Bead Party!!!!!!!!

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Christine, who had stumbled upon this blog, looking for something interesting to do for her twin daughters' birthday party, and she found this post. Christine emailed me, asking me if this was something I only did for my friends, and if not, then would I be interested in another one. (Go Blogger, eh?)

Well, most certainly I would! Any time I can get a chance to infect more people with my love of beading is fine by me! ;) I mean, there could be worse things to get kids hooked on, no? Besides, it's better to get them hooked when they're young. LoL! *side note: Jewels was introduced to beadwork at the tender age of 8, by her Native American Nana, and hasn't looked back since*

When I arrived, I could clearly hear the sounds of a party, wrapping paper being torn, little girl giggles and chatter coming up from the basement. Christine showed me to the dining room, and I set up my loot. Oodles of vials filled with an array of colorful little seed beads, and a Memory Wire bracelet and necklace form at every seat. I'd even made sure to bring some extra forms, as on one of our phone conversations, Chris had mentioned that it might be interesting to try beading. I figured "Hey, I'll kill two birds with one stone! I'll get mom hooked too!"... LoL! No, I didn't really think that! LOL! But I thought she might have just as good a time giving it a go. Chris' mom was there, and she did express some concern as to whether I thought the girls would be capable of doing this, since the beads were so tiny, but I assured her that at this age, they'd be in total control of their fine motor skills.

I waited for everyone to pick their colors, then let them each pick a lovely little pendant for the neck piece. I did a little how-to demonstration, and away we went. Everyone caught on really quick, with only a few individual demonstrations on how to make it easier for themselves. It's funny how when you've been beading for so long, you just do things automatically. You pick up your beads without much thought as to how you pick them up, until you watch how a 'non-beader' picks at them. See, there's a method to picking up beads, however, I won't bore you with that just yet.

Back to the party: Everyone got to finish their necklace, and they all looked absolutely fabulous!

See? I even got mom in on it! ;)

There are my favorite shots of these kinds of parties: Such concentration!

Focus! ;)

Mom!

I'm so happy everyone had a good time. I had a good time too. It's fun. It's fun to be in a different environment, surrounded by these children, who just want to learn something new and fun. It was interesting to hear comments of "This is harder than it looks", or "Wow! It takes a long time to do this!" I loved hearing that they were all planning on wearing their necklaces to school next week. I loved how each girl couldn't wait to finish her necklace, so she could slip it on. I loved the little looks of accomplishment on their little smiling faces. And I also loved how Mom was wearing hers as well. As I recall, I think Chris' mom would like her daughter to take up beading as well, so she can reap the rewards. Ha! Ha! Ha! Just like MY mom! LoL!

Thanks so much for asking me to do this Christine. I had a blast, and this experience has showed me one of the things I've been missing the most in my beadwork lately, and that's sharing my passion for it. Oh, and I believe this party has lit a little bonfire under me, I think you helped me find my Mojo again. ;)

Jewels