Yea, I said it. What does a lime have to do with this post…absolutely nothing! But, the drill and other tools do play a big part in the process.
Just because I wasn’t raised on an island doesn’t mean I don’t have the island spirit. At a very young age I remember my mom’s coconut shell earrings. She used to tell me stories about how they were sold on the streets of Havana to tourists who visited the island. I always wondered how they made earrings and jewelry from coconuts. Fast forward…
So now I love to create unique jewelry pieces from scratch and have been doing so for many years. I see the coconut shell beads and larger components for sale all the time but…I wanted to see how difficult it was to make my own. So off I went to the store with my hubby to buy coconuts.
I bought three of them, and made sure to shake them just like Mom did. I think this ensures that they are fresh. I did everything the way I remember the old girl doing in my childhood. I soaked the coconuts in a bucket…I don’t know why. After a little while I cracked the coconuts with the hammer and used a butter knife to separate the inside from the shell.
I let the shells dry overnight so in the meantime…I had to do something with all that coconut. So again, another trip down childhood lane…coconut candy. I grated almost all the coconut, combined water, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, a dash of salt, and a tiny bit of corn syrup. I let it cook on low until the coconut was tender…YUMMY! A little will do you, a lot of calories but a nice treat.
Back to the earrings…can you say messy? The amount of dust from grinding is unbelievable but the end results are just beautiful. Under all that hairy stuff is this gorgeous shell that resembles wood. Sometimes the striations are so different. I must make sure that I’m picking shells from the same coconut or they don’t match. I wish I’d known that prior to throwing all the shells n a bag!
Anyhow, enjoy browsing our coconut earrings. More to come real soon, after the dust clears. Happy shopping!