I make £10k a year with my unique side hustle – the inspiration came after I finished a beer… the colours are wild
A MUM created a side hustle worth £10,000 a year after being inspired by a can of craft beer.
Carys Miles, 40, launched her business, Craft Beerings, five years ago after finishing a can of craft lager.
Fascinated by the quirky and colourful designs of the cans and desperate for a creative venture, Carys got to work.
She decided to carefully cut and flatten the vibrant cans before cutting them into different shapes – such as studs, hearts and lightning bolts.
The raw material is then dried out before being applied to earring mounts – with Carys able to make five pairs of earrings from one can.
Though she usually batch-makes the earrings, Carys says she can convert a can to a pair in just 30 minutes.
She doesn’t add any gloss to the final earrings, with some pairs featuring shiny overlays whilst others are more papery, representing the true texture of the can.
Carys made over 960 pairs of the earrings last year and sells them online and at craft fairs for between £10 – £17.50.
Carys, who runs the business full-time, from Colchester, Essex, said: “My husband and I started drinking craft beer and noticed how pretty the cans were.
“I needed a creative outlet and thought I could do something with them.
“I’ve always liked big bold earrings so it started to work well and other people thought they were funky.
“A local bottle shop in Colchester really liked them and he started selling them straight away and I was at my first craft market within two weeks.
“I didn’t realise how well-appreciated my pieces were but we’re doing six beer festivals this year.
“I can really sell the story of how they are made at craft fairs and it’s either eco-lovers, earring lovers or beer lovers that I can appeal to.
“I’d like to do better online this year, but Christmas I’ll always be very busy at that time. They make great little stocking fillers.”
When making the designs, Carys streamlines the process by batch-cutting the cans.
She said: “I try to conveyer-belt it.
“Go through a bit of cut and flattening and give them a really big clean.
“The next day I’ll cut the shapes and store them in little bags that I’ve collected up and label each brewery they are from.
“I tend to keep cans that I can get quite a few pairs of earrings from.
“So unless someone wants a specific can then I’ll try and use those.
“It depends how pattern-heavy the cans are but I can probably make five pairs per can.
“When I started the earrings I also tried to do stitched ring-pull heart shapes but I stopped that as others were doing it.
“My love is in upcycling and I’ve made a few pin badges and they’ve been well received.
“I’m now making pendants, keyrings and rings but it’s taken some experimenting.
“We just decided to keep it simple with Beerings.
“I want it to be strong and eco-friendly rather than try too many things at once.”
In terms of sourcing the cans, Carys and her husband’s love for craft beer is their primary source of can collecting.
She added: “Me and my husband quite like our beer so we drink a fair amount ourselves but as people have got to know what we do sometimes craft breweries have some empties for us and they like seeing earrings made from their cans.
“Sometimes people donate them as well so I’ve got a good stock at the moment.
“The style that I like best are the lightning bolt ones and they can be the hardest to make.
“The cans were from a brewery that shut down and I’d just finished making the earrings.
“They had wild colours and they were brilliant.
“They are one of my biggest sellers as well. I’m so proud of those every time I make them.”
Carys’ business has gone from strength to strength, with the designer picking up an award at the Essex Small Business Awards for her Beerings.