Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

Growing up with a brother named Nicholas, we always celebrated St. Nick's day on December 6. Nick and I would put our shoes out by the fireplace the night before in anticipation for St. Nick's arrival. In the morning we'd wake up to our shoes filled with a little gift from jolly old Saint Nicholas!

Is it asking St. Nick too much to bring me the shoes as my gift this year? If so, I'll take these leopard Sperry top-siders please!

In beading news--and speaking of guys named Nick--my brother gave his friend the best answer ever to the question of what to get his mother for Christmas: a piece of jewelry from Beaded Expressions by Marla, of course! (My family is my best advertising tool and sales rep.)

Knowing the recipient's birthday is in May, I choose to make a necklace with emerald gemstone beads and green aventurine beads.

I used the gemstone beads to create beaded beads using the netting stitch. I strung the beaded beads, gemstone beads and silver ball beads on a strand of Accu-Flex beading wire and finished it off with a silver S-clasp.

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Do you celebrate St. Nick's Day?

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25 Days of Christmas

I always feel like the month of December is a whirlwind. There's so much to do and sometimes I get lost in the holiday season without really enjoying it like I should. In an effort to get in the spirit of the holiday--and to enjoy it thoroughly--I decided to celebrate 25 Days of Christmas, where each day I'll do something joyful that allows me to celebrate the season without losing the true meaning of Christmas!

Today I hung up a decorative holiday wreath on my front door.

The wreath will greet people as they approach my front door, whether they are guests coming to visit, neighbors singing carols or the UPS man leaving a package!

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What do you do to get yourself in the holiday spirit?

Share your traditions and ideas below and I may try them and add them to my 25 Days of Christmas list!

Eye of the Tiger ~ Part 2

My family and I celebrated my grandmother's birthday over Halloween. My gift to her was a handmade beaded necklace with Tiger Eye beads, seed beads and Thunder Polish crystal bicones using the Zulu Flowerette stitch.

To compliment her necklace, I made matching clip-on earrings to give to her at Christmas.

I used large Tiger Eye beads, caramel colored crystal rondelles, bronze seed beads, gold plated clip-on earring backs, Fireline thread, sharp needle, Lacy's Stiff Stuff, E6000 adhesive, nipper tools and scissors to make the earrings.

I began by cutting a piece of Lacy's Stiff Stuff to the size of the Tiger Eye bead. I threaded a needle with Fireline, tied off the end, and ran it through the Lacy's Stiff Stuff and Tiger Eye Bead.

Then I threaded a caramel crystal rondelle and a bronze seed bead on the Fireline. Skipping the seed bead, I ran the needle back through the rondelle, Tiger Eye bead and Lacy's Stiff Stuff. I reinforced my thread path three times and then tied off the thread on the Lacy's Stiff Stuff to secure it.

The clip-on earring components I used had hooks and loops that I would not use for this particular design, so I used a nipper tool to remove them.

Then I applied E6000 adhesive to the clip-on earring component and adhered the side of the Tiger Eye bead with the Lacy's Stiff Stuff. I repeated the same process for the second earring.

I let the earrings set for 24 hours so the glue could dry completely.

The final product was a quick and easy-to-make Eye of the Tiger earring set that beautifully compliments the original necklace.

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Do you like to wear matching jewelry sets?

My grandmother loves to match her jewelry pieces, which is why I know she'll love these earrings to wear with her necklace. I like to mix and match pieces, so they don't have to match exactly, but they do have to coordinate in color and style.

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