DIY Snowman Earrings

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How to Make Snowman Earrings with a Cricut

I’ve gotten so many comments and compliments about my winter and Christmas holiday earrings! If you’ve missed them, be sure to check out my Gnome Earrings and my Santa & Candy Cane Earrings. I’m so glad everyone is enjoying them. I have received a lot of requests for snowman earrings, though so I wanted to make sure to design those for everyone who has asked. So here they are! What do you think?

If you haven’t tried making earrings with your Cricut using faux leather and layered heat transfer vinyl, this is a great project to try. You can make these Winter Snowman Earrings with the Cricut Maker, an Explore Air 2 or even the Cricut Joy! (If you plan to use the Cricut Joy, you’ll want to check out this post first to to learn a few tips and tricks about cutting faux leather with a Cricut Joy.)

In this tutorial, I’ll give you my step by step instructions and tell you exactly what materials I used to make this project.

A link to download my original SVG file for this project is in the Materials list below.

If you’d rather watch a video tutorial, click on my Snowman Earrings YouTube video below:

Ready? Let’s get started!

Want to see all of my Cricut earring & jewelry tutorials? CLICK HERE

This post contains some affiliate links (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link, I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you). Read my full disclosure policy here.

Snowman Earrings – Materials List

• A vinyl cutting machine. I have the Cricut Maker, which you can get at Amazon here or at Cricut.com. You can also use the Cricut Explore Air 2 or even the new Cricut Joy!

• White Faux Leather. I used this smooth white faux leather from Amazon. If you can’t find smooth, you can also use pebbled faux leather, like this one from Amazon.

• Heat Transfer Vinyl in assorted colors. I used Siser Glitter HTV in Royal Blue, and Siser Easyweed in Orange, Black, and Red (for the striped scarf version).

• Optional: Foil Iron On for the earring back. I used Cricut brand Foil Iron On in Royal Blue but you could also use Siser Easyweed in White, or any HTV you’d like.

• Cricut Strong Grip (Purple) Cutting Mat. You can buy these on Amazon here.

• Cricut Standard Grip (Green) Cutting Mat. Available on Amazon here.

• Blue painter’s tape. This will help keep your faux leather in place on your mat. You can get it at any hardware store and most big box or grocery stores. Amazon also has it here.

• A weeding tool. I use the weeding tool that came with my Cricut tool set from Amazon here.

• Cricut Easy Press Mini or small Easy Press.

• Cricut EasyPress Mat. I like the 8×10 size for making earrings.

• Teflon Cover Sheet or Parchment Paper.

• Small curved scissors – I love these curved scissors from Amazon.

• A small hole punch (for punching earring holes in the faux leather). This is my go-to hole punch for making Cricut earrings from Amazon here.

• Earring hooks – I used these silver toned shepherd’s earring hooks from Amazon.

• Small jump rings – I used the silver toned jump rings from this assortment of 6mm size jump rings in different metal finishes from Amazon here. You could also use 5mm size jump rings if necessary.

• Two pairs of flat nose pliers – My favorites are Wubbers brand in the “Baby” size. My everyday use pliers are the Baby Wubbers Chain Nose Pliers and the Baby Wubbers Flat Nose Pliers.

• The SVG file template for these Snowman earrings. It’s Design #155 in my free resource library. You can get the password to my library instantly by filling out the form below, or at the bottom of this post.
  

NOTE: This design is for PERSONAL USE ONLY. If you’d like to sell earrings made from my Snowman Earrings SVG templates, you may purchase a Commercial Use License from my shop here.

DIY Snowman Earrings – PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS

STEP 1 – Download the SVG Cut Files

Download my free Snowman Earrings SVG file (#155) from my Resource Library. (If you don’t have a password to the library, fill out the form above and it will be emailed to you instantly.)

Save the zipped folder that downloads to your computer. Then unzip the folder to access the folder’s contents. You’ll need to unzip or extract the files FIRST so you can upload the cutting file to Cricut Design Space.

STEP 2 – Upload the SVG File to Cricut Design Space

If you need help uploading a file to Cricut Design Space, click here, or watch the YouTube video for this project which has step-by-step file uploading directions.

