Jewelry Making

DIY Jewelry, Beads And Patterns

Should Ear Piercing Of Babies Be Banned?

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ear-piercing-for-babies

A Storm has erupted across the internet as it was reported in the Mirror (UK Newspaper) that a petition is being signed to ban ear piercing of babies and small children. This picture above is of Little Baby Taylor from 2010. The blog post shares her ear piercing journey, which appears to be very painful and upsetting. She is 5 now and I would love to know whether she remembers it and/or likes her ears being pierced (but does that even matter)?

Some of the people who have signed the petition have made statements like this

  • Smacking a child is abuse, so how come sticking metal rods through their ears is not abuse??!!
  • This is something I, as a parent, decided that it was up to my children, not me, to decide if they wanted to have
  • Pierced ears. To me it is an assault to have this done when a child is too young to even speak, or make this kind of decision.

Some people argue that ear piercing is for “cultural” reasons and this is true, but then so is Female Genital Mutilation and circumcision and they have there own controversial following too.

Should we all just be minding our own business and do what we want? Parent how we think fit? But then where do we draw the line? When does it become OK to step in and help parent. They say it takes a village to raise a child and maybe the internet is just one huge village.

By now you are probably wondering what my stance is on it – I am going to back out on this one and say I don’t have an opinion. I did not choose to pierce my daughter’s ears even though there was strong cultural requirements. She is now 7 and does not want them so it’s just as well I didn’t. She has a very strong personality so I would hate to think that I had manipulated her likes, fashion, style before she had a chance to decide what all those were.

So if you don’t want to pierce your child’s ears then check out these great DIY ideas.

Tattoo Earrings (Removable of course)$6.95 or these Stick on Earrings. However I recall wearing these as a kid and could never keep them on longer than 5 minutes.

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DIY Fake Cartilage Earrings

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DIY Clip On Earring Round up

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Next Idea:

Comments

  3. I pierced my now 7 yr old’s ears when she was 6 mos old. She screamed mainly because i was having to hold her when she wanted to crawl around plus because a stranger was touching her (but i know it hurt too). She stopped crying literally as soon as i put her down. Recently one of her earrings fell out and i told her to go get another one so it doesn’t close up. She asked why i got her ears pierced without asking her first. I told her she was a baby and couldn’t talk so i did it thinking she’d like it when she was older. She does love her dangly earrings though.

  4. In the 80’s, piercing was a sort of a rite of passage. I believe it should be the child’s decision. Plus, you might get to use it as leverage to get a pre-teen to clean their bedroom. 😀

  5. My girls got their ears pierced when they were older and really wanted them. I used to buy them the cutest stick on earrings that they loved. My doctor does not pierce young children’s ears because he had too many cases of kids screaming and leaving with just on ear pierced and he’s been a pediatrician for over 30 years

  7. I used to manage a store that pierced ears. It was horrible doing it to babies and children. Until a child is old enough to decide on their own they shouldn’t get their ears pierced. I once had a woman bring her baby in right after she got her shots and said the baby was going to have a bad day anyway so she thought she’d go ahead and have it done.

  8. I think it’s the parent’s choice whether they do it at a young age. I want to get my baby’s pierced, but my husband wants to wait until she can decide for herself. I’m respecting his wishes, and am going to wait.

Have you read?

Book Review Wednesday: The Complete Guide to Trinket Dishes for Beginners

I’ll admit, this one has me slightly torn over where it belongs on CraftGossip — because trinket dishes made from polymer clay sit very neatly in that lovely little overlap between our Polymer Clay blog and our Jewelry Making blog.

Technically, yes, this is a polymer clay project book. But let’s be honest, what do most of us use trinket dishes for? Rings, earrings, necklaces, brooches, little charms, and all those “I’ll put this somewhere safe” pieces that immediately vanish into the craft-room Bermuda Triangle.

