These recycled glass earrings are eco-friendly and made by flameworking bits from bottles, adding pigment and lots of love!

How I make these recycled glass beads for my earrings.  I first collect old discarded bottles from restaurants and bars.  I wash them with soap and water and remove the labels.  I then cut up the bottles by first removing the neck (tops) and the bottoms, and finally cutting the center part of the bottles into useable size pieces.   Again,  I wash all of the pieces very carefully, because those cut edges are knife sharp!!

I light my flameworking torch and proceed to melt and shape this recycled glass into the recycled glass jewelry you see here.

What is flameworking?  Flameworking is just like glass blowing, only better.  I use an oxygen/propane torch to melt the bottles back into its original state, and then shape this molten glass into these beautiful flat disks.

The color of these pieces are enhanced by using a fired-on pigment.

Each pair of recycled glass earrings has a character of its own.  Each glass bead has its own shape and color.  I love using bottles, which also helps clean up the desert and landfills.  I also love using enamels.  (Note:  each lot of enamels may have a slightly different hue than what is pictured in my list )

Each bead is lined with a sterling silver rivet that I carefully insert, and a black rubber accent to tie the design all together.

The ear wires are also handmade by me, and are super comfortable to wear.  They have a hook in the back, so that it minimizes losing them.

These recycled glass earrings are fully annealed.

The ear wire drops (from the top of the loop, to the center of the bead) approximately 1 3/8″ (If you want a shorter ear wire, let me know in the order comments, and I will swap out to the shorter ear wire… approx. 1″ in length)

The beads size is approximately 1 – 1 1/8″ in diameter.

These earrings are extremely light.  You will forget you are wearing them