There are two versions of the snowman earrings – one with a solid scarf, and one with a striped scarf. I recommend cutting the striped scarf version with regular heat transfer vinyl, not glitter. If you want to make glitter scarf earrings, use the solid scarf version. (The striped scarf has some small areas to weed, which may be very challenging to do with glitter heat transfer vinyl.)

When the snowman earring shapes are on your canvas, hide (or delete) the layers for the earrings you aren’t going to make now clicking on the eye next to the layers you want to hide.

These earrings are already appropriately sized for earrings. You can resize them larger if you’d like, but I don’t recommend sizing them down any smaller. They will get too hard to weed.

This snowman earring design doesn’t have pre-cut earring holes – I’ll be using a hole punch to make the holes after the layers are assembled.

Click the green MAKE IT button.

STEP 3 – Preview the Cutting Mats & Cut the Faux Leather To Size

The mat preview screens will load. The Cricut will cut one faux leather layer and 3 heat transfer vinyl layers (the scarf, the hat and face, and the nose), all on separate mats. It’s not necessary to mirror the mats for these project.

Click on each mat in the mat preview on the left and make a note of this size material you’ll need to cut so the snowman earring shapes cut out completely. For example, in the white faux leather mat preview below, the size material to cut is about 3.5 inches wide and about 3 inches tall.

After cutting the white faux leather to size, press the green CONTINUE button.

STEP 4 – Make Material Selections

Now you’ll select your material for the first mat. I suggest cutting the faux leather mat first.

Note: If you’re using a Cricut Explore Air 2, turn your dial to “Custom” so you can choose the setting recommended below. If you’re using the Cricut Joy, set the machine to cut with a mat and then select the material setting below. You won’t have a purple cutting mat, but follow the directions below using the green mat.

I already have Faux Leather (Paper Thin) saved as a favorite material in Cricut Design Space like I do below, you can click on it to select it.

If not, click on “Browse All Materials” to search for this setting. Type “faux leather” in the search bar and click on the magnifying glass.

When Faux Leather (Paper Thin) appears, click on it to select it. Click on the yellow star on the right if you want to add this material setting to your “Favorites” so you can find it easily again in the future. Then click DONE.

After you’ve selected Faux Leather (Paper Thin) as your material, choose MORE from the Pressure dropdown menu:

Now it’s time to prepare the faux leather mat for cutting. But first, I want to show you a trick I like to use to add a decorative backing to the faux leather BEFORE cutting.

OPTIONAL – Add Foil Iron On to the Back of the Faux Leather Before Cutting

In one layer earring designs like this one, the faux leather has a tendency to curl a little. To add some structure, I like to take the optional step of adding a heat transfer vinyl backing to the faux leather before cutting. This also makes earrings look more finished. I’ll be using foil iron-on in this project, but you could also use solid or glitter HTV.

NOTE: If you want to learn more about different ways to put a backing on faux leather earrings, check out my YouTube video called What To Put On The Back of Faux Leather Earrings.

Cut a piece of foil iron-on (or the heat transfer vinyl of your choice) in a size that is just slightly smaller than your faux leather piece.

Using an Easy Press Mini or an Easy Press and a cover sheet (teflon sheet or parchment paper) press the foil iron on to the back of the faux leather. Peel the cover sheet off of the foil or vinyl and let it cool.

STEP 5 – Cut Faux Leather Mat

Place your cut piece of white faux leather pretty side down (foil side up if you put foil on the back) in the top left corner of a sticky purple cutting mat.

Now tape all around the faux leather with blue painter’s tape. Press the material down to your mat firmly with your hands.

Load the prepared mat into the Cricut by lining the mat between the mat guides and then pressing the double arrows button. Be sure your white star wheels are moved out of the way so they don’t leave tracks on your faux leather!

The “C” Cricut button will start to flash, indicating the machine is ready to cut. Press the C button to begin the cut.

When the cut is finished, but before you unload the mat, use a sharp tool like your weeding tool and carefully lift the edge of the earring shapes to see if they cut all the way through. If they did, then click the double arrow button to unload the mat. If not, press the C button to make the cut again. It often takes two passes to cut faux leather completely, which is easy to do as long as you haven’t unloaded the mat.

