Silver Dollars

A friend of mine recently brought a few branches of Lunaria plant from her yard to my house at my request.  I've recently developed an interest in using natural materials in my jewelry designs and had seen the lovely, silvery, tissue paper thin seed pods of this plant during our last get together at her home.

 
Because the seed pods are about the size of an American silver dollar and due to their color they are often called silver dollars.  The Lunaria plant is also known as the "money plant".  Easy to start and not at all fussy this is a good plant for gardeners who want a plant in their garden that doesn't require a lot of fussing.  It blooms in the summer and the flowers are the source of the seed pods that come later.  It is also supposed to be deer resistant.  These qualities have me planning on starting seeds in my flower beds this spring.

The seed pods are hidden inside non-descript brown husks that most people wouldn't give a second look.  But, rubbing the husks between the fingers reveals the beautiful treasure within.

 

The pods are usually used in floral arrangements and make a striking contribution with their translucency and ability to capture light.  My plan was to give them several coats of resin and turn them into jewelry.

What started out as an experiment, turned out to have a very successful result:

To say that I'm pleased with how this project worked out would be an understatement.  I have plans to pursue another idea using these seed pods, but that is a topic for another day!