To make jewelry, you may need a hammer, a few pretty stones or even a blowtorch. Or you could scratch all of that and start with some $5 wire and pair of pliers.

“Education has become so easy now with YouTube, so a lot of our information came from YouTube videos and just books and helping each other along,” says Deb Carson, an art teacher and the teacher of today’s jewelry making class in Bagley.

Carlson has been into jewelry making for a few decades now. She says, “I went to school in Bemidji and the public high school had a very good art teacher, Millie Ordeal, and she was not afraid of doing anything, so she had painting and drawing and all of that and she also taught jewelry making, and so as high school students we did silver casting, we did soldering, you know, all kinds of different jewelry techniques.”

Carlson continued to learn different techniques in college and eventually incorporated some of them into her own art classes. She says anyone from pre-kindergarteners to the elderly can make an accessory. All you have to do is tap into your creative mindset and not be afraid to make mistakes.

“The beauty of anything that you hand make is that you put your own ideas and your own selections and your own aesthetics into it and you end up with something that’s very much you, very personal, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t,” says Carlson.

Carlson’s class today made a pair of earrings and a chain. If you were in the class, you’d see that none of them looked the same. No matter what their earrings looked like in the end, the best part is they got to be creative together.

“The further along you get and the more you enjoy doing it, invest in better tools but start simply with a few things that you like, and you’ll find more that you need and find a couple of friends to do it with you and find good YouTube videos to share with each other and good books to share with each other,” says Carlson.

Carlson says she’d be interested in hosting other group jewelry classes. You can contact her through email at deborahcarlson12@gmail.com.

By — Shirelle Moore