I've been wanting to make little Christmas light bulb earrings for a couple years now. I started them at one point and wasn't 100% happy with them, so in true me fashion, I put them aside for a couple years. I decided to revisit them this year and am happy I did because I decided to shrink them down and make dangle cluster earrings and think they came out great! I'll talk about designing them in Tinkercad, the work I did with them in the Slicer, and finally how I assembled the earrings with jump rings. I, of course, made them rainbow as well!

I hope you enjoy by Christmas light bulb dangle cluster earrings!

Instructable 397

Supplies

3D Print Files - you can find the different files and print profiles FREE on MakerWorld
3D Printer
3D Print Filament of choice
Transparent PETG bundle the bundle I got isn't available anymore, but it was from this brand.
I used a silver for the bases of all the bulbs and then different colors for the tops. Let me know if you want to know any specifics of what I used
Needle Nose Pliers - two are recommended for jump rings
Flush Cutters - cleaning up prints
Torch - cleaning up prints
I use a pointy clay tool for picking the support out of the bulb base; if you do these in two parts you might need something for that
Ear wires - I like stainless steel
Glue - only necessary if you print the two part ones
Jump Rings, I use stainless steel - I get mine mostly from JewelryToolBox on Etsy
6mm 20 gauge (.8mm) jump rings for on the light bulbs
6mm 18 gauge (1mm) jump rings for attaching the clusters together, you could just use the 20 gauge

Any links are Amazon Associates Links

Step 1: Design in Tinkercad

I designed everything in Tinkercad. I used shapes from the Basic Shapes section of the shapes panel. Sometimes it can be hard to show, so I made a couple gifs showing how they were each made.

The bulb has a weird line around it in the CAD program but that doesn't show up in the Slicer so I didn't worry about it.

Step 2: Slicer Settings

Once i had the files, I needed to get things set up in the slicer.

The main thing was I wanted fuzzy skin on the bulb and not the base. I used modifier blocks to control where the fuzzy skin would be. I also had the seam be random since the point was to hide it in the fuzzy skin.

I also controlled where the support would be on the bases because it wanted to put too much that wasn't really necessary.

Lastly, to help with printing these small shapes, I decided to do the .08mm settings for the base that was printed individually and the full bulb. The one that was just the bulb, I just did in .2mm settings.

I also used brims to help hold these small parts to the plate.

Step 3: Clean Up Prints

Time to clean up the prints!

I used a flush cutter to trim off the brims and anything else I didn't want in there (any imperfections). I also used the torch after trimming as I find that helps get rid of the white color that gets left behind when you cut the print/filament.

Now do this for ALL THE BULBS!

Step 4: Glue If Necessary

If you printed the version with the bulb and base together, don't worry about this step.

If you printed them separately, you'll need to glue them together and let them dry before moving on. Make sure to get it in the base.

Step 5: Assemble Earrings - Add Jump Rings

Start by putting the 6mm 20 gauge (.8mm) jump rings on all the bulbs you need. I liked to put the ring on, close it, and then rotate it so the ends were hidden inside the bulbs.

I found it easiest to do all of these first in the earring making process.

Step 6: Assemble Earrings - Make Cluster

Once you have all the bulbs ready, you want to add them to the earring. These are going to be done two per jump ring.

Open a 6mm 18 gauge (1mm) jump ring and attach it to the earring loop and two of the bulbs.
Close up the jump ring.
Open another jump ring and put it so it will be between the two bulbs on the first jump ring.
Add two more bulbs and close it up.
Again, open another jump ring and go between the two bulbs on the previous jump ring and add two more bulbs.
Repeat until you are done.
Doing this creates the cluster look

Now repeat for your other earring and you are done! If you have an even amount your last jump ring should just have two hanging there. If you have an uneven amount, doing three on the last should be okay.

Step 7: Finished Earrings!

Here are the three sets I did: pastel, transparent, and metallic colors. I also printed off some in a multi colored filament and a chaotic multi colored filament, but I haven't finished those yet.

I think these turned out great and they could be fun even longer! There really is no limit for length.

You could also try doing a necklace to go along with them.

Introduction: Christmas Bulb Dangle Cluster Earrings