So for this week’s Book Review Wednesday, I’m leaning into the jewelry side of things withThe Complete Guide to Trinket Dishes for Beginners, because handmade trinket dishes are such a lovely companion project for jewelry makers. They are practical, pretty, giftable, and a nice way to use polymer clay without needing to jump straight into detailed beads or fiddly earring components.

And really, a handmade trinket dish is one of those beginner-friendly polymer clay projects that feels useful right away. You can make one for your bedside table, one for the bathroom, one near the kitchen sink for rings, one for your sewing room buttons, one for paper clips, one for “miscellaneous tiny things I refuse to throw away” — and suddenly you have made six. That’s crafting, isn’t it?

What I like about the idea of this book is that trinket dishes are a genuinely approachable starting point for beginners. Polymer clay can be a little intimidating when you see all those perfect canes, florals, marble effects, metallic finishes, and tiny sculpted details online. But a small dish? That feels doable. You can roll, shape, texture, bake, sand, paint, glaze, and still end up with something charming even if it is not completely perfect.

In fact, slightly imperfect is often where handmade trinket dishes look their best. A softly uneven edge, a little thumbprint curve, a marbled pattern that wandered off in its own direction — those are the details that make them feel handmade rather than mass-produced.

For jewelry makers, this book also opens up a nice little gift-making path. A handmade pair of earrings tucked into a matching polymer clay trinket dish would make a beautiful birthday gift, Mother’s Day present, craft stall set, or Christmas stocking idea. If you already make earrings or small accessories, a coordinating trinket dish adds that extra “oh, you made the whole thing?” moment, which we do love.

This is also why I think it works so well for the jewelry audience. It is not jewelry in the strictest sense, but it is jewelry-adjacent in the most useful way. It gives makers a way to display, store, gift, and package handmade pieces beautifully. If you enjoy our other jewelry making projects or you have been dabbling in polymer clay earrings, trinket dishes are a natural next step.

I would also cross-link this one from the polymer clay side because readers there will absolutely be interested too. Our polymer clay tutorials audience would appreciate the clay techniques, while the jewelry makers will appreciate the finished use. Honestly, this is one of those books that probably deserves to sit with one foot in each craft room.

The thing I always look for in beginner polymer clay books is whether they help you understand the basics without making the project feel fussy. For trinket dishes, beginners will want clear help with conditioning clay, rolling an even slab, creating clean shapes, adding texture, shaping the dish without cracking it, baking it properly, and finishing the surface so it feels smooth and gift-worthy.

Because nobody wants a ring dish that looks cute in theory but scratches the bedside table or feels like it might snap if you look at it too firmly.

This type of book would suit anyone who wants to make beginner polymer clay gifts, handmade jewelry dishes, ring bowls, small catch-all trays, or craft fair items. It also feels like a nice low-pressure project for a weekend afternoon. No complicated closures, no matching pairs, no tiny jump rings pinging across the room — just clay, shape, texture, and a finished piece that actually has a job to do.

And if you are the sort of maker who saves every leftover scrap of clay, this could be dangerous in the best possible way. Marbled trinket dishes are a perfect way to use up odd colours and little leftover bits from other projects. Much like fabric scraps, clay scraps seem harmless until they form their own ecosystem.

My Shellie-style verdict? The Complete Guide to Trinket Dishes for Beginners feels like a sweet, practical pick for makers who want to try polymer clay in a way that is useful, giftable, and not too intimidating. I would feature it on Jewelry Making because trinket dishes are so closely tied to storing and gifting handmade jewelry, but I would absolutely give it a little nod over on Polymer Clay too.

It is one of those crossover books that reminds us crafts do not always stay politely in their own category. Sometimes a polymer clay book belongs in jewelry making because that is where the finished piece will actually live — holding rings, earrings, charms, and all those tiny treasures we swear we are going to organise one day.

You can find the book here: The Complete Guide to Trinket Dishes for Beginners.