Jewelry Lessons: Where to Buy Beads


I get a lot of questions from people on where I buy my beads and jewelry supplies. I thought I'd do a post with the low down on where I get them from!

Where to Buy Beads and Jewelry Supplies

 

Bead Shows

Bead shows normally roll into a venue for a long weekend. These shows are great places to STOCK UP! Most of the beads are sold on strands or in vials. You can normally find a lot of great deals at bead show finds.  Booths will have buckets of $1 strands or displays of $2-$4 strands, and THESE are the places I flock to!

Bead shows are normally pretty exhausting. Physically- and on your wallet ;).  Wear sneakers and be ready to fight with lots of middle-upper aged ladies for a spot at the tables to dig through the beads!!! Ok, maybe not fight....but politely nudge out of the way possibly...

The BEST bead show I have been to is Bead Fest. It only comes to Philadelphia, Texas, and Santa Fe though. The Philadelphia show is only 20 mintutes from my house {{{lucky!!!}}}Some People go all out for these things-flights, hotels, the whole deal! I've blogged about bead fest here and here.

I also go to The Innovative Bead Expo, which goes to a few more states on the East Coast.

If your interested in going to a bead show but these don't come to your area, flip through a Bead & Button or Bead Style magazine next time you are at a bookstore - there are tons of ads in there for bead shows all over America.

Craft Stores

These are your Michaels, Joanns, AC Moores, and Hobby Lobbys (never been to a Hobby Lobby though--do they actually have jewelry supplies? None near me so I wouldn't know!!)

Just in my opinion...I'm not that big of a fan of AC Moore. Unfortunately that's the closest craft store to me so I do go there if I really need something. I don't think their variety of jewelry supplies is the best.

I normally go to Michaels/Joanns for jewelry making supplies. I tend to hit up Joanns a little more, just because they will often have 15% off all jewelry findings or 20% off on all beads, where Michaels I have never seen that. Head pins, jump rings, ear wires, beading wire, all that stuff I normally stock up on here. I get some beads here, but normally come away with more supplies.  Beads are normally sold in these stores in little packages, strands, or vials.

Local Bead Stores

These shops are normally little mom & pop shops or small chains. There is a ma & pop type shop about 40 minutes from my house, and a small chain around 20 minutes from my house. I tend to find the small shops overpriced. They mostly sell beads PER bead, which really adds up quick. I tend to only hit up these places if I need something really unique, like a gemstone pendant or something like that.

I really like The Potomac Bead Company chain. There are two of these within half hour from my house. They still sell a lot of loose beads per bead, but also have a lot of strands and jewelry making supplies - a lot more variety than you would find in a craft store. 

Online Bead Store

There are a ton of online bead stores. I use these often for supplies for pieces that are made-to-order in my etsy shop. I don't normally get findings from them (head pins, jump rings, etc.) unless I'm looking for a fancy clasp or something.  I buy beads and more unique supplies like resin or sheet metal online.

My FAVORITE place to buy beads from (and I really wish they'd sponsor me or something cause I talk and link to them all the time out of the goodness of my heart lol) is Fusion Beads. They have a great variety, fair prices, ship quickly, and best of all, shipping is always free! I would completely recommend them.

I've also bought beads from Fire Mountain Gems before, but I'm not very pleased with that company. If you do a lot of work with gemstones they have a great variety, but I ain't go the cash for that! They charge shipping AND handling. Seriously, who still charges handling anymore?

If you do a good search you'll find tons more, but from a personal preference Fusion Beads is my favorite.

Walmart

Good old Walmart. They've got everything. I would NOT recommend buying findings here, they are very low quality. Most of the beads they sell are plastic or acrylic, but every now and then I'll find something I like.  They are the best place I have found, however, to buy rhinestone chain, and sometimes have some other nice chain as well.  My walmart has recently had the rhinestone chain on clearance for 50 cents a package though...so I hope they continue to restock them (cause lord knows I bought up all the 50 cent packages already...)


Whew! Alright, I think that's all the places I frequent. Questions? Thoughts on other places? Leave me a note in the comments :)

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I took a little hiatus from sponsors this summer...but wanted to let you that I'll be back to accepting sponsors this fall!


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I currently have two different sponsorship opportunities available:

Sponsor Package Deluxe: Receive a 300 x 150 ad spot on my sidebar, and one post introducing your blog, company, shop, etc, and a giveaway if you would like! I will also make you the sponsor of one of my weekly link parties, Your Whims Wednesday, and put your button on that page as well. I will also help promote your blog/shop on my social networks throughout your sponsorship. 
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DIY Black & Gold Statement Bib Necklace

Lately I've been getting distracted with doing DIY projects and decorating my new home that I have not had much time to put into my favorite craft of all - jewelry making!!

So, finally, while the hubby was away camping one weekend I sat down with all my beads to make a new creation. Want to see what I made? I'll even show you how too :)

DIY Black & Gold Statement Bib Necklace



Love how it turned out! Can't wait to wear it this fall with a black button up blouse!

Here's how to make your own:

Supplies:

Gold chain (mine was from walmart), various size black beads, gold accent beads, beading wire, crimp beads, jump rings, lobster claw clasp, needle nose pliers and wire cutters.

