Walnut Pendant

Do you ever pick up weird junk and think to yourself, I have no idea what to do with this, but I'm buying it?

That's exactly how the making of these walnut shell pendants began.  While sifting through a dusty basket of craft supplies at a thrift store, I picked up a zip-lock bag of polished walnut shells slices.  "What the heck is this? Why do they look like giant wooden versions of nasty germs? Who would want them?"  For some reason, I tossed the bag in my cart instead of the basket they came from.

Months later, I pulled them out, determined to use them for a project.  By poking bits of brown Sculpey clay into the holes with a pin, I sealed up the back of the shell segment.  

I filled the shells with different colored seed beads and sealed them with a few coats of 3D Crystal Lacquer and glued a bail to the back.

The organic shape of these shells is so fascinating.  I've never stopped to think about what the cross section of a walnut would look like.  This is a photo of a human body cut into sections for the Bodies Revealed exhibit.  I went to see this when it was at the museum downtown last summer, and it blew my mind! I am secretly a science geek at heart.

(photo from www.joaopedroramos.com)