Glitter iron on shamrocks are perfect for these Saint Patrick’s Day DIY earrings!
These diy St Patrick’s Day leather earrings are the perfect way to put GREEN into your outfit on St. Patrick’s Day. And they’re super easy to make with a Cricut machine, leather, glitter iron on, and earring hooks. You can cut the leather (or faux leather) with your Cricut Explore, Cricut Air 2, or Cricut Maker. This tutorial will walk you through the steps to make the project, and will provide project photos, a YouTube video, and links to project supplies.
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Check out my favorite diy earring essentials list on my Amazon storefront here!
Check out my favorite diy earring materials list on my Amazon storefront here!
Details for making these St Patrick’s Day leather earrings can be seen in my YouTube video below.
What You’ll Need to make these St Patrick’s Day leather earrings:
- Cricut Machine – I recommend the Cricut Explore Air 2 or the Cricut Maker.
- White Genuine Leather
- Green Glitter Iron On
- Earring supplies – earring hooks, jump rings, pliers, jump ring tool. This is the kit that I bought on Amazon and love it! It has a bundle of faux leather sheets as well as all of the tools you’ll need to make earrings.
- Earring wire hooks with balls – I used this style of hook for these earrings. They’re super easy to use and the ball kind of looks like the star on the top of the tree.
- Cricut Cutting Mats – You need new or very sticky cutting mats.
- Standard Green Mats – for faux leather, cork, and faux suede.
- Stronggrip Purple mats – for genuine leather
- Cricut Easy Press – There are a few options. All work, but I usually use a 9″ x 9″.
- Cricut Easy Press Mat
- Basic Cricut Tools
- Leather hole punch (Larger holes, smallest is 2)
- Leather hole punch – I just got this one and love it. The holes are smaller than the punch above. I use both, depending on the earring.
- Earring Backs
- Here is what I use to smooth my leather edges.
- Toothpicks that can be used to apply above onto edges of leather to smooth.
HOW TO MAKE DIY EARRINGS
Select an earring template and upload it into Cricut Design Space.
You can find many templates for your earrings on Pinterest and Etsy. Many bloggers offer them for free and others are available for sale on the Etsy website.
I bought this St. Patrick’s Day svg bundle and used it for this project.
Open Cricut Design Space and start a new project
Start a new project to make these St Patrick’s Day leather earrings by clicking on the + icon.
Upload Image, if not already uploaded
Upload the cut file for this project, by clicking on the upload icon on the left and navigate to the file on your computer.
I always recommend adding tags when uploading new files. Pick words that you would type in if you were looking for the file. This makes it much easier to search for the file when you’re looking for it in the future.
Insert the cut file onto the canvas of your new project.
Click on the Images icon on the left.
Tip: To easily find my upload files, I usually filter by files that I have uploaded. Click on the Filter option.
Click on “Uploaded.”
Select the cut file you want to use. It will have a green box around it when selected. Then, click on the Insert Image button in lower, right-hand corner.
Once you’ve inserted the image onto the canvas, you can see the dimensions of the file you’ve inserted in the height and width field.
This is what the file for our St Patrick’s Day leather earrings file looks like after being added to the canvas. It’s huge.
Re-size the diy faux leather earrings, if needed.
An earring size is a personal preference, but here are some general dimensions.
- Small teardrops – 1 3/4 inches
- Large teardrops – 2 1/2 inches
You’ll want to decide the height of your earring based on personal preference.
For this project, I’m going to create an earring with a 2″ height. You can modify that number if you want your earrings bigger or smaller.
Hide Any Necessary Elements Using the Contour Button
For this project, I don’t want the shamrocks to cut out of the earring so I need to hide the shamrocks. I do this by using the Contour button.
Select the teardrop image and then click on the Contour button.
Click on the shamrock shape. When it is shaded, it indicates that you’ve selected it to be hidden. Once the shamrock is selected (shaded), click on the X in the upper-right-hand corner to exit.
Your teardrop will now be on your mat without the shamrock cutout.
Duplicate the teardrop.
Click on the teardrop image and then once selected, click on the Duplicate button.
Decide if you need additional teardrops.
I often glue teardrops back-to-back so that the backside of the earring is as cute as the front side. I like to do this because earrings often move and turn and this makes it cute from all angles.
I’m not going to do that for these earrings because my white genuine leather has a pretty white back side.
Duplicate another teardrop to create the shamrocks.
This seems a little strange, because you’re duplicating a blank teardrop. However, the shamrock is still in the teardrop even though you can’t see it. Remember, you just HID it in an earlier step.
Select the teardrop by clicking it and click on the duplicate button.
Use the Contour Button to unhide the shamrock and hide the teardrop.