Steps

Cut a piece of beading wire about 10 inches. Use a crimp bead to attach the wire to a jump ring.

String on your largest black beads.  Use a crimp bead on the other side to attach to another jump ring

Do this same process for three strands of beads. I used some large faceted black acrylic beads, faceted round plastic beads, and then small round beads alternated with gold accent beads.  Also cut one length of gold chain and attach a jump ring to either side.


Cut two lengths of chain about 9 inches each.  Attach a lobster claw clasp to the end with a jump ring and attach just a jump ring to the other chain.

Now to attach all the strands! Attach the jump ring on one side of your shortest strand to the jump ring on the second to shortest strand.

Then, attach the jump ring from the second longest strand to the second shortest strand.  

 Attach the jump ring from the longest strand to the second longest strand. Then, all jump rings on one side should be connected so it looks like this:

Do the same thing on the other side and you will have completed the bib portion of the necklace.

Lastly, open up the jump ring from the shortest strands jump ring and attach the 9 inch chain previously cut. Do this for either side of the bib.


Tada!




I'm loving this necklace! I'm keeping this one for me but will be adding another one to my etsy shop soon (shoot me an email if you'd like to reserve it: mygirlishwhims@gmail.com)

Think the beading bug has bit me again :) Now just to find the time to sit down and create more!!!

I'll be linking up to these parties:

Jewelry Organizers Round-Up

I seriously need a new system for organizing my jewelry. 

I snapped these embarrasing pics real quick from my phone this morning...talk about scary!

This is the top of my dresser. don't judge! hah

If you move aside that cute tank top you will see that a mess of necklaces, nail polish, and oh look! There's where my extra gum went. 

My jewelry USED to all fit into this box.  But then chunky necklaces came in style...and oh yeah I make jewelry  and always seem to be adding on to my collection. So basically, things are not working out like this anymore.

When I was in college I made this jewelry organizer to hold some of my biggest jewelry.  It worked alright for college, but now that I'm in my own house I want something bigger...and not quite so pink hah.

Here is some inspiration I've found from pinterest/blogs recently:

  Window Pane Organizer by Tick Tok Vintage

 

Radiator Screen Earring Holder by I Heart Organizing  

 
Earring Holder by Craft-O-Maniac 

hanging jewlery organizerHang Your Jewelry with Paint Sticks by Infarrantly Creative

 
Jewelry Frame Organizer by 346 Living

Pinned Image 
Frame and Shelf Jewelry Organization by Twinkle & Twine

Molding Jewelry Shelf by Yepadoodle Craft

Has anyone else seen any good ideas? I have a LOT of jewelry and I want to be able to see it all easily. Then again, I don't want a whole wall in our bedroom dedicated to displaying it!  At this point I'm thinking  maybe a few molding shelves (like the one right above here) and a frame with some screen for earrings. Maybe it's time to take a trip to the hardware store....

Any tips appreciated! :)

This post sponsored by:
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Miracle Canvas is an online store for single and multi-panel canvas prints. A canvas print is an image printed on canvas, stretched on a canvas stretcher, and fully ready for hanging in a room. 

Your Whims Wednesday #74 {And Features}

Time for another Your Whims Wednesday party!

Your Whims Wednesday


Here are some of my favorites from last week:


Bobby Pin Necklace by Sparkly Chic Jewels

Chevron Stenciled Pillows by Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom

Rope Bowl Tutorial by Domestic Deficit Disorder

Sewing Room Tour by Melly Sews

Two Scarves to Dress Tutorial by Shannon Sews

Thanks to all who linked up! Grab a button if you were featured :)

Featured on My Girlish Whims

Now... onto this weeks party!

I show off my girlish whims weekly on my blog, and now I want to see yours with 
Your Whims Wednesday!

Guidlines:
1. Link up as many projects as you would like: as long as it is one of your girly ways, you can link it! I'd love to see crafts, recipes, style posts, etc. Anything and everything feminine :)
2.Please add my button (code at the top of this post) to either your blog post or somewhere on your blog. 
3. Take a quick moment to comment on at least one other entry. We we all love comments!! 
4.I'd love if you would follow me as well :)


Moist Pineapple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This was originally a guest post shared at Wildflowers & Whimsey.

Still thought you would love to check out this super easy & yummy cake recipe!

Pineapple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting



Here's what you need to make it!
 For the cake:
-2 cups flower
-2 cups sugar
-2 t baking soda
-2 eggs
-1/2 cup chopped walnuts
-1 can crushed pineapple with juice

For the icing:
-1 8oz package of cream cheese
-1 stick of butter
-1 1/3 cup powdered sugar
-1 t vanilla extract

 This cake is super easy to prepare. Literally, just dump all of the cake ingredients into a bowl

Mix it up

And pour into a 9x13 inch pan! Throw it in the oven at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

While the cake is baking, throw all the ingredients for the frosting into a mixer.

And mix together until combined and smooth. 

When the cake is done it should be lightly browned.

Let it cool, and then ice it!

Yum! This cake is super moist because of the pineapple and juice in it.  It's a favorite of mine for sure!

It comes together pretty fast too, so it's good to make in a pinch :)

I'll be linking up to these parties: