Last week on Favorite Things, I promised that I would share with you how to bring to life a forgotten article of clothing in your closet. I have a cotton skirt that I bought impulsively because I fell in love with the vibrant color pattern. Once I got home, I realized that finding a top that I liked to wear with it was going to be a problem. I took a look at all the colors in the skirt to see what color to pick up, but I didn’t want to wear red or navy blue because it felt too dark and turquoise felt way too bright. I decided that a white tee-shirt would be the best option. It didn’t look interesting so I hung the skirt in the back of my closet feeling pretty frustrated. It reminded me of those days when I go clothes shopping and absolutely nothing looks good on me. I’ve learned to try again another day.

The day came. A friend gave me a gauze-ish blouse that looks great even when it is a bit wrinkled. The blouse has a slightly bohemian vibe and I hoped that it would look great with the skirt, but it still needed something. One of my favorite movies is Steel Magnolias – I have seen that movie so many times that some of the quotes are part of my regular vernacular. As I am standing in my bedroom with the blouse in one hand and the skirt in the other, a quote from the movie came to me; “The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize.” Thank you Clairee!

I made a tassel necklace to wear with the skirt that would bring the entire look together. Below are the step-by-step photos. A big thanks to BEADWORKS in Fairfield, CT for letting me use their location to shoot these images and for their beading tips.

Using the colors in the skirt as my guide, I selected the stringing beads (coral, light turquoise, navy blue), a tassel, and some beads to make the tassel into a pendant.
I played around with the beads until I found a design that I liked.I will share a post next week on how to make this tassel pendant. They are my new obsession.I liked the idea of grouping the same color beads together. I wanted the coral color to be in the center to complement the blue tassel.Once you have finalized your design, string exactly half of the beads onto stringing wire and then add the tassel pendant. String on the other half of the beads.This is the necklace and the final step is securing the ends, which can be done in a multitude of ways.Once you are finished with stringing all the beads, remove 1 bead from one end and 2 beads from the other end. Add a crimp bead to each end.Add the 1 bead back to the end that you removed it from, and the 2 beads back to the other end. Take one end of the stringing wire and thread it through the other side.Detail photo of threading one side of the stringing wire through beads on the other side.Pull the stringing wire tightly to pull all the beads together.Using a crimping tool or needle nose pliers, compress the crimp beads.Using a pair of scissors, snip the ends of the stringing wire. The crimp beads will hold everything securely.Put the crimp bead cover over the crimp bead.Using a needle nose pliers, gently compress the crimp bead cover to make it into a bead.Here is the final product!