I attended the GLW wholesale show in Orlando last weekend for the first time. I have attended their shows in Greensboro, NC when they used to have them there, and in Asheville, NC, but the Orlando show was MUCH bigger. Since I can’t make Tucson, and haven’t been able to make the July Franklin, NC shows in several years, this was the next best thing for me.
One of the things I found was Tagua Nut. I had not ever heard of, or seen, this nut before. The Tagua Nut comes from the agua palm, Phytelephas Equatorialis. It is a rainforest palm tree, and the nuts are sustainably harvested from the forest floor when the babez containing the nuts ripens and falls.
Each tree contains several cabezas and it may take 3 - 8 years for the cabeza to fully mature. After harvesting, the nut is dried for three months, before being dyed or carved to prepare it for sale. Additional employment comes from the hand-crafted creation of figurines and jewelry by local artisans.Conservation International and other groups are involved in developing this as an economically viable way for the citizens of the areas of rainforest where this palm lives to make a good living while protecting the rainforest.
The Tagua Nut is also called “vegetable ivory”, as it looks quite similar to ivory, and can be carved much like ivory can. Before the development of plastic it was widely used to make buttons, accounting for about 20% of the US market in buttons at one time. It was also used to make buttons for WWII military uniforms.
As people become increasingly concerned about protecting rainforests, and eco-friendly consumerism, the Tagua Nut is gaining in popularity.
Browsing the internet I found a number of sources for this as ready made beads, slices, or whole nuts for carving. Prices vary widely. Mine are all large - about 1 1/2 inches long or so, and about an inch wide. On the internet I found them in a range of sizes, with most being much smaller than mine.
I purchased mine from C & I International, Inc.; www.candiinternational.com. I have also been contacted by http://www.pueblito.ca/, who also sell the Tagua nuts.
I preferred the ones with swirls and patterns, but got some solids also. Pictures are below. I will post again as begin experimenting with these in jewelry.
Plain, undyed Tagua nut strand
Close up of plaing Tagua nuts
Green Tagua Nut strand
Green Tagua Nut close up
Orange/red Tagua Nut strand
Orange/red Tagua Nut close up
Purple Tagua Nut strand - note these are solid, without the swirls
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Alyce 01.23.09 at 7:02 am
Hi Beth..
I am a friend of Bonnie’s (in VA). She “introduced” me to you through your Etsy site. I blog also, so I came here. Those nuts are gorgeous! I just joined Etsy and am trying to give myself a crash course in Etsy 101. I was listing an item last night but my pic was too large. So I am disappointed..now I have to figure out how to make it smaller, so I can get it on there and sell. I make soap and just pray it will sell on Etsy.
Your jewlery is very pretty.
Take care!
Alyce
Sandy Demps 04.01.09 at 7:27 pm
I love the nut pictures.
I was not sure if you knew, but there is also a site called acaibeads.com that has many different colors also.
Thanks for the information.
Sandy
Beth Wicker 04.01.09 at 7:53 pm
Thanks! I have found several sites that give the history of the tagua nut. They are fun to work with, and people love the story behind them.