The Little Earrings That Could

Earlier this week, I posted my finished brooch from my Fashion Institute of Technology class. I'm now proud to present my first completed project from the class: earrings!

I made a wax model of the earrings (over on the left). This took insane patience and a steady hand, which meant no coffee and a lot of swearing.

Using a needle attached to a wine cork and a tea candle, I melted the wax wires together to create what now appears to be a pretzel on top of Lincoln Logs with a swirly underneath. (Didn't really plan for it to look that way, but pretzels are innovative... right?)

When the wax model was complete, I very carefully packed it in a jar with cushioning and dropped it off at Roni Casting in midtown to be cast in brass. These jewelry services in midtown are amazing because they're all in populated areas, but they have no signage so you have to be in a secret jeweler club to even know where they are. Getting inside was like entering the headquarters in Get Smart, except a little shiftier.

The finished product looked vintage, which I kind of liked. I had to do a lot of drilling and sanding and filing and stone setting to get them to look decent, but I think it looked pretty good for my first turn at wax models!