Click on one of the teardrops and then click on the Contour button in the lower right-hand corner.
FIRST, click on the shamrock to unhide the shamrock (it should not be shaded). You need to do this first, before hiding the teardrop. Then, click on the image that looks like the teardrop (it should be shaded). Once the tear drop and the circle (which represents the earring hole) is shaded click the X in the upper right hand corner. This will hide the teardrop and only the shamrock shape will remain.
Duplicate the shamrock.
Click on the shamrock to select it and then click on the Duplicate button.
Change earring components to the right color.
You will need to change the color of either the teardrops or the shamrocks because you’ll be cutting those on two different mats. One mat will have your earring material (leather, faux leather, faux suede or cork) and the other mat will have your heat transfer vinyl (your iron on material).
For these St. Patrick’s Day leather earrings, I’ll make the teardrops a white color. I do this by left clicking while I draw a box around the teardrops and then click on the color box next to Cut.
MAKE IT
Once your mat has all the earring components ready to cut, click on the Make It button to cut your St. Patrick’s Day leather earrings.
On the left you’ll see the different mats that will need to be cut.
Set the Cricut machine on the right setting.
On the Cricut Explore, turn your dial on your Cricut Explore to Custom. This lets you look at the long list of materials. You will need to select a material for EACH mat.
Click on the Browse All Materials link to see the menu of materials options on your Cricut.
For your faux leather, if it is Cricut faux leather, you’ll select the Cricut faux leather option from the Browse materials menu (Faux Leather Paper Thin).
If you’re using non-Cricut faux leather, the Shimmer Leather option normally works best.
For your iron on material, just look at the options in the Iron On category and pick the one that matches your material.
Move the 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.
If prompted to do so (when cutting genuine leather) push the wheels to the right. They may be on there tight so put some strength behind it. You won’t be prompted to do this step for faux leather.
Make sure you’re using the right blade.
You can cut faux leather, faux suede, cork, and leather on the Cricut Explore and Cricut Maker. When cutting Cricut’s faux leather 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.
Place your material on the cutting mat(s).
Before you put the material on the mat, you’ll want to look at the back of it to determine what is is made of.
Also, I like to determine how much of the material will be cut. Typically, it is less than 3″ of material, meaning only about 3″ of the mat needs to be exposed. I then place my plastic Cricut mat cover back onto my mat about 3″ down from the top of the cutting area. I do this so that I don’t put the material on top of the mat where I’m not cutting it. This keeps me from losing the stickiness on my mat. I don’t like to pre-cut my material because I want minimize waste of the material. Note: Don’t do this if you’re using a Cricut Maker because it pulls the whole mat into the machine. When I use my Maker, I do the same thing, but with parchment paper.
Once I place my plastic on top of the mat, I put the material onto the mat, face down (good side down).
After placing the material on the mat, you can use a Cricut Brayer roller to press it nicely onto your mat.
Heat Transfer Materials (Iron On)
The shinny side of iron-on material should face down and the dull side faces up – always when cutting the heat transfer vinyl.
Sometimes I have to tape my iron on material to the mat to help hold it.
Weed the vinyl.
Once the vinyl is cut, use the Cricut weeder, to remove all unnecessary pieces of the vinyl. I have used a toothpick in the absence of a weeder before.
Complete the Heat Transfer Process (Iron On)
I use a Cricut Easy Press to apply heat transfer vinyl to my earrings. Before owning an Easy Press, I used an iron. It works, but the easy press just does a much better job and it is easy to control the temperature. I love, love, love mine. For Christmas I want to get the mini one! Here are some Cricut Easy Press options.
Pre-heat the Cricut Easy Press
When you’re ready to use your Cricut, turn it on and set the temperature.
Cricut provides a guide with your easy press, but I always just look it up online whenever I’m doing a project. You can just google search “cricut easy press heat guide.”
Tap on the type of Cricut Easy Press that you’re using. Then select the heat transfer material you are using. Then select the type of base material you’re using (what you’re ironing onto). And finally, select whether you’re using the Cricut Easy Press mat or a towel.
After tapping “Apply” it lets you know the temperature setting for the project. It also shares how long you should keep the press on your project and it tells you whether to remove the transfer material while it is warm or cool.
Here are some Cricut Easy Press mat options from Amazon.
Once the easy press is heated, place it on the Cricut Easy Press mat for about 5 seconds.
Then I like to heat the leather for just a few sections because it helps hold the heat transfer vinyl in place when I put it on. I put a piece of parchment paper on the leather before I put the Cricut Easy Press 2 on it.
Place your earrings on the mat and then place the iron-on vinyl on top of the earrings. Make sure you have them placed where you want them.
