Leather Leaf Earrings

I wanted to make my wife a gift for valentine's day. In the past I have made her some wooden earrings, but I have recently been exploring the world of leatherwork so I thought I would try my hand at some leather earrings instead.

If you want to see my wife open the gift, check out the video at the top of the page.

Below are links to tools and materials I used in this article. It is either the exact tool/supply or something very close.

2-3oz leather

X-Acto knife

Leather tool set

Edge beveler set

Leather dye (optional)

1/2" drill bit

Scrap wood

1/2" dowel

Band saw (or handsaw)

Clamp

Leather hole punch

Jump rings

Pliers

Fish hook earrings

Note: The links in this article are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

I have just started in leather, but I decided to go all in and buy some large leather hides which are kind of unwieldy if you are making a small project. I decided to cut a small bit off. I only really needed a piece about 3"x3" but I cut a larger one so that I would have extra material in case I screwed up.

The first version of these earrings I made I just cut them out by eye, but I figured that some people may prefer to have a template. I traced my prototype digitally and created the attached template. It should print out properly on 8.5"x11" paper.

I cut the shape out from the template using an x-acto knife. I used the template to trace out the shape onto the leather. I then repeated this to make two leaf shapes.

To carve the vein details I used a tool that came in my leather kit that was called a "leather glue tool". It seemed to have a sharpened edge and reminded me of other leather caving tools I have seen. But if you have a swivel knife than this is the time to use it!

I first wet the leather using a damp rag. I have heard that getting it too wet doesn't make for a good carving experience, so I made sure not to drench the leather.

I then used the tool to carve a line down the center. I then carved out veins that were coming from the center down to the tip. I put 5 on each side.

After waiting for the leather to dry I decided to treat the edge. I first sanded any points and rough bits off the edge. Sanding the edge of leather can cause it to mushroom.

To combat this mushroom effect I used an edge beveler tool. If you don't have an edge beveler tool you can just round over the edges with more sanding, but I find this takes more time.

I then put some gum tragacath on the edge and used my slicking tool to burnish the edge. You could also use tokinole or beeswax depending on your taste.

I chose to dye the leather. I wish I had some fun colours like red or green, but I only have black and dark brown dye. For my dye it says to use a foam brush to paint it on and then let it dry. Subsequent coats can be applied for any missing/streaky bits. But you should follow your leather dye instructions.

tip: when dying a small piece like this it can be difficult to hold the piece. I use an ice pick as the tip of it is very thin and doesn't leave a noticeably mark in the dye.

In order to give the leaf a 3d appearance I decided to wet mold the leather. I used a small bit of scrap wood about 4" long and drilled two 1/2" holes in it. The important part here is to ensure that the holes were very close together, but not overlapping.

I used a forstner bit, but I think a coventional bit would work just as well.

I took the wood with two holes in it over to my band saw. I cut a line so that the hole was cut in half. If you don't have a bandsaw this could be done with a handsaw as well.

I then cut some 1/2" dowel to about the same length as the mold. These will be added into the 1/2" holes of the mold and will be used to make the shape of the leaf.

tip: If you want the best results you can sand the mold to make sure there are no rough edges.

The first step in wet forming is to get the leather wet. I put the leather in water and kept checking until it felt much more pliable. It took about 60-90 seconds, but it could take less/more time depending on your leather.

Taking the mold from the previous step, I placed the dowels into one side. I then lined up the center vein in the lead with the line that formed between the two dowels. I put on the top of the mold and clamped it together. I did not clamp it down tight, just enough to transfer the basic form of the mold. If you clamp it too tight all of the textures of the wood will transfer into the leather.

After taking the leather out of the mold I used my hole punch to add some holes. I used the 2mm setting on the punch and added two holes at the top of the lead. They are positioned at the halfway mark between the center vein and the edge of the leather.

In order to add the jump ring I needed to wet the end of the leather. Then I was able to pinch it together and feed the jump ring through the holes. Before closing it up I added the earring hook. I then used some pliers to close the jump rings.

tip: If you don't have jewelry pliers, add tape to your regular pliers to prevent them from scratching the jump rings.

Anytime you make a gift, the best part is seeing it being opened and in my case I get to share that with you. You can check out the video at the top of the page to see my wife's reaction in real time, or just enjoy the snap shot I took. These were a really fun project to make and I hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did. If you want to see more from me, feel free to follow me on other social media:
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If this project inspires you to make your own leather leaf earrings I would love to see them. Please share them on here and if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments below.