Category Archives: Girls Want Pearls

Girls Want Pearls #45: Patriotic Sparkler Sprays

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a good Father’s Day weekend. Summer is in full swing, with swimming, baseball, bbqs, nights on the patio, lightning bugs…ahhhh. And I’m starting to hear fireworks, a definite sign of summer. Today is #45 in my series, Girls Want Pearls, and I have a patriotic décor project to show you. It’s a play on my previous post here. I’m going to show you how to make Pearl and Bead Sparkler Sprays for your July 4th table or buffet.

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The supply list is short: 20 gauge wire, pearls, red beads, blue beads, foil, glitter and glue. I have actually taken vintage mercury bead sprays and modified them but I’ll show you how to make them from scratch.

To create a bouquet of this size (2 sprays):

Start by cutting 8 pieces of wire, approx. 14 inches in length. Twist 4 pieces of wire together approx. 6 inches from the bottom to form a wire spray. Thread the beads and pearls on, in solid or alternating patterns. Repeat steps to make the second spray.

Cap them at the top with foil using the method shown here:

The above bouquet is 4 sprays.

That’s it! You can make several sprays and place them as centerpieces or to beautify your buffet table.

Next week’s pearl post hint: Mind your business

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Ann

Linking with: Savvy Southern Style,The 36th Avenue, No Minimalist Here, Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson,The Scoop, Mod Vintage Life, Between Naps on the Porch, From My Front Porch to Yours, Cozy Little House, Knick of Time, A Stroll Thru Life, Ivy and Elephants, Jennifer Rizzo, Style Elixir, Shabby Art Boutique, Cheerios and Lattes, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Classy Clutter, French Country Cottage, C.R.A.F.T. Monday Funday , VMG206, Bacon Time with the Hungry Hypo, That DIY Party

Girls Want Pearls #44: Patriotic Sparkler Bunting Headband

It’s Monday, so that means another Girls Want Pearls here at Tarnished Royalty! Thank you so much for coming by and for all your positive comments about the pearl projects! This is week #44 of a 52 week series, so there aren’t many left. I want to share with you a project to glam yourself up while showing your patriotism for the upcoming July 4th celebrations. We’ll be making a Patriotic Sparkler Bunting Headband.

Husband gave me quite the sideways glance when I traipsed into the living room wearing this.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Creating the pearl and bead sparklers:
Cut 3 pieces of 18-20 gauge wire, approx. 8 inches in length.

Thread the wire through the shank on the button and bend till ends are together.String 5 each 8-10mm pearls onto each half of the wire. Bend around the tip of the wire to form a loop, securing the pearls onto the wire, using needle nose pliers or a jewelry tool as shown.

Twist the wire once at the bottom. You will have excess wire and the pearls will slide around, that’s okay we’ll fix that later. Repeat previous steps, using red and blue beads. Note: I used mercury glass beads for the red and blue, but any kind of bead will work and look great.

Creating the sparkler tips:
Cut 6 strips of aluminum foil, 1/2-3/4 inches wide by 6 inches in length. Working with one sparkler at a time, slide the pearls/beads down towards the button shank. Place the wire loop onto the foil and roll the foil around the loop, twisting and squeezing the foil to form the desired shape.

Cover the foil tip in glue followed by glitter. Repeat for the other 5 tips.

Adding the lace bunting:
Cut a strip of lace, 2-3 inches wide by 10-12 inches in length. Fold accordian style.

Pinch the top together and secure with glue or stitch with needle and thread. Fan out the bunting and attach it to the back of the button using glue. At this point, you may also want to glue some of the bunting folds to the button to create the desired fan shape.

Creating the headband strip:
You’ll be tying the headband on to wear it, so first wrap a strip of lace around your head and tie it to measure how long you want it. Cut the lace to measured length by desired width (mine is about 1 1/2 inches). I showed elastic in the supply list but later decided I’d rather tie it on.

Attaching sparkler/bunting to the headband:
Centering the button vertically on the lace strip so that there is some of the strip both above and below the button, attach with glue and allow to dry. Once dry, secure additionally with needle and thread to keep the sparklers from flipping.

Now go create your headband and sparkle in patriotic style!

