Category Archives: Girls Want Pearls

Girls Want Pearls #33: Designer Nests

Hello dear readers! Welcome to another installment of Girls Want Pearls! Today is number 33 of 52 posts all about the beloved pearl. Shall we get started?

Nests are a decorating staple this time of year. Who doesn’t love a good nest in their decor? Over the years I have created a few variations of this sweet spring symbol, one made from rusty wire, another from tulle. I have a couple of real nests I incorporate into my decorating too. Today I’m going to show you how to make a pearl nest.
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Supply list: Just pearls and wire!

String your pearls on wire using random sizes and shades of white. Your nest will be made up of two sections so you’ll need to string two separate pearl strands. To build the nest, start with a tight coil as the center of section one.
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Then wind it around in a messy bundle.
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Section two will be more of an organized mess. Weave the strands in and out and around to form another bundle.
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Now take the second section and place it on section one and attach with small pieces of wire.
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At this point in the project, I just scrunched around and pinched until I molded the nest into a shape that was wider at the top rim and got narrower towards the bottom.
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Fill with moss and eggs to complete the look! I couldn’t find my stash of tiny eggs so I used painted acorns. Display your designer nest under a cloche, on top of a candlestick, with other nests or by itself for a dazzling spring welcome!

Next week’s hint: Wrap It Up

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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 LifeIvy 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

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Girls Want Pearls #32: Bling Your Hat!

Welcome to Girls Want Pearls #32 and Happy St. Patricks Day! There are leftovers in the fridge but if I decide to cook dinner tonight I’ll make corned beef and cabbage, yum! Do you have any St. Patty’s Day traditions?

Okay, on to this week’s pearl project. Do you ever wear hats? When I’m having a bad hair day I love to throw one on. Or sometimes when I’m feeling spunky or I feel the need to put some pizzazz in an otherwise blah casual outfit. So here’s a way to give a plain hat a twist with pearls and buttons.

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Just gather up a mix of buttons and pearls and sew them on in random groupings.
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Guaranteed to put a spring in your step and a twinkle in your eye every time you wear your newly created hat!

Next week’s hint: Tweet Tweet

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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 LifeIvy and Elephants, Jennifer Rizzo, Style Elixir, Shabby Art Boutique, Cheerios and Lattes, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Classy Clutter, French Country Cottage

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Girls Want Pearls #31: This Little Light Of Mine

Happy Monday dear readers! I hope you had a good, refreshing weekend. It’s a new week full of new possibilities! Welcome to Girls Want Pearls #31. Today I want to show you how to turn ordinary objects into pearl dripping candle holders. I gathered up some of my ironstone collection, spools of string, and some glass bobeches.
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I decided to keep it all neutral, so I used off white candles. The bobeches come in handy to both bridge the gap at the top of vessels and to hold the candles in place. I added stick tack to some of them to keep them even more stable. Swags can be made by hooking the pearls to the bobeches if they have holes/wire for that. Some of mine don’t so I just wrapped pearls around the candle base, then intertwined, swagged and dripped to get the desired effect.
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Here’s a view from the top. You can see how I added pedestals to bring the height up on some of the pieces.
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Almost anything can be turned into a candle holder ~ clear glass vases, mason jars, silver or tin pieces, teapots, the only limit is your imagination. Experiment and have fun!
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Next week’s hint: Hats Off To Pearls

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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 LifeIvy and Elephants, Jennifer Rizzo, Style Elixir, Shabby Art Boutique, Cheerios and Lattes, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Classy Clutter, French Country Cottage, Funky Junk Interiors

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Girls Want Pearls #30: Shake a Leg!

Even though it’s frigid now where many of us live, it won’t be long until it’s time to bare those legs! Welcome to the 30th installment of my year-long weekly series Girls Want Pearls! To all of you who experience the 4 seasons in their fullest sense, I hope you’re staying warm. To those of you who think it’s cold when it hits 50 . . . well nevermind. I love you just the same. And to everyone reading this, spring really is coming! Really!

This might be my favorite pearl project to date. We’re going to pearlify our socks! It works with socks in any color, print and weight. The possibilities are endless!

