Cosas FMB Ecuadorian Handicrafts presents, Cesar de la Torre, an Ecuadorian Tagua jewelry designer, will be conducting a class on how to make Tagua necklaces.

Tagua is a seed from a type of palm. Its natural color, hardness, and ability to be carved has led to it being compared to ivory and to being called vegetable ivory.

From the mid-1800s up until the modern plastics boom, Tagua was very popular. It was used to make buttons, dominos, chess pieces, netsukes (Japanese carvings), dice, and many other small items. By the 1920s a considerable portion of buttons produced in the U.S. were made of Tagua. Plastic brought this industry largely to a halt.

Artisans have, in the past couple of decades, renewed the use of Tagua in making jewelry and other small carved handicrafts. The class will be held on September 28th at Sweeney’s SOS on 10954 Stringfellow from 6 - 8 pm. For a participant’s $25 registration fee they will receive materials and instruction to make a necklace and another completed necklace as a gift.

At present this is a one-time class, so be sure to reserve a place for the necklace making class call 239-224-0815