Trinket #36 - Emerald City Earrings

The beads on these earrings began their lives as part of a $1 St. Patrick's Day bracelet from a local discount store. Seriously - a whole stretchy band of these big, faceted green beads. Can you say tacky? I decided to tone them down a bit (okay, a lot) by using them sparingly in other projects, like this rather old-fashioned looking pair of baubles.

I don't know about you, but I can't see emeralds or anything that resembles them without thinking of The Wizard of Oz. I never really fell in love with this iconic movie, but I read Wicked by Gregory McGuire about two years ago and was blown away. The premise of the story questions our impressions of the Wicked Witch of the West from L. Frank Baum's classic. What if she only appeared to be a villain because the story was told from the point of view of her political adversaries? What if she had a really hard life and was bitter because she'd been treated like crap for so long? If you've not read it, you should make a point to do so. If you've seen the musical, forget everything you saw and read the book instead! They are two completely different animals, and the hours you devote to McGuire's retelling of a story you thought you knew are totally worth the effort.

Also, just for those who may want to know, these earrings are made from silver wire, faceted acrylic beads, silver seed beads, and silver bead spacers.