STEP 6 – Cut Heat Transfer Vinyl Mats

Return to Cricut Design Space to start cutting the heat transfer vinyl mats in the order shown on the mat preview screen. The settings you use will depend on whether you are using solid HTV, glitter HTV, or foil iron on.

I’m using regular Orange and Black HTV for the snowman earrings. I’m using glitter vinyl for the solid blue scarf pair, solid vinyl for the red striped scarf, and foil iron on for the solid green scarf earrings.

I use the Vinyl or Washi Sheet setting to cut regular heat transfer vinyl. I use Glitter Vinyl to cut glitter HTV, and Foil Iron-On to cut foil. I use the Default pressure for all vinyl cuts (I usually repeat the cut for glitter vinyl, however – just press the C button again to repeat the cut).

Place the vinyl shiny side down on a green cutting mat. Cut each vinyl mat using the appropriate cut setting and weed to remove the excess vinyl.

NOTE: I mentioned in my YouTube video that I recommend using solid HTV if you want to make the striped scarf version of these earrings. Here’s why. The little tiny cut outs in the striped scarf would be very difficult to weed if it was cut from glitter vinyl.

STEP 7 – Press the Vinyl onto the Faux Leather

Using an Easy Press Mini (on the lowest temperature setting) or an Easy Press (set to about 275 degrees), press the vinyl layers one at a time onto the snowman faux leather shape. Do the black hat and eyes layer first. Line up the black vinyl layer onto the snowman and then lay the layers on a heat pressing pad or towel.

Cover with a cover sheet (teflon sheet or parchment paper) before pressing. Press this layer for 5-7 seconds, just long enough for the layer to adhere to the layer below.

Peel away the carrier sheet carefully. If the vinyl lifts up with the carrier sheet, lay the carrier sheet back down again and press more.

Repeat with the orange nose, and then scarf.

Then press the layers of vinyl onto the other earring.

STEP 8 – Punch the Earring Holes

I’ll use a 1/16″ hole punch to punch the earring hole. These are the two punches I use: this hole punch and this hole punch. They both punch through layers of faux leather very cleanly. If you don’t have a hole punch, you can use a sharp object to make the hole.

Punch the hole in the top of one earring, making sure the hole isn’t too close to the edge. Then use that earring as a guide to punch a matching hole in the other earring.

Now it’s time to attach the earring hooks.

STEP 9 – Attach the Earring Hooks

To attach the earring hooks, you’ll need small jump rings, earring hooks, and two pairs of flat nose pliers.

To connect the earring hooks, you’ll first need to turn the bottom loop on the fishhook earring 90 degrees so your earrings will hang correctly. 

Grip the earring hook between your thumb and forefinger with one hand, and use flat nose pliers to grip the bottom earring hook loop. Twist the wrist holding the pliers firmly so the loop turns 90 degrees.

For more details on this technique, visit my post about how to make faux leather earrings hang straight here.

Once you’ve twisted both of the earring hook loops 90 degrees, use two pliers to grip each side of a 5mm or 6mm jump ring. Make sure the opening of the jump ring is facing up in the 12:00 position. Then twist one wrist to open the jump ring slightly without changing the circle shape.

With the jump ring open, slide on the faux leather earring, and then add the earring hook. Be sure the hook is facing in the right direction.

Then use the second pair of pliers again to grip both sides of the jump ring and twist the jump ring closed again.

Repeat with the second earring. That’s it!

If you do make this project, I would love to see your Snowman earrings! Please share a photo of them in the comments, or tag me on Instagram: @amyromeucreative

Want to see all of my Cricut earring & jewelry tutorials? CLICK HERE

WANT THE SVG FILE SO YOU MAKE THESE SNOWMAN EARRINGS YOURSELF?

You can get it from my FREE Resource Library by filling out the form below!

NOTE: This design is for PERSONAL USE ONLY. If you’d like to sell earrings made from my Snowman Earrings SVG templates, you may purchase a Commercial Use License from my shop here.

Want to remember this? Post this SNOWMAN EARRINGS project to your favorite Pinterest board!

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