BeadStyle : gift

Cool gift ideas, clean conscience

Stacy Hillmer — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:53:00 GMT

I’ve just discovered Kumvana Gomani’s fabulous recycled-materials jewelry. Her fashion-forward collection is created from reclaimed PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic and aluminum. I particularly like her snö jewelry, including this necklace and these earrings – what cool holiday gift ideas! Plus you can rest easy knowing that your purchase was an eco-friendly one.

A note about navigating Kumvana Gomani’s site: Click on Collection, then click on any of the three women wearing her jewelry to enter the store.

Old jewelry-making catalogs = New gift bows!

Stacy Hillmer — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:40:00 GMT

Craftstylish.com recently covered Jessica Jones and her blog How about orange…, which currently features an awesome paper project: DIY gift bows made from magazine pages. I knew this project had to be adaptable to BeadStyle readers, but how…?

Certainly I would never advocate the dissection of back issues of BeadStyle, but there had to be something we beaders have lying around that would make for colorful (specifically “green”) bows. And then my eyes fell on my stack of outdated jewelry-making catalogs. You know what I’m talking about: the catalogs you get every month, with every order, and/or at every bead show? I never want to throw them away, but the truth is I never look at them.

So out came the scissors, and look what I made! Jessica’s instructions are very clear, and the catalog pages were the perfect size and weight. I can’t wait to top my holiday gifts of jewelry with these fun bows!

If you too are starting to think in the direction of holiday gift giving, check out these posts from BeadStyle’s own blog:

• Cathy’s tutorial on turning greeting cards into jewelry gift boxes
• My favorite use for toilet paper rolls and take-out containers

"His style" - BeadStyle projects for Father's Day

Erin Dolan — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:14:00 GMT

One of my largest personal challenges of the year comes every June: Father's Day shopping.

I think it's a situation many of us find ourselves in: What in the world do I buy for Dad? I mean, how many ties or golf shirts does a guy need?

Stacy and I were talking this morning about classic Father's Day fallback gifts (who hasn't chipped in with their mom or siblings to get Dad a new grill?), and it occured to me that maybe us beaders have another option for Dad. What about jewelry for men?!

Everyone appreciates handmade gifts and the time and thought that goes into them. Plus, a gift like that means you get to spend some time being creative and working on your favorite hobby. Not a bad situation!

BeadStyle has several projects on our website to help get you started. I know my dad wouldn't be the hugest jewelry fan, even if it is strictly "guys' jewelry," but maybe I'll try out this Steven James' cuff links project.

If your dad is more of a fashion risk-taker than mine, check out this cool necklace by Greg Cooper (at right).

I hope my dad likes my new approach to Father's Day gift-giving. If not, he'll just have to settle for yet another season of 24 on DVD...

Great recessionista idea

Cathy Jakicic — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:23:00 GMT

Word of mouth is a fabulous thing for finding life's hidden treasures. My sister just told me about a jewelry line (that a friend told her about) that has hit on a great idea in financially challenging times for artists. The line is called "Circle of Friends." The necklaces feature a simple circle-centric pendant that is customized with a few gemstones. Each piece is only $10, and the many different styles offered make them really nice, personalized gifts for a range of different personalities and styles. It goes to show that with a really simple, adaptable idea, it's possible to keep material costs down enough to be able to offer a reasonably priced, but not cheap-looking creation.

Two new tips for giving jewelry gifts

Stacy Hillmer — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:06:00 GMT

I recently gave my aunt a bracelet for her birthday. When she unwrapped the strand of colorful polymer clay frogs and gunmetal findings, I said what I always say when I give the gift of handmade jewelry: “If it’s too big or too small – I can fix it.”

Only this was the first time I had to put my money where my mouth is – the bracelet was indeed a tad too big.

Now came the tricky part. With my aunt wearing the bracelet, we began pinching and pulling at the strand, first overlapping the ends one way, then another, trying to figure out how much shorter the bracelet needed to be. We took a guess, but I won’t know for sure if it was a good guess until this weekend when I can return the bracelet to my aunt.

Things would have been much easier if I had only brought along a soft measuring tape! I could have easily looped it around her wrist to find the perfect length, then adjusted the bracelet with confidence. From now on, I’m packing a measuring tape in my purse whenever I give jewelry. After all, if I say I can fix it, I better have the right tools!

Also, my aunt made a request I never anticipated. As I pointed to the frog beads that would have to be removed, she said in a sad voice, “Oh, but I don’t want to lose those.” Translation: “Don’t take those away from me! You were going to give them to me if the bracelet fit!” I promised I would find something else to do with the beads.

One solution would have been to make a dangle for the clasp, but there were too many beads for that. Another solution could be matching earrings, but my aunt prefers a favorite pair of studs to drop earrings. Instead, I strung the beads on head pins and attached them to different lengths of silver and gunmetal chain. Then I attached the chains to a keychain ring. That way my aunt can always have the beads close by, even when she’s not wearing her bracelet.

Do you have any other tips for giving handmade jewelry? Please share them below, as well as the stories that inspired your aha moment.

Great gift ideas

Erin Dolan — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 20:22:00 GMT

We have all been blogging a lot lately about handmade gifts, and how fun and rewarding giving and receiving them can be. The past few nights I have been working on homemade Christmas cards to the tunes of Bing Crosby, Andy Williams, and Josh Groban. Giving has never been more relaxing and more enjoyable than when you have made the gift yourself (and when you can listen to Bing in the process, it's even better)!

The one downside of making my own gifts is that I never seem to have enough time to do everything I want. Cathy takes a whole week to get all of her creating, baking, and crafting in!

So many projects on BeadStyleMag.com make simple, fast, and fashionable gifts. The problem changes from "I don't have time" to "I can't decide what to do next!" As Martha Stewart, queen of holiday crafting, would say: It's a good thing.

I went through our free projects and found a couple of quick holiday gift ideas for you to try out at home. Did I miss a favorite of yours? Leave a comment and let everyone know which of our projects you have found especially good for holiday gift-giving! Don't forget that our projects for sale are still only $1.95!

Debbi Simon's briolette bangle

Gemstones briolettes and metal accent beads come together easily with a premade bangle. You can choose colors and stones to match the personality of the receiver. Best of all, the bangle component is premade, making your process a lot faster!

Jane Konkel's tagua nut earrings

These tagua nuts, dyed pink from their natural ivory color, have a funky, playful look when paired with rubber tubes. These earrings would make a great gift for a teenager or a fun friend. Play around with the color of the tagua and the length of the rubber components.

Christianne Camera's citrine nugget necklace

Contrast smooth, top-drilled citrine nuggets with the sharp lines of bicone crystals. Don't have citrine and no time to run to the bead shop? This design will look great with any top-drilled bead. The key is alternating the beads and interspersing them with a contrasting bicone.