International Charm Day - Feeling Just a Little Bit Fruity!

Most creative types will tell you that you can find inspiration everywhere, even when you're doing regular, everyday things and all it takes is for you to take the time to really see. Today, I found myself in that place whilst I was making lunch; there on the kitchen bench was the fruit bowl - gorgeous fresh, plump fruit - the inspiration for some fun charms for International Charm Day.

With just a bit of wire, a few seed beads and a wire jig, I'll show you how to make your own delicious fruity earrings. Make one of each as I did, or make a matching set of your favourite fruit.

You'll need some fruit shaped outlines to use as a template for your fruity earrings. Images from kids colouring in books are a good place to look but otherwise search the internet for simple outline shapes. Reduce them to about 2.5cm (1") and then place them under a wire jig. You can see that I couldn't line the pegs up exactly over the lines of the image but that's OK because you'll adjust the shapes later.

Cut off a length of wire about 30cm (12") long and wind it around the pegs making sure that you have the same amount of wire left on each side. I'm working with 26g wire.

Remove the wire shape from the jig and thread on an assortment of seed beads. I've used cherry red, chocolate brown and lime.

Twist the ends together at the neck to keep the beads in place.

Create two leaves and then wrap the wires neatly around the stem. Pinch the ends of the leaves between your thumb and forefinger to create a point and then shape the leaves. Trim away the tails.