3 Ways to Update Your Hoop Earrings

Hoop earrings are a pretty popular accessory and seem to have been a jewelry box staple for quite some time. Simple hoops can match a multitude of outfits, but they also make great bases for some fun DIY projects. Updating hoop earrings can be really easy or a little more tricky, but all of these projects are fun to make and would even make a great idea for a Christmas or Birthday gift.

Easy Peasy

One of the most simple ways to customize your hoop earrings is to slide beads onto the hoop itself.

Tools & Materials

Earring hoops
Assorted beads
Assorted charms

You can use any type of beads, so long as they fit into the hoop and you could even introduce charms into the mix too! To add a charm to your earrings you may want to pop a jump ring through the loop on the charm and thread the jump ring onto the hoop.

This updating idea works well on hoops of all sizes and because you’re not glueing or adding anything permanent, you could change up your beads and charms to suit whatever outfit you’re wearing!

FUN IDEA: You could create a DIY jewelry kit as a gift – package up the plain hoop earrings with little pouches of beads and charms that you know would suit the person they’re for. This would be the perfect present for someone who likes to customize their look or just for someone who likes to get crafty in their spare time.

A Little Trickier

This is a great way to add beads around the circumference of your hoop earring and you can use beads with smaller holes.

Tools & Materials

Hoops
Small beads such as round seed beads or Czech bicones
Wire
Wire cutter
Pliers

Step 1

Cut two lengths of wire that are longer than your hoops’ circumference. It’s better to have too much wire than not enough, so we recommend you cut 3 or 4 times the length of the circumference. If you’re wrapping the beads quite tightly together or have larger beads, you may want to cut more wire.

Step 2

Securely wrap your wire onto the hoop with a neat spiraling motion – you want the wire to be touching with each wrap (a bit like a spring).

If you find that this wrapped wire is not staying put, then you may want to dab a little glue under the wire to keep it from shifting about as you add the beads.

You might want to lay out your beaded design around the hoop to make sure you have enough beads and that you know which pattern you’re going to go for.

Step 3

Add your beads one at a time – thread a single bead onto the wire before wrapping the wire around, making sure your bead stays to the outside of the hoop (or inside if that’s the look you’re after). Then add your second bead in the same way and so on and so forth.

Step 4

Once you have added all of your beads around the hoop, you will want to create another tight coil of wire (just like step 2) to hold all of your beadwork in place.

Step 5

Repeat all of the steps above for your second hoop to create a matching pair!

A Bit Fiddly (and Time Consuming)

This technique of upcycling your hoop earrings may take a while, but the results are super quirky, bright and awesome.

Tools & materials

Hoops
Colorful threads
Scissors
Glue that dries clear and won’t change the color of your thread

Step 1

Once you’ve chosen your thread colors, tie one end of the thread to your hoop – we started at the front of the hoop, next to the earring post.

You could add a small amount of glue under this thread for extra stability.

Step 2

Start binding your hoop with the thread, making sure to wrap around the tail thread created from the knot. Keep this wrapping as tight as possible and make sure to cover the metal of the hoop completely.

Again, glue under this thread may help everything to stay put.

Step 3

To change to another color, create a knot with your first thread then tie your next thread in a knot around the tail end thread, right next to where you left off with the other color.

Step 4

Bind around the hoop and the thread tail ends (you could trim these down once they have been wrapped in slightly). Continue to change your color as many times as you want until the hoop is completely covered.

Step 5

Tie the last thread off securely – a dab of glue will be really helpful here to keep the thread from unraveling.

TIP: If you are alternating colors, you could leave the tails longer and just bind around the single threads until you need to use them again.

Let us know which design idea is your favorite, or let us know if you have even more ideas for upcycling a pair of old hooped earrings – we love sharing creativity, so hit us up on our socials!