I’ve rebuilt one of the Dia de las Muertos bone rings at last! This one now has a ‘feather’ theme.
First, a digression about finding cheap craft supplies:
Objects faced with bone, horn, and shell tiles have been part of the ‘neutral’ decorating trend for the past 15 years or so here in the USA. Jewelry made of these materials is always popular, even if it may have unsettling origins for some folks. Bone and horn pieces run from cream and gray to brown or black, and are mostly of water buffalo or cow origin. Shell tiles are usually oyster or mussel trimmed as flat as possible, with cream to yellow tones.
These picture frames, decorative vases, jewelry pieces, and clutch purses also end up in thrift and outlet stores, where people like me grab them. We know two important facts about bone, horn, and shell pieces:
- They are generally made with a wood or masonite core, and the surface sections are glued on like tiles…generally with water-reactive glue.
- If we ordered bone, horn, or shell tiles and blanks from knife-makers, piano and guitar restorers’ supply houses, or high-end craft stores, we’d pay fairly hefty prices for premium pieces.
However, if we’re willing to put in a little work, we can often get medium to premium-quality bone, horn, or shell tiles *on the cheap*, by stripping apart these (often damaged) thrift store finds. All it generally takes is warm soapy water, a bucket with a lid, and about 25 to 48 hours. The glue softens, the tiles come loose, and tada! pretty materials to craft with. (See note at end on material toxicity, before you try this at home!)
How cheap? I’ve found similar bone frames to the Wayfair piece for $3 at a local Goodwill. Another thrift store was selling off mosaic supply 1.25″ square shell tiles, $5 for a bag of 400 or so. A few weeks ago, I found four 4″ bone-surfaced square coasters for $2.
Like these:
These tiles are generally small enough to be in my comfort range of working (1×3″ or smaller), are usually trimmed very flat on the front, and have enough depth to be ground flat on the back for double-sided work. I can carve them with Dremel tools, or transfer laser-printed designs and paint over them.
They’re gorgeous for hand-painted work, too, though this example is a shell disk.
The pages of the Bone Feather ring were pieces of those bone coasters just a few weeks ago. I trimmed, drilled, and carved them in only a few hours, and spent less than an hour binding the pages to the ring platform. I didn’t have a feather pendant small enough to be the tassel for the ring, so I carved one up from a thicker bone tile.
The cream-white leather on this piece was recycled from a designer’s discarded showroom sample pack circa 1996. The bone ring was part of a closeout from Fire Mountain Gems, a couple of years ago.
The spiral bone bead is from a stash from Beads Galore, back in the day (a decade ago, or more.) I splurged two years ago for lovely flat-topped buffalo horn rings from Quecraft, because they’ll make perfect ring platforms. Her wares are stunning, and way better quality than my thrifting finds.
What I’ve changed on this piece: trimming the catch-pin so it doesn’t jut out so much, and simplifying the feather dangle.
Ring total dimensions: 5×1.5″, fits ring size 8. Pages .75x.66″.
Materials: bone, leather, dark brown waxed polyester, glass, acrylic stain.
Theme: feathers. Carved images include a writing quill, an ostrich feather, a flaming phoenix plume, a peacock feather, and Maat’s feather from Egyptian myth.
Note on material safety: DO NOT carve horn, shell, or bone (especially shell!) at home unless you are working with a face mask, eye protection, and above all else a tank of water to catch the powder. This stuff can be extremely toxic if breathed in! I usually work with a hand-held variable speed Dremel tool, and I carve directly into a flat, deep tray of water.