Fruit themed designs are always popular. There are some who even make jewelry from real fruit  - see this past post which also covers the difference between freeze drying and dehydrating.

However, this collection celebrates the beaded kind! Use these tutorials not just for jewelry like earrings and pendants, but as charms for bags and keychains. Or even as ornaments as you can see from the beaded citrus fruit slices shown above by Anna of  BeadedFlowersDesign.

Next is the seed beed berry earrings tutorial shown above by BeadClubCopenhagen. 


She also have even smaller designs here :



Looking for a beading challenge? Consider the 3D kaleidocycle summer fruit design tutorial by DiMarcaOnline.



Beaded fringe earrings fan? Here is one from BRDofCA. 


She also has a cherry version, shown below :



This juicy looking berry earrings tutorial by the mother and daughter duo from SimpleBeadPatterns looks good enough to eat!!



How to Make a Bergamot Box from Real Orange Peel

In the 18th century, the royal court ladies of King Louis XV adored highly decorated little containers for perfume, trinkets, candy, powder, snuff and so on. The artisans of Grasse which already grew bergamot oranges for the fragrance industry came up with the idea of making little boxes out of orange peel. The results were exquisite as you can see from these examples from the  Musee du Parfum in Paris :


The bark was detached from the fruit, turned inside out, then dried on a wooden mandrel to shape it. Once stiff, it was covered in cardboard, coated with chalk and glue, then decorated with painted and varnished patterns. The case came in spherical, flat, oval, heart, boat, basket and rectangular shapes, or in the shape of famous characters.
Watch this quick video on how to make your own :


Naturally, modern manufacturing means our little boxes are made from other things. However, if you appreciate such craftsmanship, there are artisans who still make them today such as CitrusHandcrafts. This trinket box design is called Butterfly and Flower and was hand burned onto the peel. 


Before You Go:

jewelry making supplies

Disclosure 

This blog may contain affiliate links. I do receive a small fee for any products purchased through affiliate links. This goes towards the support of this blog and to provide resource information to readers. The opinions expressed are solely my own. They would be the same whether or not I receive any compensation. 
 ______________________________ 
Original Post by THE BEADING GEM