These sparkly tinsel tassel earrings are so dramatic, so fun, and so gaudy— and I can’t wait to wear them (at home) on New Year’s Eve. (Because, after all, even my couch can appreciate a little sparkle to close out the year!) I’ll be sporting these to cook some Chinese pan fried noodles, drink champagne, and ring in 2024, but I’m willing to bet I’ll be wearing them at other times of the year too.
Tinsel tassels are made just like regular tassels, go figure! This pair of tassel earrings in particular has a unique twist, in that the tassel is looped onto a hoop earring. I really love this style, although I think the tassels could be made to attach to an earring hook too. I hope you have fun with this idea!
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Tinsel Tassel Earrings Materials
- 1000 strands of Tinsel
- Here’s the tinsel I used— 18” strands for 9” (ish) earrings
- A set of click-close hoop earrings
- I got these silver ones from Etsy
- Alternatively, I think the tinsel tassels could be made to attach to a regular earring hook too, with an extra piece of thread or a jump ring through the top of the tassel!
- Silver thread or embroidery floss
- I used a 3-thread floss by D.M.C. (D415) , also available at Michael’s.
- A needle
- This is optional, but I think it’s nice for making the earrings look finished.
- Scissors
How to make Tinsel Tassel Earrings, step-by-step
First, lay out the tinsel in a single layer.
(Pictured is 500 strands of tinsel, so 1000 strands will look like more.)
Note: Working with tinsel can be a bit fiddly, so have your patience ready and don’t worry if every strand isn’t perfect or if you lose a few strands!
Then, separate the tinsel in half so you have a bunch for each earring. (You can eyeball what half is!)
The easiest way to do this is to keep the tinsel laying flat. Grab the top half with your fingers, and hold the bottom half down with your other palm. Pull the top half with your fingers away from your palm, keeping the tinsel low and long. The tinsel will scrunch a little but that’s okay!
Leave one half of the tinsel aside and pinch the other half in the center.
Unclick one of the hoop earrings…
…then take the hoop earring under the pinched center of the tinsel, so the whole tinsel bunch is inside the earring.
Cut a length of the silver thread around 18” long. (You can eyeball this.)
Use your non-dominate hand to pinch the tinsel right under the hoop earring to hold it in place.
Then, take the center of the silver thread and slide it behind the earring and back of the tinsel.
Bring the thread around to the front of the earring and the tinsel, and wrap it around the tinsel tightly, about 6 times. Make sure it is tight.
The thread should squeeze the tinsel right under the earring tightly.
Put the earring down and tie a double knot.
(Do not pull too tightly or the thread will break!)
You can leave the thread on your earrings just like this, as the thread kind of blends in! But, I like to go on to the next step to make them look a little more finished.
Grab both pieces of thread and trim them so they’re even and un-frayed.
Then, thread the needle with both threads.
(This is difficult to do— alternatively, thread one at a time and do the next step with each thread separately.)
Poke the needle behind the wrapped thread into the center of the tinsel tassel…
…Find the needle inside the tassel and pull through.
Now your thread is hidden inside the tassel!
To tidy up your earring, hold the earring up and gently shake to let gravity straighten out some tangles.
You may also need to gently finger comb the tinsel. I find this works best with gravity, so hold the earring with one hand so the tinsel is hanging down, and then finger comb with the other (unlike my picture!
Last, tidy up the ends!
Hold the tinsel between your fingers like hair for a hair cut…
…then trim!
When both earrings are done, you can hold them together and trim them both to be sure they’re even.
Repeat all steps with the other earring, and you’ve got yourself a cute and fun set of tinsel tassel earrings!
I hope this post gives you a fun New Year’s Eve DIY project or party accessory (though in my opinion, any day is a great day for a sparkly accessory.) I think I’ll make another version of these earrings with silk embroidery floss in the future!
Happy New Year!
