Coconut Shell Heart Earrings

Meri is a wide-smiled, hustling jewelry-maker who has been making and selling jewelry for 34 years. She has a stand near Mercado Modelo in the lower city where she greets tourists with a smile (and a deal). While she sells a wide variety of items, ranging from leather necklaces and bracelets to flip flops to feathered earrings, what drew me to her were her earrings made of coconut shells. There are many, many Brazilian artisans that sell coconut shell earrings — after all the shells are quite plentiful (sustainable art, FTW) — but few decorate them the way she does. I love how she combines the coconut shell with grasses or strings/cords to create a wide variety of looks.