Friday, July 20, 2007

Favorite Cool Jewels projects: No. 2

July isn't typically a time to think about holiday ornaments, but "Fabulous Flakes" (page 88) has always been a favorite. I first came up with this idea for the January 2004 issue of BeadStyle. When I showed Mindy (the editor) my prototype — a pink, purple, and orange number — she said to just make sure that the colors were ugly. Really, I'm not making this up. She'd say blunt stuff like that all the time. Hilarious!

Snowflakes take just a few minutes. For me, they're far less labor-intensive than necklaces and way more fun and relaxing. I like to make ornaments as gifts, too — last year, I gave a set in different shades of white and ivory. I'm always on the lookout for cheap beads (in groups of six, for each of the spokes). My brainstorming with vintage strands almost always starts with "Can I make an ornament out of this." By the way, Fusion Beads carries metal snowflake forms year-round and has free shipping. And World Market sells cute holiday tins and paper takeout boxes for pretty packaging. At the magazine, we also do a pizza-and-ornament lunch in December, which I'm already looking forward to.

A minor change I make when I'm putting together ornaments for myself: I prefer the cheap wire hooks (you can get huge packs on sale at Walgreens for 79 cents). The ribbon hanger looks pretty for gift giving but can be a little distracting when the snowflake is actually on the tree.

Happy holidays!

2 comments:

calgphib said...

Naomi, these Holiday Ornaments are SOOOOOO cute! You are so creative. What a delightful project to give to friends and family. I can't wait to see more project ideas that you may have in this genre. Totally cool and awesome!

calgphib said...

Naomi, these Holiday Ornaments are SOOOOOO cute! You are so creative. What a delightful project to do and then gift them to friends and family. I can't wait to see more project ideas that you may have in this genre. Totally cool and awesome!