From the Repair Desk: How To Turn Pierced Earrings into Clip Earrings

We get this request a lot. Sometimes it is very easy, just remove the clip top and add the dangle to a clip top. Boom!

Other times, not so easy. 

When that happens, when a pair of earrings has an integrated post on a fancy top, we use a secret that I want to let you know about. The product Crystal Clay is perfect for filling in and attaching a clip where a post used to be. 

This two-part clay is easy to mix and can be placed in the space vacated by a snipped-off post. The pads for clip on earrings will attach nicely to the clay and we haven't found ANYTHING it does not hold, super-tight.

In the case of these earrings, we removed the post and the small bar that had been soldered in to hold the post in place using wire cutters. We then rolled a very small amount of Crystal Clay into a small ball (one for each earring) and then placed the clip finding in the space. We used a clip finding with a small ball atop the bar for this specific pair of earrings as the back of the earring was dented in a bit and the ball sat nicely in the space, held by the Crystal Clay.

We always allow the Crystal Clay to dry for 24 hours before giving the repair back to the customer. 

Some Crystal Clay tips: 

• ALWAYS wear the gloves, this stuff isn't deadly, but it isn't good for you either.
• Put down waxed paper to work on to keep the clay from getting on your table.
• Keep the clay OFF sparkles, stones, crystal and metal you aren't sticking to anything. It can be a bit hard to remove small bits of it, so neatness counts.
• The metallic colors aren't THAT metallic, so keep that in mind when you are planning the repair. The color we used, Gold, wasn't all that Gold, but it was all discretely hidden behind the earring top so it didn't matter MUCH. My favorite all-around color is the copper, It kinda looks like most metals. Kinda.
• Use the product sparingly. It does not take much. 
• The product ages and has a 'best used before' date on the package. We find that it works just fine for another six months to a year, but if you are interested in trying some NOW we've got a bit of it on sale that is marked down due to age. It will still work just fine for you, and you can try it at a huge discount! Click here to see the colors available. 

(note, this offer is only good until the 'past date' product sells out, so if you are interested, act fast!)