From bottle to earrings

This week has been full of gorgeous, sunny, cloud-free skies - which means it's the perfect time to start stocking up on popular colors before the holiday rush!  I thought you might like to get a few peeks behind the scenes at how Sundrop Jewelry is made, from bottle to earrings!

I start with an empty bottle (Skyy Vodka is today's color - we won't go into how it got emptied, haha!), and use glass cutting tools to slice off the top and bottom, and cut the sides of the bottle into long skinny strips.

And here is why the weather matters...  On a clear sunny day like today, I can focus sunshine with my giant magnifying glass.  The focal point or "hot spot" is pretty small, about 1 cm in diameter, but it is super hot - about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit!  Watch the video below to see how quickly the glass starts to melt!

Once I've made a bunch of tiny teardrops, I finish them off by wire-wrapping in recycled sterling silver to make a loop.  For most designs, I use this minimalist wire-wrap...

... but for a few of my designs I add a more elaborate silver spiral wrapping down the entire teardrop, like these pairs, destined to become Lyra Earrings.

And here's the finished product - Cobalt Lyra Earrings!

Love these earrings?  Hop on over to my shop and grab a pair of your very own!  The Lyra Earrings are also available in a rainbow of other colors, or browse all the cobalt blue designs made from Skyy Vodka bottles!

By the way, they'd make a great holiday gift for the environmentalist in your life!  *wink*