Who doesn't love jewelry? I know I personally love it but hate to spend a lot of money on it, especially when I'm working my way out of debt. However, with a little more time and effort, jewelry can be a GREAT gift for friends, family & children.
I was talking to my co-worker yesterday about the upcoming holidays. She needed to buy gifts for some boys in her family. I suggested getting bath supplies (toothpaste, bubblebath, character-themed toothbrushes, etc). A lot of department stores have gift bundles this time of year that make it a practical and inexpensive gift to give. The best part of it for me, is that it's a gift that doesn't have to be decided to be thrown away or given away later. The toothpaste, soap, etc will eventually be used up so it won't clutter your house. My co-worker loved the idea and said she had a lot of great ideas to expand on it from there - like a towel to go with the soap.
As we talked, I said I needed to find gifts for the girls in my family. My co-worker likes to make jewelry as a hobby and she said she always makes the girls in her family jewelry every Christmas. I thought that would be a great idea again because if I made it myself, then I could save a ton of money. So, I'm going to make 15 girls under 7 yrs old a bracelet and necklace for Christmas. My co-worker gave me a few online sites to check: Fusion Beads and Fire Mountain Gems which would give better pricing then a local craft store. So last night I went to Michael's to check out the beads and product that was offered. It helped me going to the store in person because I was able to gauge the size of the beads that looked good, get comparative pricing and ideas on how to make the jewelry. I also know that if I fell short of the supplies I order online, I won't be stuck without it. I will still be able to go to the local store & pick up anything forgotten.
I went on Fusionbeads.com because it was had the best pricing and ease to browse the site & FREE SHIPPING. I always look for free shipping because then I don't have to worry about additional fees from the pricing I'm calculating. I realized quickly that I needed to be careful in my selection or my budget could easily be blown. This site has so much product and ideas that you can easily make a necklace for over $50 from one of the suggested kits or other spacers or charms offered. My co-worker suggested I look at the glass-fire polished beads because they were inexpensive compared to getting actual gemstones or pearls. However, glass beads are great for kids because they are still very pretty and yet if it gets broken or lost, it's not a huge financial loss. There's a ton of options and since jewelry & beading is not a hobby of mine, it took quite a bit of time to determine what I would do and select the product to buy.
However, I decided for the girls in my life, that I would make a necklace and bracelet that had their 'color' birthstone, along with the color birthstones of any siblings. I also found the most inexpensive letters to comprise the names of each girl on either the necklace or bracelet (haven't decided which yet). I thought that the extra expense of each letter ($0.13/letter for 100 letters is still $13) was worth it because every kid likes to feel they have personalized items with 'their' name on it. With 15 girls and 2 adult grandmothers, I was able to buy all the supplies I need for only $9.40/person. An easy way to keep it inexpensive was also to buy the clear magic elastic cord to avoid clasps, caps and other pieces needed to close the jewelry. For kids, I can tie the elastic cord together & then glue it to make sure it holds. Since the cord is elastic, its an ideal scenerio for kids to just slip on the stretch jewelry.
This will take quite a bit of time to put these necklaces & bracelets together and I hope that my 2 sons will be able to help so we can say it was a family project. I'm not sure how much help my husband will provide, but I will probably talk him into putting a couple beads together so I can say we ALL did it :) I'm very excited to make my daughter one as well and when she's older, I can tell her how we all made it together. However, this will be much more sentimental to give and recieve then if I bought the jewelry off the shelf & just handed it to each of them. The bracelets will also be personal and unique because no one else will have the same colors or family dynamics as the bracelets I make. By adding in the sibling colors, the jewelry now represents a family to these girls that I'm sure they will want to brag about with their friends.
I am by no means a professional jewelry maker, not even an advit hobbyist. However, by using the ideas of others & simplifying the task, I will make some very pretty jewelry. I can't wait to post a picture of the first couple pieces I make. First, I have to get it in the mail. Look forward to sharing with you my heart-felt gifts in an upcoming post!
Bye for now and HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU AND YOURS!!!
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