Recycled Flip Flop bangle bracelet
Pickup available at The Elevated Hippie
Usually ready in 24 hours
As these bangles are worn to be stacked.
HANDMADE: These flip flop bangles are made individually over an open charcoal fire. Colors could vary depending on, type of flip flop, mixing together of different colors or any number of subtle factors.
Each one is truly unique.
• Size: Although they do not stretch, they "roll on". •
Colors: Assorted •
Origin: "Women Made" in Mali, West Africa. These bangles are made from worn out and recycled plastic footwear. These are not the flip flops flip flops we think of but more like sandals, plastic sandals sold in a variety of colors. In a country ranked amongst the five poorest in the world these sandals are worn by the poor or just cheap shoes for kids.
They will be repaired for as long as possible then finally discarded. But that’s not the end for these plastic shoes. Ladies looking for extra money collect these shoes for their next step in life. The flip flops are cut into manageable pieces then heated into a gooey glob at the end of a metal rod.
This glob is picked at by the end of a bicycle spoke, drawn out like you would chewing gum from your mouth and wound onto the spoke by twirling the fingers (same as you would twirl a lollipop between two fingers and see the sucker part spin), creating the first layer.
The same is done for the 2nd color.
The ends are heat sealed together over the fire and presto, there’s your bangle. Don’t try this at home. Baba introduced me to the flip flop bangles. I had seen them around the markets in Mali but never paid attention to them.
The colors at that time were bland. Baba sent me some to try at the NY Gift Show (back when it was a big deal). I put them in the back corner of my booth; people spied them out and they were a success.
There was probably a half dozen colors we first sampled but quickly expanded our color range to what’s now around 25.
Only ladies make the flip flop bangles. Baba deals with his "agents". These agents make the bangles but also parcel out the work to their circle of makers. Baba has about 3 or 4 agents.