Kristal Li wearing orange recylced tin earrings.

Jewelry designer and sculptor Anna Johansson is passionate about recycling. She’s made a living from reclaiming items otherwise destined for the landfills.

“I have an intense desire to use material I find around me to create with,” Johansson shares on the AnnaBuilt website. Looking at her unique designs, it’s easy to see that Johansson has truly made treasure from what would have been someone else’s trash.

Johansson also creates sculpture and stained glass works, which are available on her website. She is a classically trained visual artist and spent nine years at Daniel Maher Stained Glass in Boston, working as an apprentice then graduating to restorer and designer. This is where Johansson began crafting her distinctive sculptures, stained glass and jewelry. The AnnaBuilt artist now resides in Brooklyn, NY.

Jute and Jackfruit is pleased to offer a collection of AnnaBuilt’s earrings, and the handcrafted designs really do transcend what they once were. It’s hard to tell that each pair is made out of recycled cans and tins; many styles appear to be hand painted. But any labels or decorations are merely coincidental—the reclaimed cans and tins were found that way, the designs already enameled onto their surfaces.

Finding pretty patterns and shapes is all about the luck of the draw. Some of the cans and tins Johansson uses are recycled from the trash, while others come from thrift and grocery stores. Each pair of earrings is unique, but not all are one of a kind. Depending on how much Johansson has of a particular tin, several pieces of a certain style may be available while others are limited.

The earring collection available at Jute and Jackfruit features one-of-a-kind pairs. Choose from single circle earrings, double and triple circle drop earrings, double lure earrings and concentric circles.

Julia Rae wearing gold and black recycled aluminum concentric circles above.

Shana wearing red and black plaid recycled aluminum earrings.

Another fantastic feature of these earrings is that they are extremely light. They will never pull your holes down or make them larger. Also all posts are made out of stainless steel or sterling silver – so they will never bother your ears.