Dressing up is definitely encouraged in the Harry Potter fandom. If you want to wear a full Hogwarts robe, complete with scarf, wand, and a Fantastic Beasts textbook, then you absolutely should do so. But sometimes, you just want to represent your love of Harry Potter without tripping on your Ravenclaw regalia. I get it. So if you're looking to incorporate more subtle Harry Potter accessories into your everyday wardrobe, you definitely need to make yourself a pair of these simple DIY lightning bolt earrings. You can complete them in one afternoon, and when you're finished, you'll have a statement piece that Potterheads and the uninitiated will love.
These earrings are so easy to DIY, you might even consider making a pair for your bestie or your co-worker who loves everything Harry Potter. They're the perfect present for the Potterhead who already has more Harry Potter mugs, Harry Potter candles, Harry Potter collectable books, and Harry Potter home accessories than they can handle.
Find out how to lightning bolt earrings below, and get the details on 29 other Harry Potter crafts in The Unofficial Guide to Crafting the World of Harry Potter by Jamie Harrington, available wherever books are sold.
Lightning Scar Earrings
Harry’s scar is a big deal, and so are these Lightning Scar Earrings! You can use them to top off your Potter-themed outfit, or you can just wear them on their own. And if you want to branch out beyond the scar, you can make all sorts of different Potter-tastic symbols like glasses, scarves, or even a Deathly Hallows symbol!
What You Need:
- 1 Shrinky Dinks sheet
- Colored pencil (I used black, but you can use any color you like.)
- Scissors
- Parchment paper
- Cookie sheet
- Spatula
- Hot glue gun and glue
- 2 flat earring posts and earring backs (It doesn’t matter what size or color, and when you buy the posts, they will come with backs.)
How to Make It:
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F, then use a colored pencil to draw 2 same-sized lightning bolts on the rough side of your Shrinky Dinks paper. Make sure to draw these about three times larger than you want your earrings to be as these will shrink in the oven.
2. On the rough side of the Shrinky Dinks paper, color in the lightning bolts with your colored pencil, then use your scissors to cut them out. Take your time cutting them out, because you want them to look awesome.
3. Place the parchment paper on the cookie sheet, then lay your lightning bolts on the parchment paper rough side up, making sure they don’t touch. (They will melt together if they do.) Bake them for 1–3 minutes in the oven. You have to watch them while they bake. They will curl up while they are shrinking and then flatten out.
4. When they’ve flattened out, pull them out of the oven and use your spatula to push down and make sure they are super flat. Let them sit for 5 minutes or until cool to the touch.
5. Use your glue gun to glue the earring posts to the back of your lightning bolts. (Note: the back is the rough/duller side that you colored with your pencils.) Hold the earring posts to the lightning bolts for a few seconds until the glue sets up.
6. Once your glue is hard, your Lightning Scar Earrings are ready to wear!
Transfiguration Tips
If earrings aren’t your thing, feel free to make lightning scar key chains instead! All you need to do is make a small hole in the charm and then slip it on a key ring and you’ll have Harry Potter with you whenever you use your keys.
Excerpted from The Unofficial Guide to Crafting the World of Harry Potter by Jamie Harrington. Copyright © 2016 F+W Media, Inc. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved. Photos courtesy of iStockphoto.com and F+W Media, Inc.
