You can make these unique Gold Shamrock Leather Earrings, too, using your Cricut cutting machine and some faux leather!
I finally cracked open my new Cricut Maker for the first time for this fun project! I was so reluctant to give up my Explore Air 2 because I knew how to use it well and didn’t look forward to the learning curve I’d have with a new machine. Of course, testing out a new machine while also trying out a new type of craft at the same time probably wasn’t my brightest idea, lol, but I think these cute Gold Shamrock Leather Earrings are worth all of the facepalm moments I had making them.
The great part is that I can share with you all of the issues I faced and hopefully spare you some heartache in the process. I will say, once I figured out my blade problem, these earrings were super easy and quick to make and they will be for you, too! Let’s get started!
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Gold Shamrock Leather Earrings Materials
- Cricut Maker (although I’m seeing now my Explore could have done this, too.)
- Cricut Strong Grip Mat or Newish Standard Grip Mat
- Cricut Deep Point Blade and Housing (The Black One)
- Cricut Access
- Cricut Metallic Leather in Gold
- 2 Kidney Hook Earrings (The Ones that Close)
Gold Shamrock Leather Earrings Steps
1: Open a new project in Design Space and select the Image button. Search for “shamrock.” I found this one towards the bottom and it didn’t have any other name but “Shamrock.”. FYI, you’ll need Cricut Access to get this image for free. Select the image and then the Insert Images button.
2: Back in Design Space, select the shamrock image and then right-click to Ungroup it.
3: Separate the shamrock image into the three layers and delete the second and third bottom layers, leaving the most detailed, top layer only.
4: Insert a heart shape using the Shapes button on the left side menu.
5: Resize and rotate the heart to fit into one of the clover leaves as shown. The rotation for this one is 312.8º.
6: Duplicate the heart three times and then rotate and position those hearts into their own leaves so you have four hearts total as shown. The rotations for these are: top right, 36.64°; bottom right, 123.83°; and bottom left, 221.51°.
7: Insert a circle from the Shapes button and resize it to fit into the center of the shamrock. I made my circle .319 inches by .319 inches.
8: Select all six images and right-click to Group all the images together.
9: Then resize the grouped image to be approximately 1.5 inches wide. (I tried sizing down the shamrock first, before adding the hearts and circle, but it was too small and difficult to work with at that size.)
10: Select the grouped images and right-click to Attach the images together.
11: Now select the attached images and click Duplicate over on the top right.
12: Flip one of the attached shamrocks horizontally so that the stem curves in the opposite direction than the first one.
13: Click SAVE and name your project. Now click Make It. Check to make sure you see all the cut lines you want. Then select the Continue button.
14: Set your Base Material to Metallic Leather and click Done.
15: Load your Deep Point Blade into your machine. Place your leather square, gold side down, onto the mat, and load it into the machine. It says to use a Strong Grip Mat, but I had a new, sticky Standard Mat that worked perfectly fine. Then push that blinking Cricut button on your machine to cut!
NOTE: The packaging instructions said I needed to use the new Maker only Knife Blade, Cricut’s Design Space, however, says to use the Deep Point Blade. When I initially went to cut these, I had the Knife Blade loaded and got an error message in Design Space to load the Deep Point Blade instead. Despite the packaging saying the Deep Point Blade is for the Explore, it also still works in the Maker. It’s what you have to use to cut all the thicker materials like foam and felt and leather.
16: After the earrings have finished cutting, remove them from the mat. You’ll likely need to “dust” them off or remove any excess material from the back of the leather. (Later on, I painted the backs with clear nail polish to keep them from shedding further.) If you like, you could save the little leather hearts to make stud earrings later!
17: Insert one earring hook into the top left or right open heart of each Shamrock. You want the stems to point inwards toward the neck. Or maybe you don’t, lol, your choice.
If you prefer, you could also add a jump ring to the shamrock first and then attach the kidney loop to that jump ring. I just didn’t have any gold jump rings on hand or I would have added them.
That’s it! These Gold Shamrock Leather Earrings took less than 10 minutes to make, not including designing them. I think they’d make a nice subtle but festive accessory for St. Patrick’s Day or really any day you need a little extra luck! The fact that they are lightweight just adds to the appeal. Larger (ish) earrings can be fun, but not if they’re so heavy they drag your earlobes down. These earrings measure only 1¼ inches long from the earlobe, so they’re not that big, though. You could easily resize these to be much bigger if that’s your style, too. So what do you think? Would you sport these lucky leather earrings?
Whenever you decide to wear them, these Gold Shamrock Leather Earrings are sure to bring you the luck of the Irish!
If you’re looking for more Cricut crafts for St. Patrick’s Day, be sure to check out how I made this Kiss Me I’m Irish Wood Shamrock Sign!
And if you’re looking for more inspiration for St. Patrick’s Day wearables, why not make something for your dog like this cute Dog Bandana from a Dollar Store Scarf?
And if you’d love to see some other amazing St. Patrick’s Day Projects you can make with your Cricut, check out what the other crafty ladies have created!
Gold Shamrock Leather Earrings from The Inspiration Vault
St. Patrick’s Day Blessed Iron-On from The How To Home
St. Patrick’s Day Letter Board Banner from Our Crafty Mom
St. Patrick’s Day Mini Wreath Banner from Create & Babble
Shamrock Subway Art from Red Cottage Chronicles
Rae Dunn Inspired St. Patrick’s Day Sign from Cookies, Coffee and Crafts
These are super cute! I was happy to give up my Explore for the Maker just because it didn’t always cut great. I’ve noticed a huge difference in the Maker. I’m intrigued by this because what does the knife blade cut? Just wood? I love Cricut, but I always need something new.