Monthly Archives: January 2014

Girls Want Pearls: Get Organized and Stick With It!

Welcome to Girls Want Pearls! Many of us start the new year with new determination to be organized. One way to stay on track and be excited about it is to make our organizational tools pretty! Whether you have a memo station in your office or use your fridge to post notes and reminders, chances are you use magnets. I have an inspiration wall in my studio where I clip pictures that inspire me in design, as well as project ideas I want to work on some day. You know the memo board, the original, hands-on, real life pinterest?
 
So today I want to show you how to make a pretty pearly magnet to hold all that inspiration and organization.
I chose turquoise beads to go with my pearls, but every color in the world goes with pearl so the sky’s the limit. I wanted to make a design and a cross is super easy. I also think a fleur de lys would be pretty and not too difficult, which I just may try. This project took a little over an hour. You could cut down on the time and pearls/beads if you used a smaller styro ball or larger pearls.
Here’s what you need to make your own pearl magnet:

Start by scoring the styro ball at the halfway point, all the way around. Then with your exacto or a kitchen knife, cut the ball in half. Slice off approx. a half inch of the top rounded area to make a flat surface.

Begin placing the beads for the cross, starting with the center “intersection” bead and working out from there. If your straight pins are too long you can clip them off. As a security measure, you can dip each pin in glue before applying to the styrofoam if you wish, or apply glue to the back side and prop it upside down to let it soak in.

Fill in remaining area with pearls, working from the cross to the outer edges of the styro disc. Don’t worry if you see spaces, you can easily push and manipulate the pearls, and the more you put in, the easier it gets to “smoosh” them into place. See my little friend? She must think it’s spring!

Now just glue your magnets to the back and allow to dry.
As always, feel free to ask any questions in the comments if you need me to clarify any part of the instructions. Enjoy!
 
Next week’s hint: Put your thinking cap on
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Tour Our 1856 Holiday Home AND a Wine Cellar Sneaky Peek

I imagine I’m in the minority here, still talking about Christmas now two weeks after the big day. In the few weeks before Christmas I contemplated joining in on the holiday home tours. As I thought about snapping photos, editing photos, re-snapping photos, compiling and finally posting photos I realized that my own Christmas spirit as well as my family’s were doomed to the same fate as Jacob Marley unless I changed my direction. I decided our fa la las would be better served if I kept my focus on our celebrations and put off the home tour until the new year. 
 
So hopefully you’re not too tired of looking at Christmas decor and will come on in and have a look around. I’ll let the pictures do the talking for the most part.
Welcome to our 1856 home, please come in!
My entry hall
Favorite vintage ornaments ~ a few I’ve had since childhood.
Our living room, sorry for the poor lighting
Need to use the powder room? got ya covered
This little cutie was in my stocking
Now I’ll take you down to the wine cellar, but you have to promise not to peek behind the curtains, it’s not quite finished yet! I’ll be showing the full reveal in a few short weeks.
I hope you enjoyed the tour. It was great to have you!
Talk soon,
 Ann

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Girls Want Pearls: Take Your Pearl Necklace Up a Notch

Welcome to the first Girls Want Pearls of 2014! I’m very excited about all the pearly posts I have in store for you for the coming year. Today’s idea is very simple but also very transformative. I’m sure some of my readers have already employed these ideas as a solution in those times when one feels bored with her accessories. I’m going to show you some easy ways to take a pearl necklace or bracelet and upcycle it with pierced and clip-on earrings, brooches and lockets. In each case I’ll show you the before and after.

Alone, this necklace is pretty and classic.
Get a more casual look by adding a vintage enamel clip-on earring. Some clip-ons work better for this than others. I had to bend/curve out the clip part of this earring to make it lay right.
Slide a locket on pearls instead of a chain to mix it up.
 
I love layers upon layers of long pearl strands. By themselves . . . swoon!
 
But sometimes we just have to embellish! For the above look, I added two clip-on earrings and a brooch.
A large brooch can be pinned on one strand or several, whatever your pin will hold.
Simple and elegant
Guess what is taking this strand to a new level? A wire hook earring! It’s just slipped over and pinched together.
Now go raid your jewelry box and see what kind of great combos you can come up with!

Next week’s hint: Stick with it
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Brown Suede and Ice Blue Metallic

How did it get to be January? 2013 flew by so quickly, right? I hope it was a good one for you. It had its good as well as bad moments for me, but it’s all part of the big picture and it’s what makes me who I am. I’m grateful for all of it for that reason. And I’m ready to face 2014 with a ton of expectation for good things to come. Okay, enough serious talk, let’s talk fashion!
 
Here’s another coat from my vintage collection.
This one was a gift from my husband a few years ago. I had seen it in the antique mall that I used to have a space in and told him about it. So he surprised me and bought it for my birthday. Isn’t he a doll? It’s almost too tight and I probably should start looking for a new home for it, but I think I’ll wear it a few more times before I part with it. It’s suede and fully lined with the softest faux fur imaginable.
I love the toggle closures on it.
The boots don’t look great with it, a little clashy maybe on color?
The necklace is one I made and is for sale on my website.
{coat: vintage, no tag} {top: one7six} {jeans: a.n.a.} {boots: Steve Madden} {necklace: Tarnished Royalty HERE }
 
Exciting news: I’m switching my blog over to WordPress. I’ve been working hard on getting it ready to transition. I’ve been designing a new look with new content and features to hopefully make my blog even better. I can’t wait to share it with you! It should happen very soon and I’ll let you know with a final post on blogger when the time comes.
 
Talk soon,
 Ann

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