N.B. Jewellery Makers Take Advantage Of Homemade Earring Craze
FREDERICTON – Homemade earrings have been blowing up on social media – Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok. Feeds are flooded with videos of the “making” process behind the earrings and Facebook and Instagram ads selling to the public.
Two New Brunswick businesses have been taking advantage of the homemade earring craze.
A mother-daughter duo, owners of Soal Creations, opened their earring business in October of 2019.
“I like it because this is something that I can do with my daughter, she’s entering those early teenage years, so sometimes we don’t have a lot of hobbies in common,” said Michelle Moore, mother of Sophie Moore and co-owner of Soal Creations.
“But this was something we love to do together.”
They sell 8mm, 10mm, and 12mm studs and dangles in marble patterns, mermaid scale patterns, and glitter patterns.
Moore said they bought and tested different materials to make sure their products were good for even sensitive ears.
Moore and her daughter have been finding sales on their crazier earrings in fun colours and patterns to be more popular recently.
“Things that are a little more out of the norm; a little crazier,” Moore said.
“People are really going for something different, a different look but still affordable.”
Some social media influencers have been posting them making and packaging their earrings for their online stores. But a lot of them are selling earrings that are a lot different than mermaid scales and marble.
@littlebuddystudio, a Canadian creator on Tiktok and Instagram, makes videos of herself making clay earrings. She’s made videos replicating packs of crayons and plant cells. Her plant cell video gained 1.1 million views on Tiktok.
Another local jewellery-maker, Charlene Hodder, owner of Jedi Jewellery, makes faux leather earrings, iridescent ones, and some sparkly studs. A lot of her other jewellery is made with stones.
“I find it super calming. It’s almost like meditation, which is kind of a good gig when it’s your full-time job,” Hodder said.
Both jewellery makers have noticed a take-off in the popularity of homemade earrings in the last year or so. Soal Creations noticed the popularity right from the beginning of their business with the crazier earrings becoming popular more recently.
For Hodder and Jedi Jewellery, she first started seven years ago making upcycled guitar string jewellery. Even then, she made guitar string earrings, but it wasn’t as popular as it is now.
She said she’s noticed a surge in the past two years, especially for stud earrings.
“I think in general, homemade anything in the last few months has kind of taken off,” Hodder said.
“People are a little more conscious of buying local right now.”