Unlike the other BeadStyle staff members, I didn't bead before I started working on the magazine. However, I picked it up quickly (it's hard not to when you work here), and now I regularly make jewelry for the magazine, for myself, and for myriad gifts. It wasn't until recently, though, that I realized just how liberating jewelry making can be.

Like countless others out there (both kids and kids-at-heart), I've been waiting with bated breath for the release of the final Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. A few weeks ago, it became clear that everyone in my family would be going to the book release in costume, and I had the daunting task of creating a costume that would live up to the standards of my very creative family members.

Enter Luna Lovegood, quirky schoolmate of Harry Potter who is characterized by her radish earrings and her necklace made of butterbeer corks. I can't sew like my sister, and my talents at paper mache will never rival my brother's. But I don't work at a beading magazine for nothing — I now know how to make jewelry.

Miraculously, I found an online bead store that sells radish beads. (Isn't it amazing how many beads are out there?) Wine corks were also an easy find. In no time, I had my own handmade set of Luna Lovegood jewelry. As I finished up my project, it occurred to me that I never would have been able to do this just a few short years ago. Learning how to make jewelry — or learning how to make anything by hand — opens up new realms of possibility. I am no longer limited to what's offered at the local stores because I can make exactly what I want to wear . . . even if that something is a pair of radish earrings.

Have you ever made something fun and quirky that you couldn't find at a store? Was it for a costume, a party, or a practical joke? Please share.