Mum makes £10k-a-year hand-crafting earrings and bracelets out of - BEER cans
- 5 days ago
A mum makes more than £10k-a-year hand-crafting earrings and bracelets out of - beer cans.
Carys Miles, 40, launched her unique business, Craft Beerings, five years ago after finishing a can of craft beer.
Fascinated by the quirky and colourful designs of the cans and desperate for a creative venture, Carys got to work.
She decided to carefully cut and flatten the vibrant cans before cutting them into different shapes - such as studs, hearts and lightning bolts.
The raw material is then dried out before being applied to earring mounts - with Carys able to make five pairs of earrings from one can.
Though she usually batch-makes the earrings, Carys says she can convert a can to a pair in just 30 minutes.
She doesn't add any gloss to the final earrings, with some pairs featuring shiny overlays whilst others are more papery, representing the true texture of the can.
Carys made over 960 pairs of the earrings last year and sells them online and at craft fairs for between £10 - £17.50.
Carys, who runs the business full-time , from Colchester, Essex, said: "My husband and I started drinking craft beer and noticed how pretty the cans were.
"I needed a creative outlet and thought I could do something with them.
"I've always liked big bold earrings so it started to work well and other people thought they were funky.
"A local bottle shop in Colchester really liked them and he started selling them straight away and I was at my first craft market within two weeks.
"I didn't realise how well-appreciated my pieces were but we're doing six beer festivals this year.
"My love is in upcycling and I've made a few pin badges and they've been well received."
In terms of sourcing the cans, Carys and her husband's love for craft beer is their primary source of can collecting.
She added: "As people have got to know what we do sometimes craft breweries have some empties for us and they like seeing earrings made from their cans."
Carys' business picked up an award at the Essex Small Business Awards.
Carys' instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craftbeerings/
Carys Miles, 40, launched her unique business, Craft Beerings, five years ago after finishing a can of craft beer.
Fascinated by the quirky and colourful designs of the cans and desperate for a creative venture, Carys got to work.
She decided to carefully cut and flatten the vibrant cans before cutting them into different shapes - such as studs, hearts and lightning bolts.
The raw material is then dried out before being applied to earring mounts - with Carys able to make five pairs of earrings from one can.
Though she usually batch-makes the earrings, Carys says she can convert a can to a pair in just 30 minutes.
She doesn't add any gloss to the final earrings, with some pairs featuring shiny overlays whilst others are more papery, representing the true texture of the can.
Carys made over 960 pairs of the earrings last year and sells them online and at craft fairs for between £10 - £17.50.
Carys, who runs the business full-time , from Colchester, Essex, said: "My husband and I started drinking craft beer and noticed how pretty the cans were.
"I needed a creative outlet and thought I could do something with them.
"I've always liked big bold earrings so it started to work well and other people thought they were funky.
"A local bottle shop in Colchester really liked them and he started selling them straight away and I was at my first craft market within two weeks.
"I didn't realise how well-appreciated my pieces were but we're doing six beer festivals this year.
"My love is in upcycling and I've made a few pin badges and they've been well received."
In terms of sourcing the cans, Carys and her husband's love for craft beer is their primary source of can collecting.
She added: "As people have got to know what we do sometimes craft breweries have some empties for us and they like seeing earrings made from their cans."
Carys' business picked up an award at the Essex Small Business Awards.
Carys' instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craftbeerings/