for creating faux leather earrings with a Cricut machine.

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Faux leather earrings and genuine leather earrings are easy to make by cutting the leather and faux leather on your Cricut machine. You can easily cut all of these materials on a Cricut Explore Air or Cricut Maker. Cut the leather materials and add earring jump rings and hooks and you’re ready to go.

Check out my favorite earring essentials on Amazon here!
Check out my favorite earring materials on Amazon here!

Check out my skull diy faux leather earrings project video below.

My Favorite Cricut Machine Options

Cricut Maker 4 Smart Cutting Machine

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Cricut Explore 4 - Smart Cutting Machine

$198.51

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Cutting Tool and Accessory Essentials

Must Have Earring Tools

Must-Have Earring Findings

Silicone Earring Backs

$3.99

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Earring Display Cards with Backs and Bags

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Heat Press Essentials

Heat Transfer Vinyl

I used to only purchase Cricut brand HTV; however, the colors are very limited. I know enjoy the large range of HTV colors available on Amazon. Check them out here.

Project Photos

blue and white faux leather – This cut so nicely! (used shimmer leather option on the Cricut machine)

camo faux leather – I cut these using the shimmered leather option on the Cricut machine.

burgundy and blue floral cork faux leather – I cut these using the shimmered leather option on the Cricut machine.

double-sided silver glitter faux leather – I love this double sided glitter faux leather from Amazon. It cuts nicely on amazon. I use it for teardrops all the time.

multi-color floral faux leather cork – I cut these using the shimmered leather option on the Cricut machine.

blue cheetah – I cut these using the shimmered leather option on the Cricut machine.

baby cheetah – I cut these using the shimmered leather option on the Cricut machine.

thin black cork sheets – I used Heat N Bond to adhere two pieces back to back. This made it look great on both sides and gave the thickness necessary to prevent rolling of the material.

Blue floral doodle faux leather – I cut these using the shimmered leather option on the Cricut machine.

double-sided faux leather – I LOVE this double-sided faux leather kit on Amazon. I have ordered this item A LOT! I love it because it cuts very nicely on my Cricut and it looks great on both sides! I did have to trim around the detail of the cut.

SVG File

You can find many templates for your earrings on Design Bundles, Pinterest and Etsy. Some bloggers offer them for free and others are available for sale on various websites.

I looked at a lot of skull designs and ended up purchasing this skull svg file.

Materials Cricut Settings

Click on the Browse All Materials link to see the menu of materials options on your Cricut.

When I use non-Cricut faux leather, the Shimmer Leather option normally works best for me. For this skull earrings diy, I used the Shimmered Leather option for all of the cork single sided earrings. For the Hobby Lobby double-sided cork, I used the Shimmered Leather option.

I needed to trim all of the cut cork sheets wherever there was detail (bottom of the skull and the eyes). The regular faux leather cut beautifully.

Selecting a material from the Browse all materials menu on Cricut Design Space for your Cricut machine

I used the genuine leather setting when cutting my double sided faux leather materials. I tend to use the genuine leather setting when I use Heat n Bond to adhere two thicker pieces of faux leather together (making double-sided faux leather) before I make my cuts.

Star Wheels

The Cricut machine has star wheels to keep materials from shifting during cutting. However, when cutting thicker materials, the star wheels can leave track marks. When you select a material from the browse menu that is thicker, the Cricut machine will prompt you to move the star wheels to the right. Be sure to move the star wheels when cutting genuine leather so that you don’t get track marks on your genuine leather.

Placing material on the cutting mat(s)

The approach you use to place the material on your mat plays a big role in your material cutting success.

Using an extremely sticky mat is one of the most important keys to get a good cut in the material. Some people attach the material to the mat with tape. I’m not a big fan of this because while it keeps the leather down on the edges, this approach doesn’t help the hold on other parts of the leather. For this reason, you won’t see me use tape very often.

That said, I always use tape any time I am cutting chunky glitter faux leather. I do this because the chunky glitter faux leather and fine glitter faux leather will not stick to the mat, regardless of how sticky the mat is.

Regardless of the material type, I always start by putting transfer tape on my mat. This approach keeps my mat clean and it also holds the material down really well (with the exception of glitter sheets) because it’s super sticky . Lately, I’ve been using this bulk contact paper which is saving me money every time I use it.

