University sophomore Dana Harlan is turning her jewelry-making hobby into a small business.
Harlan, a finance major with minors in communications and economics, began making jewelry when she was a sophomore at Rex Putnam High School in Milwaukie, Ore.
“I had a dress for a dance, but couldn’t find anything to match it, so randomly I just decided to make it,” Harlan said. From that, her hobby grew.
“I had way too much for me to wear myself, so I brought it to school and everything sold out the first day in one class,” Harlan said.
While in high school, Harlan also sold her jewelry at Nassau West Salon, owned by her friend’s parents in Milwaukie. She worked at the salon for a while and continued to sell jewelry there until recently. She also makes custom jewelry for special occasions, such as family friends’ weddings.
Harlan buys most of her beads at gem fairs. She said she also makes two trips each month to Dava Bead and Trade in Portland to buy supplies.
“It’s kind of nerdy,” Harlan said. “My friends always joke about how I go to gem fairs and stuff like that.”
Harlan said her jewelry ranges in price from $20 for a pair of earrings to close to $100 for more elaborate pieces; about half of that pays for the cost of materials.
In addition to earning spending money, Harlan said making jewelry is also relaxing.
“When school gets stressful, I make jewelry,” Harlan said.
She said it takes her between half an hour to an hour to make a piece of jewelry.
Harlan has held jewelry sales at the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house where she lives. A sale just before Christmas made almost $1,500 in two hours, and a sale this weekend that coincided with the sorority’s Mother’s Weekend events garnered another $2,000.
As her audience expands, Harlan said she sees her jewelry in public more frequently.
“I’ve seen it on people I don’t know before,” Harlan said. “I’m excited for the day when that becomes more of a normal thing.”
“You can’t wear her jewelry and not get a compliment on it,” junior Sharon Howell said. Howell, who is studying public relations at the journalism school, is Harlan’s friend and housemate and helps promote her jewelry.
Next month, Harlan plans to begin selling jewelry over the Internet. Senior Jen Ness is making Harlan’s Web site.
“It’s going to be a pretty cool, artsy Web site,” Ness said.
Ness, who majors in advertising and minors in multimedia design, said she normally charges a fee for her Web site services, but Harlan pays her with jewelry.
“It’s a pretty good trade,” Ness said.
Harlan’s next public jewelry sale will be held May 1 at the
Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house, 821 E. 15th Ave., from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

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