Lemon Slice Earrings

The idea for these came from someone I met while waiting in a queue. Hers were made by a woman from Botswana. The idea that you can wear fruit has pretty much changed my life.

 

How it's done

You will need

• Two similar sized slices of any citrus fruit ( I grew this lemon myself but being that cool is optional, you could just buy  one) 
• 1 Oven
• Varnish
• Stud earring bases (See Vocab Tab)
• Scissors
• Super Glue

Method

Dry out the fruit slices in the oven on the lowest possible temperature. This takes a couple of hours and a lot of checking because you want to get rid of the moisture but no the colour or shape. You can tell when they're dry by poking them regularly. This is probably not the best way to dry them out but it is the easiest.

Once they are dry, cut out a segment along the lines the fruit provides to make space to attach the stud (as in the picture). Then give them a couple of coats of varnish. I used a water-based varnish because it's what I had and they smelt a little funky for a couple of days but now they're fine.

Finally, super glue the stud to the inside of your cut-out segment, making sure that you have left yourself enough room to slide the butterfly on and off easily.

Rating

 

Patience Needed: 6/10

 

Nothing especially tricky about the process. I was just really excited for them to dry.

Durability: 7/10

 

I wouldn't submerge them in fire or water but they're basically rubberized fruit slices so if they are dried and varnished properly, they should last fairly well.

Cool Factor: 8/10

The 8 is leaving room for optimism that there are better ideas out there but these get some brilliant reactions.  I mean, you're wearing fruit on your ears. It's definitely cool.