craftgrrl | Cuz I got boney ears.......

Whipped up a couple new 20 G tusks this morning using a piece of bone out of my large reclaimed bone stash.

Made out of a Lamb bone, leftover from:
Lamb chops

Which had been thoroughly boiled and dried leaving it a pristine white.

Off of which I used the jewelry saw (only went through 2 blades) to saw two 1/8" thick slices off the bone, then cutting it into a vauge hook shape.

Then I spent a couple hours patiently sanding, grinding, and filing it down to the proper gauge for my ears.

I've always wanted a pair of bone tusks, but having such a tiny gauge could never find anything.

Voila!

Unfortunately I didn't have any gemstones that were small enough to fit into the bottom dip, and after spending all that time to make the top the right thickness I didn't want to mess with any decorative holes...but I think they turned out nice.

I may try some scrimshaw or gem insets if I do another pair.

This has been my first foray in fully carving bone (I've done some preliminary work with drilling and some light carving) but nothing this extensive.

Up next I may try some pendant pieces with my larger chunks.

Just going to show you:
Even leftover dinner bones can be turned to creative uses!

*Edit*

Added some decorative drilled dots onto the front, just because,
(drilled with my smallest dremel drill bit, which I burned previously while drilling bone, so it needs a fair amount of pressure to even make a dent....which had me sweating it that I wouldn't push too hard and drill through my finger. Then painted with some black acrylic which then got wiped off with a damp cloth.)

and finally piercing the bottom....which had me holding my breath, but it worked out alright.
3 cheers for surplus dental drill bits!!

Which my man remarked, when I said that they looked sorta like little pierced ears, that I could use that hole to add earrings onto my earrings!
~A project for another day~
And so you know how they look on: