Sherlock inspired "Study In Pink" earrings

Have you ever seen something in a store or online and thought "I could make that myself"?  I do that all the time.

 

So does my daughter.

 

Except she doesn't think "I could make that", she thinks "Mom could make that".  I am flattered by her seemingly unwavering belief that I can make anything.  But time and time again, I accept the challenge.  And time and time again, she is right!  She has several items that prove it too.

So when she described some earrings that she saw, she asked "Could you make me some?"

 

They look like pills.  If you have seen the first episode of season one of Sherlock (Where Benedict Cumberbatch plays the lead) these hopefully will look very familiar.

I had no idea where to start.  How do you make pills?  The capsule type.  So I went to Dollarama to scout supplies.  It was Christmas time when I went and I spied some of those capsules (!!!) that have little sponge shapes in them and you put them in water and the shapes "grow".  I hope you know what I am talking about because I didn't think to take a photo of the package.  I scooped them up and brought them home.

I wasn't sure that I could pop the capsules apart while keeping them intact but it was very easy.  These little capsules are sturdier than I had expected. 

 

Here are all ten emptied out and the sponge crumbs have been wiped out with a dry Q-Tip. 

Now, what to fill them with.  I looked at little pink and white beads, but they didn't look right with the holes in them.  I have some tiny clear/white glass balls that would be perfect but I forget where I got them and couldn't find any pink ones.  So, I did what any sane person would do.  I looked in my pantry and found the perfect solution.

I used sprinkles.

It took a while to separate the white and pink ones out, but I did it!

Filling the capsules was easier than I expected.   I only needed four, but I filled all of them to be sure I had spares in case I broke any.

Since the capsules I used are meant to be dissolved in water, the next step was to seal them.  I strung a piece of thread (in a colour I could easily see for removal later)  through them, then I hung them up in a cardboard box and forgot to take any photos.  I broke two during this process.  Good thing I made spares. When they were dangling in the box, I sprayed them with about four coats of clear acrylic spray, letting them dry between coats.  You couldn't wear them in the pool or the shower, but they should be a bit water resistant.

Once they were completely dry, I removed the threads and slid a head pin through the holes that I made while threading them and made a loop at the top of the pin.  I put a tiny drop of clear nail polish at the bottom where the pin went in for extra security.  Then I rooted through my jewellery supplies and found some thin chain (always keep odd/ugly/single earrings, you never know when parts may be handy!) and hung my pills from the chains and attached them to an ear wire.

Pretty nice, I think. Most importantly, my daughter thinks so too.   And all I had to buy special for this project was the package of capsules for $1.15!  Everything else was already in the house, and we still have lots of sprinkles for ice cream and cupcakes!

I like to think that Benedict Cumberbatch would approve of these.
Thanks for looking!
:)
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