The Jewelry Party

A couple weeks ago I was invited to a jewelry party at a neighbor's house. It was a rare occasion where my husband was out on his own, so I had to stay at home with Little C and didn't get to go.  I consoled myself by eating mostly everything in the house and watching shows I normally don't watch when my husband is around (like cold case, forensic files-type stuff). It was actually kind of fun.

In between stuffing my mouth with food and following the tales of twisted serial killers, I had my own private jewelry party at home and made this necklace. People, if you have not started making your own costume jewelry yet, get out there and do it! It is so fun and easy and inexpensive. Plus, you are not limited to what is in the stores; you can make exactly what you want, in the color you want, etc.

I like to look at Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, and Anthropologie online sometimes and see their jewelry designs/ trends. This entire year I have been struck with how "DIY" it all looks. The prices do not reflect that, of course. I have basic jewelry-making skills. So if I feel like I can make a necklace or a pair of earrings when I see them in a store, there's no way in hell I can buy them. I am physically unable to buy them.

Anyway, I spent under 10 bucks for the materials for this necklace (of which I still have plenty left). It also took under 20 minutes to make. I bought gray pearls, and smaller charcoal pearls and strung them on to clear elastic cording. When I had one long strand of all gray and all charcoal pearls, I folded it in half at the color break and knotted off the other ends. I took a twisted trim (silky gray cording and silver) that I got at the craft store for about 2 dollars and also folded it in half with the beads. I then braided the strands together and tied off the other end. Full disclosure: the end that was not merely folded over, was a little messy. I just wound the black sheer ribbon around it a couple times to cover it up. I added the ribbon to the other side and that's it!

I wore the necklace the very next day (with the bow on the side). Much to my delight, it did not break and send beads flying all over the place. I really liked the way it looked on; it made the outfit.

I had so much fun and am so happy with the results that there has got to be more jewelry-making in my future. Maybe inspiration will strike if I spend another night home alone.

Update: I attended a different, real-life jewelry party just a couple days ago. We were shown a really cool trick using ribbon to create a similar effect to the necklace I made. So easy! All you need is a long necklace and ribbon. Here's the Youtube link illustrating it.