Before you read any further, take a guess what this pendant is made from. You don't get any points for guessing a tagua bead! After all this is the latest Ecuadorian Hands' $60 tagua beads giveaway! But what is the metallic looking round thing in the middle?


 Tagua nuts come from the ivory palm trees of Central and South America. They are easily cut carved, dyed and coated with a thick protective varnish. These particular ones, which I received from Ecuadorian Hands, are most likely leftover sections after round discs have been cut out.  No two pieces are alike!

Did you guess I also used a shanked button?  I played around with several buttons and a few of the side drilled blackish tagua bead cutouts using a 1 mm leather cord for stringing.  The multiple unit idea swiftly died but I liked coupling leather to the tagua bead.  I also turned the tagua nut upside down and ignored the holes.


Instead of wiring in the shank button, I opted to use the 1 mm leather to make a simple macrame bail using square knots.  The leather also added some decorative detail as well as helped secure and stabilize the button which appears to "float" in the hole of the tagua nut bead.  The pendant was then hung on a stitched leather cord from Endless Leather.

Back of pendant


I like this contemporary style piece so much that it has made its way to my own jewelry collection!


Giveaway
If you would like to make tagua bead jewelry and perhaps do your part and raise awareness of the plight of elephants, then have a go at this Ecuadorian Hands giveaway for  $60 worth of tagua beads. Please make a comment below. Make sure you leave contact info if you do not have an online shop or blog.

Subscribers need to click on the post title to come to my actual blog. Scroll down and enter your comment. Pick Name/URL. If you don't have a store or blog, leave the URL blank. 

This giveaway is international.

Extra entries if you become or are a blog subscriber or follower etc. If you also do shout outs about this giveaway, those will count as additional entries too! Please say so in the comments.

It ends in a week's time at 6 pm EST Monday,  September 29, 2014 . I will pick the winner randomly and announce the results as soon as possible after. So be sure to leave a contact email if you don't have an online link or make sure you come back and check! Otherwise I will redraw in a week. Good luck!

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
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