A mum makes more than £10k-a-year hand-crafting earrings and bracelets out of - beer cans.<br /><br />Carys Miles, 40, launched her unique business, Craft Beerings, five years ago after finishing a can of craft beer.<br /><br />Fascinated by the quirky and colourful designs of the cans and desperate for a creative venture, Carys got to work.<br /><br />She decided to carefully cut and flatten the vibrant cans before cutting them into different shapes - such as studs, hearts and lightning bolts.<br /><br />The raw material is then dried out before being applied to earring mounts - with Carys able to make five pairs of earrings from one can.<br /><br />Though she usually batch-makes the earrings, Carys says she can convert a can to a pair in just 30 minutes.<br /><br />She doesn't add any gloss to the final earrings, with some pairs featuring shiny overlays whilst others are more papery, representing the true texture of the can.<br /><br />Carys made over 960 pairs of the earrings last year and sells them online and at craft fairs for between £10 - £17.50.<br /><br />Carys, who runs the business full-time , from Colchester, Essex, said: "My husband and I started drinking craft beer and noticed how pretty the cans were. <br /><br />"I needed a creative outlet and thought I could do something with them.<br /><br />"I've always liked big bold earrings so it started to work well and other people thought they were funky. <br /><br />"A local bottle shop in Colchester really liked them and he started selling them straight away and I was at my first craft market within two weeks.<br /><br />"I didn't realise how well-appreciated my pieces were but we're doing six beer festivals this year.<br /><br />"My love is in upcycling and I've made a few pin badges and they've been well received."<br /><br />In terms of sourcing the cans, Carys and her husband's love for craft beer is their primary source of can collecting.<br /><br />She added: "As people have got to know what we do sometimes craft breweries have some empties for us and they like seeing earrings made from their cans."<br /><br />Carys' business picked up an award at the Essex Small Business Awards.<br /><br />Carys' instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craftbeerings/
