This semester in InnovatED we did a project called “Recycled jewellery”. This involved the process of taking apart recycled beads, making them into bracelets and selling them at a market. Here is how we did it.
Starting:
In the first lesson we took apart beads from old necklaces, bracelets and pendants. We did this by cutting the string, pulling of the beads and organizing them into containers. This was very vigorous and took lots of patience as we had to pull apart each bead one by one and put them into tiny compartments. As a distraction tool, we were told to talk about things we liked including our hobby’s. In the next few lessons, we designed the bracelets we wanted to make, while looking at the bead options and thinking what colours would go together.
Me and Halle made a few bracelets using our chosen beads while also being taught how to use clasps and string. Ms Elscot taught us one method on how to use these clasps and how to tie the string. This was a tricky process as the black string was quite slippery and the doing up the clasps and crimping was very fiddley. We had to use lots of patience to complete this task. We ended up making about 3 or 4 bracelets that we were happy with and handed them to Miss L.
Preparing for the market:
We were told that the $20 Boss market was coming up and they wanted us to sell our bracelets. We also didn’t just want bracelets to be sold, we wanted other products. We made other items such as rings, keychains and phone charms. I was going to go with my idea of making keychains, but instead stuck with phone charms as they are more popular and I know they were going to be sold quickly. This used the same process as making the bracelets, but without the clasps and crimps. I sort of had an idea of what beads I wanted to use but I mainly just made my design up on the spot and it ended up looking great. I made 2 phone charms which were sold at the market along with a heap of others. To sell all of our products, we hung the bracelets and phone charms up on a cork board with pins. This was great display as you could see the products very clearly and the bright coloured beads stood out against the board.
The market:
I was not one of the students selling our products but I did come to the market and from what I saw, our stall was very popular. There was another stall also selling the same products as us which some students in our group were worried about. We had to think about what it was about our products that were different to this other stall and stood out more. Our products were all made from unwanted, recycled jewellery and the profit was going to charity. This factor made people sure that they were practically donating to a good cause, and they got a cool product out of it as well.