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This design needs no explanation…
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How easy is that!

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For this design you’ll need 3 strands of pearls per sock, the kind that go from small pearls to a large pearl in the center. Plus six large pearls.
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Just sew on the strands and then sew the single pearls at each peak.
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If you prefer to make them removable, you can do that by sewing on plastic hair bands and threading the strands through.

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If you’re feeling like a real girly girl you can easily add tulle with your pearls. Too over the top for you? How cute for a daughter or granddaughter.
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Just cut 4 or 5 strips of tulle, 4″ wide x 12″ long, per sock.
Fold each strip accordion style.
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Then fold each of those in half, fan out a little and sew on the sock. Do this for each strip, sewing them on all the way around the sock. You’ll want to sew each one separately without linking them together or your sock might not open up far enough to get your foot in (I found this out the hard way!). Then just sew on your pearls.

Now go to your sock drawer and see what you can dream up, and get ready to show some leg!

Next week’s hint: This Little Light of Mine…

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 LifeIvy and Elephants, Jennifer Rizzo, Style Elixir, Shabby Art Boutique, Cheerios and Lattes, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Classy Clutter, French Country Cottage, The Pleated Poppy, Rachel The Hat, Lena B. Actually, Because Shanna Said So, Simply Lulu Style, Monday Mingle, Casual Friday, Funday Monday, I Feel Pretty, CC McAfee Perspective

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Girls Want Pearls #29: Yay Ombre!

Are you as ready for spring as I am? I’m done with winter and to prove it I’ve got a fresh new pearl project to welcome in warmer weather when it finally gets here. Welcome to Girls Want Pearls #29!
I want to show you a super easy project with high visual impact.
You’ll need:
3 straight skinny clear vases (you can find them at most dollar stores), pearls and beads in various colors, water, and 3 flower stems.
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I love ombre shading! I knew I wanted to create an ombre effect with dark to light colored pearls / beads. I went to shop for the perfect combination of colors but wasn’t quite coming up with what I needed. What do you do when you can’t find what you’re looking for? You make it!
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I did some paint mixing with my craft paints to create 4 of the colors in my design: the cocoa brown, the bright green, and the two lighter shades of pink. I would have much prefered to buy what I needed, and I’m sure you can find the exact right colors online, but in case you can’t, or you like to dabble in paint mixing, here’s the solution I came up with. I placed a dollup of the mixed color in a small plastic container with a lid (butter tub, coffee can, etc.). I dropped in the desired amount of white pearls, put the lid on and shook them up. Then I poured them out on waxed paper and let them dry, jiggling them periodically to keep them from sticking. If you want a more translucent color, add a little water to the paint.

Once the pearls are dry, place them in the vase, add water and flowers. BTW, I did get lucky when it came to my flower purchase. I knew I wanted light pink tulips for this project. Any color would be lovely but that’s what I pictured. I went to Walmart and they had them! Exactly what I needed at the first place I looked! POW!
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So there you have it, an inexpensive way to bring a good dose of spring to your home using pearls.

Next week’s hint: Shake a Leg!

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.
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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 LifeIvy 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

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Girls Want Pearls #28: Top Notch Upstyle

Welcome to Girls Want Pearls #28! Think I might be running out of pearl projects after 27 weeks? Noop! I’ve got tons of them just waiting to be shared!

Today I want to show you some ways you can recreate a current fashion trend, embellished shirt collars.
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For this design I used the same size pearls to line the outside border with a V, sewed them on and then scattered various size pearls around, thinning them out as they floated to the top.

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For this look I used 4 different sizes and sewed them on in rows.

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This one is actually part of a vintage necklace but the same look can be achieved with tiny pearls and some sewing. You can sew them on individually or thread the pearls and sew on strands.

I wanted to show you this distressed and shredded denim cuff I just added to my shop.
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You can see it here or by using the tab at the top of the page that says My Shop.

Next week’s hint: Yay Ombre!

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.
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First Name Last Name Email

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 LifeIvy and Elephants, Jennifer Rizzo, Style Elixir, Shabby Art Boutique, Cheerios and Lattes, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Classy Clutter, French Country Cottage

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