Accessories

I decided that with the lace on my dress, pearls would be a good compliment for my wedding jewelry. This decision was much easier than expected. I wanted round shaped pearls that were off-white and I wanted dangly earrings. Oh my goodness, folks, this was not easy to find. We looked EVERYWHERE. Department stores, pawn shops, Khol's. I looked through everyone's jewelry boxes. Ok, not everyone's but my sisters sent me pictures of their pearl jewelry and I looked through my mom and grandma's jewelry. Finally, I found a nice necklace and bracelet set from my grandma. She told me she never wore them so I could have them. Double score! Now came the adventure of finding matching earrings. Again, we looked everywhere. I had seen some in a department store early on in the hunt but they were no longer there when we looked again. Dang. Finally, they may have had silver hooks (all my accents were gold) but I found earrings I liked. Seriously, huge relief.

When deciding on what accessories you want, remember this is your wedding and you are the bride! (well, you can be a groom reading this too but I don't think you'll be looking for the same things as I was!) If you're wanting to go with something classic like pearls, don't settle on costume jewelry from the kid's department. Look everywhere. Don't feel like you need to spend a ton on jewelry but make sure what you're buying will look as classic as you want it. If you want to go for diamonds, again, don't settle for costume jewelry. It looks fake. I promise. When I was deciding between gold or silver, I took into account my wedding colors and the metal of my engagement ring. I had champagne color accents in the wedding colors and a yellow gold engagement ring, so for me, the choice was golds. If you want a classic look, don't go towards bold colored jewelry. I would stick with anything white, cream or ivory. My dress was stark white so I wanted an off-white pearl. If you want a touch of color, I would suggest pale colors. Even paler than pastels. You don't want to distract from you and your dress! But ultimately, it's your day. Feel beautiful no matter what!

PS I also got my bridesmaids pearl bracelets from Khol's. That one wasn't as hard of a decision!

Giveaway: Make Change Bracelet

Hello Wayward Readers! Today I have a great idea for you for a holiday gift you can feel great about giving.

A "Make Change" bracelet

Faith is a 12 year old young woman I know who helped design beautiful bracelets with a great message. Each bracelet is only $5 and they help fund the change she wants to make. She recognized a need, for families afflicted with leprosy in Chennai, India and is now trying to make the change and help these families by teaming up with Rising Star.

 

YOU can help today by purchasing one of these bracelets. Visit her website to learn more: http://makechangetoday.org/

Or watch this short video (and look for some Jaime Approved Treats!)

And because I love this mission so much, I purchased one to give away today!

There are a bunch of different ways to win, so see below:

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friendship Bracelet

There are many ways to make friendship bracelets. I don't know if this one has a fancy name but we can just call it a friendship bracelet to make everything easy.
What you need:
String (this can be hemp or bamboo cord or whatever!)
A safety pin
Scissors
How to do it is pretty simple. First measure out some string. I usually do 2 1/2-3 lengths of my forearm. I don't really know how long that is, let's go with around 2 ft.

Start by tying a knot leaving a loop in the middle. Since I won't be using the middle two strings I tied the knot a little off center (about 6 inches) to save string.

Place the loop in a safety pin so you can pin it to your jeans or couch cushion or whatever to stabilize the bracelet as you go. You could also use tape instead if you want. Leave two strings in the center.
Taking the left outside string, make a four shape crossing the string over the center strings.

Then take the outside string around the center strings. Then pull the string through the middle of the four shape.

Tighten the knot.

Repeat on the opposite side starting with a backwards shape four.

 Continue tying the strings like this until the desired length.

When finishing the bracelet, tie a know at the end with all the strings. You can add a bead or tie the extra strings in the loop or braid the end. There are many ways to end a friendship bracelet. I haven't finished mine yet but I will let you know how it goes next week :)

Vintage Button Bracelet

The reason I decided to dabble again in jewelry making was a vintage button bracelet. I saw this example and wanted to try for myself as Christmas present for my mother-in-law. But where was I going to find vintage buttons? I started showing my friends pictures of this bracelet and letting them know I was on the hunt for vintage buttons. My friend stumbled upon the motherload of buttons and I got started. The bracelet wasn't done in time for Christmas, but I got it done by the time for my mother-in-law's birthday.

I started with a plain bracelet, pre made and purchased at Joann.

 Then I laid out the buttons the way I liked. Using jump rings I attached the buttons

 After the first round, I added a bunch more buttons to make it look fuller.

My mother in law loved it! What do you think?