​The Story Behind my Red Coral Necklace
 
I remember that in one of my travels to San Diego, I found an invitation card in my hotel room for a one-day-a-year open house to a jewelry wholesale company. They indicated that if you miss that day, you’ll have to wait until next year. By that time, I had been curious about trying to learn that hobby and the card caught my attention.
 
I went to the place expecting a normal beads store. When I saw the facility, I was totally overwhelmed. It was like the size of Costco and Sam’s however, only full of beads. They had rows and rows for each color.  I had no idea of what to do; however, while walking down the red beads area, these red beads caught my attention. They are corals and since I did not know how to do anything with them, I bought them and took them home with me. It took almost a year after I purchase them for me to attend a basic beads workshop and probably two more before I felt confident to work with these nice beads.
 
Well, this is the final product. That is what I came up with after many tries. Again, it doesn’t take much to create a one-of-a-kind piece. Try it!

​I do, and what a treat I got!
 
My adorable husband showed me his appreciation on Mother’s Day for the three amazing and loving children that I gave him, by taking me to see The Temptations and The Four Tops at the MGM National Harbor. I just wanted to share with you my happiness, since these are two of my favorite Motown-Era groups.
 
I love music, in fact all genres; jazz, hip hop, country, you name it, from Bruno Mars to Pavarotti, from Michael and Prince to Florida Georgia Line.
 
Finally, if you live near the Washington Metro Area or come to visit, you MUST go to Prince George’s County, Maryland, home of the MGM and the National Harbor, is just few minutes’ drive. It’s an amazing place to be, you will love it forever!

​This time, I am displaying some jewelry sets that I made for my daughters Neshy, Dona and Suzy for one of our family reunions. As you can see, I planned the designs to have a dominant bead in all sets, (the green bead that looks similar to a butterfly that I position differently in all pieces). However, I also combined the green bead with other types-color beads. This strategy creates similar but uniquely different sets for the women in my family. 

​I am sure that you will be going to the mall this week-end to start searching for few pieces that will change your outdoor space from how it looked last year.
 
There are simple changes that can be made to please you. For instance, you can move the furniture, BBQ, and plants around. If you had the table and chairs on the left side area, then move the whole thing to the opposite end.
 
Also, you don’t have to invest a lot of money. Just change a bit the colors that you used last year, like the placemats or getting few accent plates.
 
Furthermore, you can also accomplish that with inexpensive throw pillows or by changing the color of your planters, just spray paint them, your planters and hanging baskets will look like new.

After you power wash thoroughly and probably paint your deck or porch, the next step is to ask yourself; self, how do I want my outdoor space to look like this summer? Smile.
 
Lucky you! As I always do, I went window shopping to help you come up with ideas for this year, since you don’t have that much spare time to do it. You do not have to put back the same old stuff from last year. The colors are probably a bit faded from sun exposure and maybe you are sick of it. Or, if they are still doable, you can add few new pieces of different colors to your last year decorations as a quick refresher.
 
This year, I went window shopping to The Pottery Barn and William Sonoma, two of my favorite stores. They always bring lots of new pieces to feed our imagination.
 
As you can see, they did not disappoint. You can select from new casual dishes, to pillows and many other accessories to beautify your outdoor spaces and wow your family and friends.
 
Stay tuned for tomorrow, when my post will provide more outdoor options to make you happy, happy.

The nicest thing that happens when you making your own jewelry is that you can design pieces that are one of a kind. Then you go to a party and your art work becomes a conversation piece.
 
Did I mention that you can make a set in no time? The hardest part will be to select the beads and then arrange the design of your choice on the bead board. After that, it may take you under 15 minutes to make a complete set or under five minutes to make just the earrings. So go get yourself some beads today and start practicing. Smile!