Set the Easy Press 2 onto the leather for a few seconds.
I like to cut closely around the image that is about to be ironed on.
Place the Shamrock on the earrings and then use the Cricut Easy Press 2 to adhere them.
Once I place my shamrock on, I put parchment paper on top of it before using the Cricut Easy Press/
Once I get one done, I add the Shamrock to the other one, looking at the first one to ensure the placement onto the leather teardrop is similar.
Set the Easy Press onto the second earring. Don’t forget to press the green button as that is what starts the timer. I don’t apply any pressure because it just isn’t necessary on faux leather earrings.
Peel back the transfer material.
Glue earring pieces together, if necessary.
As I mentioned earlier, 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.
To do this, I glue two earrings together using Crafter’s Pick Glue.
Trim any felt, fuzz, or glue from the earrings.
Using a pair of sharp scissors, trim fuzz from around the St Patrick’s Day leather 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 this burnishing agent. I apply it with a tooth pick 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 faux leather earrings. The tool linked above cuts through multiple layers of the earring at the same time. Here is an option for a smaller hole leather punch.
Gather necessary earring components and tools to finish your diy faux leather earrings.
It doesn’t take much to put together earrings. You either need a couple of pairs of pliers or a jump ring tool and one pair of pliers. 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. Great for you if you’re getting started and a great gift for anyone that likes to DIY.
Open the jump ring.
If you’re using hooks with jump rings, see the tips below.
A jump ring isn’t closed. This means with the right tools, you can open it to put on the earring components.
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.
My new best practice is to put a jump ring onto the hook and to close the jump ring. I do this before I even begin to put the earring components onto the second jump ring. I use two jump rings on each earring. Having the second jump rings turns the earring so that it faces to the front.
Put earrings and hook into a jump ring.
Once you’ve added a jump ring to a hook, you can attach that to the second jump ring, on which you also add the rest of the earring components.
Wire Earrings with Balls on End
Lately, instead of the regular earring hooks, I’ve been using the hooks with balls at the end. They’re a tad more expensive but they’re SUPER easy and I love how earrings look hanging from them. Here are a few options for those earrings.
Sometimes, I need to use pliers to pull the ball forward just a bit so that the earring can slide onto it.
And that’s it! Your St Patrick’s Day leather earrings are finished!
If you enjoy making diy faux leather earrings, check out my other posts below.
Everyday Earrings DIY
- Leather Bar Earrings DIY
- How to Emboss Leather Earrings
- DIY Angled Fringe Earrings
- Leather Circle Earrings
- DIY Fringe Leaf-Shaped Earrings
- Cross leather earrings
- FRI-YAY Leather Earring DIY
- Leather Bar Earrings DIY (with metal charm)
- How to Make Genuine Leather Earrings
- Statement Earrings
- Teardrop Cork Earrings
- Hollow Faux Leather Earrings – Teardrop and Leaf Shaped
- Faux Leather Tall Stacked Earrings
- Faux Leather Circle Earrings
- Split Teardrop Faux Leather Earrings
- Faux Leather Stacked Marquise Earrings
- Stacked, wavy earrings – KSU
- Faux leather leaf cutout earrings
- Faux Leather earrings with fringe
- Faux Leather Teardrop Earrings
- Faux Leather Bar Earrings
- Faux Leather Leaf Earrings
Sports
- Football Earrings – Teardrop with football cut out
- Stacked Football earrings
- Chiefs Football Teardrop Earrings
- Chiefs Heart Teardrop Earrings
- Chiefs Arrowhead Earrings
- Chiefs Arrowhead on Teardrop Earrings
My Favorite Leather
My Favorite Faux Leather
- Cork Sheet Haul
- Beans and Peanuts (cork faux leather sheets)
- Art of Fabric Folding
- Pink Antler Sparkle
Valentine’s Day Earrings
- 40 Great Valentine’s Day DIY Earrings
- LOVE Leather Earrings DIY
- Valentine’s Day earrings DIY (heart shape)
- Heart Earrings DIY (Iron On)
- Heart Earrings DIY (with heart cutout)
- DIY Valentine’s Day Earrings
St. Patrick’s Day Earrings
Winter-Themed Earrings DIY
- Snowflake Cutout Teardrop Faux Leather Earrings
- Snowman Leather Iron On Earrings
- Buffalo Check Snowman Cutout Earrings
Christmas -Themed Earrings DIY
- Buffalo check with Christmas Tree cutout
- Reindeer Iron Onto Teardrop Earrings
- Dangling Christmas Tree Earrings
- Reindeer cutout Earrings
- Ugly Christmas Sweater Earrings
