Upcycle Jewellery tutorial

         Make a bracelet from cherry

                     pip beads

You will need:
-Cherries
-Small drill bit, 1.5mm
-Elastic thread
-Needle
-Drill or a Dremel 
 
Fruit seeds and pips were used during the prehistory to make beads. They were probably the earliest kind of jewellery along with shells, feathers and bone. They are still used in country that have abundant supply's of lovely coloured seeds such as Brazil. Here in Europe, there are a few that can be used and cherry pips are easy to get hold of. For this tutorial I have used wild cherries, they are smaller and plentiful in the hedgerows in western France but you can use shop bought, the pips will be larger.

Cleaning the pips
Although wild cherries are bitter it is possible to cook them up with some sugar and eat them. Simmer slowly until the pulp comes off the pip. If you have shop bought or garden cherries then all you have to do is eat them and clean them inside your mouth.

Wash, scrub if necessary and dry, when they are dry rub them together to get rid of the bits of dried cherry that might be left. 

 

Drill a hole through the pip ( there is a natural dip at the top of the cherry so start here) The pip is hollow, drill through the first section and continue to the second bit do not apply too much pressure as it will slightly crack the outside of the pip.
String the pip beads on the elastic  thread. You could also make necklaces and earrings with the beads.

The darker cherry pip on this bracelet were found on the ground under the tree they seem to have been coloured by the rotting pulp.

The natural oils on the skin will in time give the bracelet a lovely patina.

Did you know that there has been a long tradition of making herbal tea from the cherry stems, it is used as a diuretic. Here is a link to a recipe.