Names in wire.
I'm not sure how it is where you live, but if you grew up in the Philippines, remember the time when it was sort of cool to have braces? I'm not sure what transpired, and who clever tintoothed adolescent was able to reverse the stigma and create some kind of strange allure to attach to the stainless steel wire in their mouth.
Anyhow, here's someone making something good of the goods (or, one more skilled street artisan). Joseph will take a roll of dental wire and manipulate it into your name in under five minutes.
Joseph at work.
He makes personalized "pins" to attach to your bags or lapels, or pendants to hang on a necklace.
Long chains to the left of some "common Filipina names".
A kid gets his name enclosed in an electric guitar.
When he's not servicing customers, he's fashioning the actual chains of the necklaces. He also makes the wire part of earrings (not sure what those are called, sorry).
The electric guitar variation.
Earrings.
More earrings.
During the Christmas season he can sell all day by the road without being apprehended, but for most of the year, he does it only during the evenings. I "commissioned" him to do my name on a necklace (for 70 pesos). It was pretty mesmerizing-- but don't take my word for it:
