These earrings for your bridesmaids boast BFF-worthy qualities (they're hip, handmade, and look expensive) -- yet they cost just a few dollars.

The charming illustrations for the backing were created for us by Virginia-based illustrator Katy Jean May. If you like the style but want something different, you can commission her to draw something for you. Reach her at 215-356-9513. 

Ours are sized to fit into a 2-1/8- by-3-inch jewelry box. The images are designed to have the larger white space toward the bottom of the box.

Tools and Materials
Pushpin
12-millimeter yellow jade beads, Fun2Bead
Acorns, Dry Nature Designs
1 1/2-millimeter gold ball pin, 24-gauge fish hook earring, both Toho Shoji N.Y.
PDFs (Tree Card 1, Tree Card 2, Tree Card 3)
Stiff paper or card stock
Craft knife
Metal straightedge
Small Japanese hole punch
3-by-2-1/8-by-1-inch Natural Kraft jewelry box (stock No. 6K), Nashville Wraps

Acorn Earrings How-To
1. With a pushpin, poke hole through acorn cap from underneath. 

2. Slide bead and cap onto a jewelry finding called a head pin.

3. With needle-nose pliers, make a loop just above the cap, and cut away extra wire.

4. Slide a hook on. 

Backing How-To
1. Download the PDFs (Tree Card 1, Tree Card 2, Tree Card 3), and print onto stiff paper or card stock. Use a craft knife and metal straightedge to cut between the crop marks; do not cut all the way to the edges of the paper, but leave them intact to preserve the crop marks for subsequent cuts.

2. Use a small Japanese hole punch to make two holes along each branch for the earrings.