Most of us remember the long forgotten days of your youth, sitting at the arts and crafts table stringing together plastic beads in the hope of making something Mom wouldn’t be too embarrassed to wear or braiding strings of beads together to give to that year’s best friend.
For many of us, the art of jewelry making has faded from our daily routines.
We prefer to buy the sometimes overpriced necklaces and bracelets from trendy boutiques. Some resort to Pinterest tutorials in an attempt to be a self-proclaimed go-getter and do-gooder in the fashion realm. Most of the time this ends in tears with a haphazard looking piece of jewelry that somehow resembles your emotional state after finals week.
Kelly Kerr, junior in elementary education from Birmingham, does not experience this.
Kerr says she’s been making jewelry for over one year.
“I’ve always loved jewelry and crafts," Kerr said. "I was getting crafts for a school project when I saw all of these cool beads and I just decided to start making jewelry.”
Kerr says she watched a few videos at first to get started, but found teaching herself was more her style.
She makes necklaces and bracelets which range from $5-7 for bracelets and $10-25 for necklaces. They're sold either to friends who directly request pieces, from her account on Etsy, KKjewelcreations and at a tanning salon in Birmingham.
Kerr has sold over 75 pieces of jewelry, the most time consuming one being a wrap made of small white beads for a friend that she says took over an hour to construct. Wraps are essentially very long necklaces that are able to loop around the neck more than once, and are her most popular items along with chokers.
When designing the pieces, she usually decides what she’s going to make while at the craft store. She draws inspiration from popular pieces she sees in boutiques.
“I’ve thought about [selling in boutiques], but they usually sell their jewelry at a much higher cost," Kerr said. "I prefer to sell mine on the lower price range. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to do that, but I wouldn’t want to overcharge people.”
Making a large profit is not Kerr’s main goal with her jewelry making.
“I enjoy doing it - that’s why I do it," Kerr said. "I make money from it but I don’t consider it a job.”
For anyone else who needs that extra boost to try and make their own jewelry, Kerr said to go for it.
“Go with what you like and what you would want to wear," Kerr said. 'You don’t have to make anything just because it’s popular.”
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