Placing material on the Cricut mat

I’m often asked, “Do you place the material on the Cricut mat with the good sign facing up or down?” My answer is that it depends.

I used to always face my materials on the mat with the good side facing down. But a lot has changed for me over the years, and more specifically recently as I’ve begun to cut more printed and soft textured leathers.

There is nothing worse than buying beautiful printed leather and pulling it up from your mat to find that some of the print has pulled off. For this reason, I’ve begun to place these items (printed leathers) onto my mat with the good side facing up. But beware, if you don’t have transfer tape on your mat you will leave a BIG mess behind.

For chunky glitter, I place my faux leather glitter sheet onto the mat with the glitter side facing down and then tape the piece onto the mat.

I normally place my faux leather onto the mat with the good side facing down. And when cutting cork sheets, I most often put the material onto my mat with the good side facing up. I’ve cut it with the good side facing down as well, and it works that way too. Often, my material is adhered back to back prior to my cut (with Heat n Bond), so a good side has to be facing down.

Using a Cricut Brayer

After placing the material on the mat, I always use a Cricut Brayer roller to press it nicely onto the mat. Again, getting a good stick of the material onto the mat is SUPER important for a good cut.

using cricut brayer to press cork onto the cricut mat

Size of Earrings

The size of earrings is a matter of preference.

For this project, I made the skulls 1.75″ long. The great thing about diy faux leather earrings is that you can make them as big or as small as you like!

Making Earrings Two Sided

The back of some faux leather and faux suede earrings aren’t very attractive because they are often canvas or felt. I often cut an extra faux leather or faux suede piece for the back of the earring and I glue a second piece to the back of it. This way if the earring turns, the felt or canvas isn’t exposed.

There are two approaches I take to do this.

Sometimes I cut the earrings and then glue them back to back. To do this, I glue two earrings together using either Crafter’s Pick Fabric glue or Aleene’s Fabric Glue.
I adhere two pieces of faux leather or cork sheets together using Heat n Bond BEFORE I cut the leather. This is my new FAVORITE way to work. By gluing them together before I cut, my cuts are beautiful and it saves me a ton of time.

Steps to Make Double Sided Faux Leather

Cut the size of material needed. I first reference the size of the cut on the mat and make sure I have enough for two pieces that size.

I cut pieces of Heat N Bond the same size as the pieces of the material. Put the Heat N Bond onto the piece of material with the textured side facing the back side of the material.

putting heat n bond on back of hobby lobby cork for faux leather earrings

I then used my Cricut Press to adhere the Heat N Bond to the material. It only takes about 10 seconds or less (at about 280 degrees).

One the material has cooled, I pulled the backing off of each piece of material.

Then I put the two pieces together with the good sides of the cork facing outwards. Then, I covered the cork with parchment paper. Once covered, I put the Cricut Easy Press on the project for about ten seconds.

Cutting the Material

You can cut faux leather, faux suede, cork, and leather on the Cricut Explore Air and Cricut Maker.

When cutting faux leather, cork sheets, and faux suede, you can use the Cricut standard fine point blade.

If you’re cutting genuine leather, you’ll need to use the Cricut deep blade. When I am working with a really thick glitter sheet or double sided faux leather, I do sometimes change to a deep cut blade and select “genuine leather” as the setting.

cutting halloween earrings on a Cricut machine

Trim any felt, fuzz, or glue from the earrings.

Using a pair of leather scissors, trim fuzz from around the earrings. Be very careful not to cut any of the earring, you’re only cutting the fuzz off of your leather earrings.

You can also smooth the earring by using a burnishing agent. I apply it with a toothpick along the edges. It’s great because it smooths the leather and helps better define the edges.

Place a hole in the top of the earring.

I use a leather punch to put the holes in my DIY leather earrings. The tool linked above cuts through multiple layers of the earring at the same time and punches larger holes (2mm is the smallest).

Ball Wire Hooks

For these earrings, I chose to use ball wire earrings. These are super easy to use because you simply pull the earring onto the hook. I normally don’t even need pliers to work with these kinds of hooks.