Beading

Spring Break is almost over, nooooo! I was a home for the first part of the week and enjoyed plenty of girl time with my Mama. We shopped, cooked, did face masks, went beading, and did other girlie things like that. Beading was our one last hurrah, since we squeezed it in right before I left, and I'm glad we did. Going beading and making jewelry will be one of those great things I remember for the rest of my life as mother-daughter time.  

Here's what I made today, my attempt at a slightly more wearable version of this fantastic piece from J. Crew.

My Mama made a few great basic pieces. 

Also: leaving for Glenwood Springs tomorrow, so I'll be MIA for a couple days!

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Necklace alterations

I have a lot of necklaces that I love, but hail from days past when a shorter length was in style. Instead of spending the money to buy new ones, I have found two simple ways to convert the ones I love to longer, more wear-able options. 

First, use the chain from another necklace to add length.

For example, I have this necklace that I am quite fond of. However, with the styles of tops I am currently wearing, it would look better longer. Therefore I found a chain of a matching color and weight and simply clasped one to the other, on both ends.

Voila! Versatile new necklace!

Although I used a chain that would have made the necklace too long, looping the chain around one more time gave me the desired length. The weight of the turquoise necklace made for an awkward choker, but it stayed at a more comfortable and attractive length when a small safety-pin was applied to the back of both loops to hold it in place. 

Another option is this, adding ribbon to a necklace to add length.

Jewelry for charity

As you are starting to delve into your holiday shopping, consider one of these great organizations that support impoverished women in Uganda. BeadforLife and 31 Bits help Ugandan women to market and sell hand-made jewelry and other products in order for them to become self-sufficient.

BeadforLife is a charity (from Colorado!) that aims for the women they work with to become self-sufficient and independent of the organization within 18 months. 

31 Bits is an organization that focuses on women displaced in Northern Uganda and provides training beyond business skills.

Italian bracelets

When I was younger, I would wear my Mama's Italian leather bracelets (similar to these ones). I loved how glamorous and grown up I felt wearing them. She would get mad, as they were special and I was not supposed to steal them.

This past June we were visiting a few European countries and Italy was one of them. The thought never even crossed my mind that we would be able to find these bracelets, yet we did at the Scuola del Cuoio (Institute of Leather) in Florence. I was overjoyed at the thought that I would be able to have my very own fancy bracelets!

These are the ones I got.

My Mama got a few of these ones, more for me to covet!

(click on any of the images to visit the website)