When my niece's ninth birthday rolled around this past summer, I spent a lot of time wondering what to get her. Finally, I came up with the idea of getting her started with basic beading supplies. (Don't ask me why it took so long to think of this when I spend forty hours a week surrounded by beads.) Emilie has always been a creative kid — she loves to write and she's recently taken up scrapbooking — so I figured that beading would be another creative outlet for her.

The gift was a hit, but Emilie has run into a problem. About a month ago, my mom told me that Emilie is running low on beads, so she can no longer make bracelets for her friends at school. What's an aunty to do? Buy her more beads for Christmas, of course.

I'm so delighted to be sharing this hobby with my niece. Not only is it something that we now have in common, but it also means that I have birthday and Christmas presents covered for a long time to come . . .