Resin Hardened, Coloured and Sliced Pear Earrings

As jewellery goes, this project is a bit of a weird one, but still kind of fun. Summer would be the best time to wear these pear earrings, as they need strong, natural light to really pop up. If the light hits just right, they will look transparent and akin to a large microscope slide. 

Several small, hard pears

Mandolin slicer or a sharp knife to slice the pears

Sugar and good quality gel food dye 

Saucepan, oven tray and paper kitchen towels 

Small quantity of clear resin and small disposable brush 

Earring hooks

Optional matt or satin varnish 

Start by making the sugar syrup before you cut into the pears.

Mix sugar and water in 1:2 ratio. One cup of sugar and 2 cups of water will suffice for a small saucepan and a few pear slices. Heat until the sugar dissolves and take it off the stove. 

Add food dye to the syrup in small increments until you are happy with your colour. You won't need too much, gel dyes are quite potent. 

Wash the pears and slice them into thin slices. You are only interested in the middle part of the fruit where you can see the core and the seeds, the rest of the fruit can be eaten. Each small pear will probably produce only 4-6 slices, so you will need to cut at least 3-4 pears in order to choose the best looking slices. 

Heat up the sugar syrup on medium heat and put the pears into the pan to cook for 10 minutes. After they are cooked, pick them up gently and drop them into a bowl of clean water. Fish them out of the water and place them onto kitchen towels to dry. 

Line a baking tray with parchment paper and transfer the slices onto the paper. 

Dehydrate in the oven for 1.5-2 hours at the lowest possible temperature, about 70C. 

Let them cool down. 

Select several best looking slices and if you want you can use metallic paint, pen or nail polish to paint the edges where the skin is.

Use the tiniest amount of super glue to attach a sewing thread to the back of each slice. We will use that to hang the pears to allow excess resin to drip down. 

Mix the smallest amount of clear resin (about one tablespoon) and apply it with a brush. Cover only one side of the slice, the one without any thread. Hang the slice up using tape or blutack.

Use a skewer to hold the slice steady in the air and apply a small amount of resin to the other side of the slice. Apply only to the bottom part and leave the top part with the thread resin-free.

Once resin has hardened, you can take the slices down and gently remove the thread.

Then, you have to mix a small amount of resin again and apply it to just the top of the slice, where the thread used to be, to harden that part as well. You don't have to hang the slices up again, you can just let them lay flat.

Once all slices are hardened, you have to make a hole for the hook. The best way is to find a thick metal needle or a pin, heat it up with a lighter until it glows and push it through the pear to create a small hole.

Thread the hook through the hole and you are done.

Clear resin can be quite shiny, so if you don't like that finish, you can apply varnish or clear nail polish to the slices to neutralise all that gloss. Matt or satin or gloss, it's all up to personal preferences.