Next week’s pearl post hint: Patriotic buffet

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Talk soon,
Ann

Girls Want Pearls #43: Photo Display

Welcome to Girls Want Pearls #43: Photo Display. Was your weekend a good one? Was it more of a productive or relaxing one? Making things happen or making memories? Today’s pearl project will help you celebrate the snapshots of your life by giving you a place to display the good times you have captured. We’ll be making a sea shell photo display. If you’ve come to this post as a result of clicking the link at Drop It or Swap It, be sure to scroll all the way to the end of the post to see exactly what’s included in my swap item!

And now for the supply list:

Oh, and one more REALLY IMPORTANT thing…

Forming the wire photo display pieces:

Cut the 16 gauge wire pieces to desired length. Form a circle at one end, wrapping around twice as shown. (hint: use a tubular object to wrap around ~ prescription pill bottle, taper candle, etc.) Twist together the other ends of the wire.

Embellishing the conch: Choose a word that conveys your feeling about the photos/memories, and select your letter tiles accordingly. Embellish the conch shell with all your embellishments. I attached mine using E-6000 (does your glue bottle look as gunky and gross as mine?!)

Bend the ends of the wire, two going one direction and the other two going the opposite direction, forming a T. When gluing the wire to the conch, it’s helpful if you can find a crevice or nook in the top/back of the shell to nestle it (I leaned mine against the spikey things on the conch). Attach it with glue, brace up and allow to dry. Once it has dried, brace it further by adding small – medium shells on top of and around the T. Glue them in place and allow to dry.

Now you have a beautiful and unique way to display photos at the beach, vacation and family photos, or fun vintage photos.

If you would like to make a photo display like this one and would love to have all the supplies delivered right to your door, you need to come back and check out this week’s Drop It or Swap It link up, running this Wednesday through Monday (linky opens Tuesday night for early birds). Cause guess what I’m swapping? Yep, everything you need to make your very own sea shell photo display! Items from each of these categories, with hand picked selections from the tiles, buttons/jewels, and small shells categories.

You’ll just need your own photos, glue and any extra embellishments you want to add. Read more about Drop It or Swap It to find out how it works. Please come back and link up!

Next week’s pearl post hint: Old Glory

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Talk soon,
Ann

Girls Want Pearls #42: Give Your Handbag a Summer Makeover

Happy Monday dear readers and friends! Has your Memorial weekend been good so far? I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of the veterans, those that have served and are no longer with us, those that are still among us and those who are currently serving in the military. We owe so much to them for the immense sacrifices they have made to keep our country the good ol’ USA that we have known and loved.

Okay, ready for some fashion flips? This week is #42 of my weekly Monday series, Girls Want Pearls. Last week we looked at some easy ways to amp up simple cotton or muslin gift bags with the addition of pearls, doilies and burlap. This week I want to show you some super duper easy ways to give your summer handbag a mini makeover.

First I want to show you this fab vintage straw bag with velvet and pearl veggies and fruit. Can you believe the cuteness?

I love the pea pods with their pearl peas. I’m not going to reproduce this look, though one certainly could. I’m going to flip the bag to the back side and show you some things to do with a plain straw bag.

Look #1: Add a colorful summer scarf.

Just wrap the scarf around the bag and tie it in a knot. Then, take a strand of pearls strung on wire and wrap it around the knot two or three times and twist the ends together.

You can mix it up and change out the scarf to go with your mood or your outfit.

For the next look you’ll need a couple of belts and a strand of pearls on wire.

This look is a bit more permanent as you will need to stitch the belts on in a few places. Wrap them around the bag, overlapping as desired, buckle the belts and stitch them on. I placed the buckle on the bottom layer belt onto the back side of the bag. Once you have stitched them in place, take your wired pearl strand and curve it around the buckle as shown. You can twist it on with the wire ends to secure or glue it on to the belt.

Maybe you don’t have a straw bag. You can pick one up at almost any thrift store or yard sale, or try the look on another type of bag. I didn’t have any pastel belts but wouldn’t it look fantastic with a yellow and coral pairing, or mint and navy. Can you think of other belt types / combos that would work? Let me know in the comments!

I would like to invite you to come back Wednesday and link up at my Drop It or Swap It party. Come on ladies (and gents) I know you’ve got stuff you don’t wear or aren’t using anymore. Some other lucky girl would love to wear it or add it to her decor!

