An Ipil-Ipil Seed Necklace

I wore this in the photo of my recent fashion post and I feel that it needs a bit of attention. This necklace made of ipil-ipil seeds (leucaena glauca) belonged to my grandmother (dad's mom). It was probably given to her, by one of her children, in the 60's or 70's. Yeah the necklace is probably as old as I am.

Though ipil-ipil trees grow in abundance in the Philippines, nobody makes necklaces from it's seeds in this manner anymore. I saw one being sold at Ebay by a Canadian for US$ 24.99. The seller says it's vintage. There are a few also on Etsy ranging from 3 to 8 USD. There were earrings and bags too. They are all vintage and some say that they might have come from Hawaii.

Well, I'm not selling this one. It is treasure. Maybe I'll learn to duplicate it. There's an ipil-ipil tree at a vacant lot here in my neighborhood. ^_^