A dear friend gave me a pair of rhinoceros earrings from her visit to South Africa. I was excited to put them on but I had to first replace the original ear wires (that came with the earrings) with my own ear wires which are shorter — all because I just like them shorter.

After switching the wires, I realised all too soon that during the process I had unknowingly damaged one of the rhinos’s tip (earwire hanging area). Oh no! But thankfully the first aid it needed was some glue mending.

Perfect Deco, my favourite odourless glue, was applied with a needle onto both surfaces, and as I tried to align them in place, the tiny tip was wobbling and unsteady so I pasted a tiny piece of masking tape (with the top folded down to make removal afterwards easier) behind to act as a support. This was the first time I had used this glue for an upright orientation. I’ve used it mostly to stick stuff on flatbacks.

After giving more than enough time for the adhesive to set, I was expecting superglue stiffness, but no, the glue blob was flexi-abled in fact. Though not stiff the blob was holding both metal parts together as intended. To have more peace of mind, I dabbed some glue surrounding the affected region.

Now having wore it to go for walks and run errands, the soft bond has been strong and keeping the rhino safe.