Here’s a peek at what I’ll be swapping this week. Click the pic for more info about how Drop It or Swap It works.

Next week’s pearl post hint: She sells sea shells…

Love pearls and don’t want to miss any pearly posts?

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Talk soon,
Ann

Girls Want Pearls #41: Beautiful Gift Bags

Happy Monday! I hope you enjoyed your weekend and it didn’t fly by too fast! The older I get, the faster time flies, so I’m going to try to savor every minute. Another gift-giving season is upon us with graduations and weddings so today’s Girls Want Pearls (#41) is all about an easy way to

package

those presents

with panache.

All you need is a plain muslin or cotton bag, a doily and pearls. Just trace or freehand the initial of your choice onto the doily with pencil, sew the pearls on and tack the doily onto the bag. Select a ribbon to tie on (I chose a strip of ticking fabric) and fill with goodies.

The above pic shows you a glimpse of a part of the house that hasn’t been renovated. If you’re new to my blog, I should explain that I live in an 1856 home that husband and I have been renovating for 20 years (whoa, that’s a long time) and still aren’t finished. The room beyond the doors is where the stairway to the second floor is. As you can see, we have sanded the floors but have not refinished them. Eventually, eventually…

OK, back to the gift bags.

This is the bag I did first, and after I did the one with the doily and initial I liked it so much better that I almost didn’t show you this one. But, for my burlap-loving friends, here’s another way to embellish a bag with pearls. Again, just needle and thread, a strip of burlap and pearls added to a plain bag. Easy!

Next week’s pearl post hint: What’s in your bag of tricks?

Love pearls and don’t want to miss any pearly posts?

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Talk soon,

Ann

Linking with: Savvy Southern Style,The 36th Avenue, No Minimalist Here, Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson,The Scoop, Mod Vintage Life, Between Naps on the Porch,From My Front Porch to Yours,Cozy Little House, Knick of Time,A Stroll Thru Life, Ivy and Elephants, Jennifer Rizzo, Style Elixir, Shabby Art Boutique, Cheerios and Lattes, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Classy Clutter, French Country Cottage, C.R.A.F.T. Monday Funday , VMG206, Bacon Time with the Hungry Hypo

Girls Want Pearls #40: Gates > Pearl and Others

I hope you all had a happy Mother’s Day! Mine included church, Italian food, hugs and kisses from kids and grandkids (and puppies), family, friends, tulips, sunshine, yard darts and bbq!

This is #40 in a series of 52 posts on the wonderful pearl ~ ways to repurpose it, facts about it, and even a few appearances in holy scripture. Yes the beloved pearl made its way into a few Bible verses, one of which I wrote about here. Today I want to look at another well known reference, the pearly gates.

Did you know that the Bible scripture where this phrase came from actually says that each gate is made of one giant pearl? “The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl.” Rev. 21:21 Now that’s a big pearl, I’d like to see the oyster that produced it!

I’ve rounded up some amazing gates to show you. Although none of them can rival the beauty of the 12 pearl gates and the promise of what awaits us there, I wouldn’t mind coming home to any one of these at our earthly home.

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I never cease to be amazed at God’s creation. Just think about how a pearl is formed:

A natural pearl begins its life inside an oyster’s shell when an intruder, such as a grain of sand or bit of floating food, slips in between one of the two shells of the oyster and the protective layer that covers the mollusk’s organs, called the mantle.

In order to protect itself from irritation, the oyster will quickly begin covering the uninvited visitor with layers of nacre — the mineral substance that fashions the mollusk’s shells. Layer upon layer of nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, coat the grain of sand until the iridescent gem is formed.
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It’s sort of like in our lives. Uninvited hardships, pain and unpleasant circumstances, if allowed to, will bring about something beautiful. If we can choose to trust God with every irritant or intruder of our peace, coating them with layer upon layer of prayer and thanksgiving, we just might be amazed at the beauty that emerges. So the next time you are faced with something difficult, remember the oyster and you’ll be happy as a clam :).

I hope you’ll come back Wednesday for Drop It or Swap It! Here’s a peek at what I’ll be swapping:

Next week’s pearl post hint: No time like the present

Love pearls and don’t want to miss any pearly posts?

You can get a reminder, just fill in your info below and I’ll email you when a post goes live and send you a monthly newsletter.

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Talk soon,
Ann