Twine & Twig: A Family Affair

Two local sisters design a natural jewelry collection

In 2012, a friend showed sisters Elizabeth Stafford White and Jacquelyn Stafford Buckner a necklace unlike any they had seen before. Made of assorted shells, bones, and animal claws, it was hundreds of years old and had once belonged, they were told, to a medicine man in Mali.

White and Buckner were inspired. They began hand-making jewelry that reminded them of the ancient necklace. Last summer, on a family vacation on Figure Eight Island, North Carolina, they took walks down the beach collecting shells that caught their eyes. They started stringing twine through shells with natural holes, and an idea started to brew.

They began making necklaces for friends and family, but word spread quickly. Before long, strangers were asking where these artistic pieces came from. The trend gained momentum as the sisters learned to juggle parenthood with their new pastime.

In October 2013, they launched Twine & Twig, a company selling earth-toned necklaces that all have a signature suede strap. Deer antlers, pieces of fish vertebrae, conidae shells, and other natural materials hang from the straps. “We really get a lot of our ideas and inspiration from nature,” White says. “And I hate walking into a party and seeing two people wearing the same shirt." This is why no two necklaces are alike.

The sisters spend long nights designing necklaces in White’s Myers Park home, in an office where a stuffed deer head overlooks a large wooden table covered in beads. Here, they drink wine and work while their kids sleep. Recently renovated, White’s home reflects the rustic, natural vibe of the company.

Twine & Twig’s necklaces are currently sold in at least 20 boutiques across the country, and at press time, the sisters were launching an online retail store.