Home At Last Earrings

I'm home now, but I lived about as far away from here as I could possibly have, without leaving the country, that is. Born and raised in Washington State, in a suburb of Seattle, I spent 11 years living in Central, East Coast Florida. While I loved the palm trees and the warm ocean, I was homesick the entire 11 years.

I remember reading somewhere that every animal has a habitat, even people. I used to wonder if maybe I was like a salmon, yearning to return to my place of birth. I live so close to my birthplace now that I actually know the people who own the house my family owned when I was born! I've been home for almost 9 years now, and I am thankful every day.

With that feeling of thankfulness, I set out to make these earrings.

I call them "Home At Last" earrings, and they are made from air-dry paper clay and copper wire.

Here's how I made them:  First I rolled out the paper clay with a rolling pin and cut out two house shapes with a craft knife. I then used the knife to make the outline of the roof line, slicing the clay only about halfway through. Then I found a little piece of metal that had a rectangular shape and stamped the doors and windows into it. I poked a piece of 20 gauge copper wire into the clay and let it dry for three days. Then I put Mod Podge onto the surfaces and dusted the houses with pastel-toned Pearl-Ex powders, finishing them with a top-coating of more Mod Podge. For the circles, I used a chasing hammer on the 18 gauge wire and wrapped it three times around a round handle, finishing by wrapping the tails around the larger circles. Then I made the wrapped loops at the tops of the houses, attaching them to the copper circles. I finished with vintage flowers, puffy hearts and antique copper french earwires. 

It certainly does feel good to be home at last, and wearing these earrings reminds me never to take that feeling for granted!

Until next time!

Leaving you with this quote:  "There is nothing half so pleasant as coming home again." Mary Elizabeth Sangster