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behind the design | THE FORTUNE COOKIE

Why the fortune cookie?

It begins in my childhood. When my parents and I would go out to dinner I would always ask to go to the fortune cookie restaurant. I have memories of playing with the restaurant owner's daughter, putting candies in the Buddha statue's mouth and rubbing his belly, eating the delicious food, and finally the surprise of cracking open my fortune cookie to see what fate had in store.

I loved my fortunes so much that I began saving them all and putting them in a treasured box. I would open my box and remember my favorite fortunes. Even as I got older I would save my fortunes that seemed to be a destined message.

Fast-forward to 2007, when I decided to start my business. I had my business cards in one hand and my sales and use tax certificate in the other. I started slowly by selling the pieces I made in jewelry class on Etsy, but I wanted to create something my own, and I knew it had to be the fortune cookie.

I played with many iterations—handmaking silver frames for fortune cookie messages, for one—but the idea of folding my own fortune cookie in metal and stamping the message won out. I spent weeks figuring out how to fold the metal cookie and connect it to the chain. And one day, it clicked—voila, the fortune cookie necklace was born!

From that came the fortune cookie lariat in 2008. In 2011 the fortune cookie necklace went viral from this Pinterest post. In 2012 I designed the fortune cookie bracelet, and the fortune cookie studs and threaders in 2014. I thought I was done with fortune cookie designs but in 2024 I had a retailer request for the smallest fortune cookie I could make - and here we have the new Itty-bitty fortune cookie studs and itty-bitty fortune cookie necklace.

I'd say it's the first time in 17 years I've been excited about the fortune cookie. I hope you love them too!

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