She rolls the clay, perfects her design, bakes her creation and drives the plug through her ear. Through this process, senior Sophia Alejandre found her love for jewelry-making this past summer. Plugs — the jewelry worn in stretched piercings — can be expensive, and after watching a few Youtube tutorials Alejandre realized that making them on her own was quite easy and inexpensive. She went to Michael’s to buy polymer clay, and instantly established her newest hobby.

Many of Alejandre’s friends have been interested in her jewelry, so she is considering selling them in the near future. She sees herself potentially selling them at a booth in a farmer’s market or through etsy.com, a website through which people can sell their handmade and vintage items.

“My goal isn’t to charge insane amounts of money, it’s to try to keep them under $30 so they’re affordable for everyone,” Alejandre said.

Making one pair of earrings usually costs Alejandre under $2 and takes her anywhere from 20 minutes to two hours depending on the jewelry’s complexity. The more colors used and the more intricate the design, the longer it takes. In hopes of reaching a wider audience, Alejandre wants to start making earrings for people with smaller ear piercings by reducing the width of the earrings and baking them with the post, the part of the earring that goes through a piercing, inside beforehand. This will make the earrings small enough for people with smaller, more common-sized ear piercings to wear.

In her Art 4 class, the students were assigned an independent project in which she was able to showcase her talent of making earrings. Alejandre encourages people to try out a DIY activity or pursue a new hobby, reminding them that they can’t let the fear of failure stop them from trying something new.

“Sometimes it’ll be beautiful and great and sometimes it’ll catch on fire… and if it fails you can always try again,” Alejandre said.

Her first design didn’t turn out perfect either, it was wobbly, uneven and crooked, but that’s what she loved most about it, and now it’s one of her favorite pieces. The imperfectness of it added character and individuality, and because it was her first piece, it will always have a special place in her heart.