SANDPOINT — Taking something no one wants, ugly and worn out, and recycling it into affordable wearable art, is what Lacey Inge of Sagle finds gratifying about making earrings out of exhausted bicycle inner tubes.

For many years, Inge held supervisory positions at a social work agency that had three different names and owners before finally closing its doors. She was working full-time and had three young children. When the agency job ended, she and her husband felt it was time for her to stay at home, and in the years since, she has birthed two cottage industries.

A few years back, a friend had on a pair of bike-tube earrings she had purchased at a farmer’s market in Portland. Inge liked them and decided to try making some of her own.

After much experimentation, she came up with designs she liked. That led her to Bonner County Bicycles, located behind Horizon Credit Union, where she was given and continues to get as many of the used inner tubes she can use.

The process sounds simple, but takes time. She takes the tubes and cuts them into sections. “Then I wash them in dish-washing liquid and use scissors to create my own designs,” she said. She uses no patterns and each pair is unique.

She tries to make each earring in a pair look the same, but even that is difficult, she said, and so none of them are exactly the same. Then she paints them with acrylic paint or spray paint and uses silver or platinum hooks for their non-allergenic properties.

“People like that they are made of recycled material,” she said. “Some people think they are made of metal or leather upon first glance,” and they are often surprised when she explains they are made from bike tire tubes. Some of the earrings look like feathers, some are leaf shaped, and some are more abstract.

Her best-selling earrings are the teal ones. “Everyone likes teal now,” she said. She does not sell her earrings online, she said, because she doesn’t want to be limited to a certain style or pairs that have to be a certain length--that might take the joy out of the process.

Instead, she sells them for $12 and $14 a pair at Murphy’s, a shop that creates rolled ice cream and rents bicycles; her earrings fit right in with the theme there. She also sells the earrings at City Beach Organics downtown, but primarily at Oak Street Mercantile at the south end of Foster’s Crossing, and at the farmer’s market.

Not only does Inge make earrings, she has another cottage industry—Averi Naturals, named after her daughter, Avery, which she began in 2014.

It started when her daughter was two and devoured flavored chap sticks. Inge thought it was disgusting, and experimented to create her own lip balm using all natural ingredients. That resulted in Mountain Ice, a lip balm that doesn’t melt, made with mango butter, raw organic honey, and peppermint.

At the time, the Inge’s third child was experiencing a diaper rash that would not heal, no matter what her mother tried. Inge went to work to create a talc-free, arrowroot powder with zinc oxide and it healed the rash immediately. She developed this into a product and included lavender and calendula, both known for anti-inflammatory and healing properties. She said many women buy it because it helps with prevention of chafing when hiking.

After her son, Coleman, age 12, had a particularly buggy experience at camp, she created another product, Bug Shield. She uses nine essential oils to keep the bugs off. One of these oils in particular, she said, lemon eucalyptus, is particularly effective.

When she first started Averi Naturals, she worked with her sister, Jeni Gaines, who has a degree in biology, on the ingredients. Inge would come up with the formulas and her sister would suggest additions and ideas for improving the formulas. Gaines also helped her design the labels, which Inge prints on her computer at home. Every aspect of the business is completed in her log cabin home.

Now, she has created an aluminum-free deodorant of natural lavender and tea tree oil, arrowroot powder, and a tiny amount of baking soda for dryness. Her favorite of the natural products to make are the eight roll-on colognes. “My favorite is ‘Joy,’ made with neroli, sweet orange, rose, geranium and rosemary essential oils,” she said.

One of the best-selling products she has created is her body oil. “When you buy lotion, you are buying as much as 60 percent water and some of the lotions contain skin drying agents and harsh emulsifiers,” she said.

She created a body oil containing argan and jojoba oil for skin elasticity; cranberry seed oil, an anti-inflammatory oil with UV protection; avocado, sunflower, and flax seed oil to reduce inflammation and to enhance development of new skin cells; sea buckthorn oil which aids in UV-blocking and skin regeneration; along with evening primrose and borage oil, two of the richest sources of gamma linoleic fatty acid, a potent antioxidant.

Averi Naturals are available at Winter Ridge and the aforementioned businesses where her earrings are sold. Information: averinaturals.com

Susan Drinkard writes features for the Daily Bee. She can be reached at susanadiana@icloud.com.