First Beaded Work...Finished
Don't get too excited. As jewelry goes, this is extremely simple, cheap, and not even especially beautiful. (And, as I've found out, not very comfortable.) However, there is a purpose for all things... Let me explain:
First of all, the first thing I thought of when I decided to start making beaded jewelry is something called a nursing necklace. When babies get to be about 5 or 6 months old, they are very distractable while eating (whether nursing or taking a bottle, I understand). Especially in the case of breastfeeding, for the mother, this can range from annoying ("How many people would you like me to flash today, Aislinn?") to painful ("PLEASE let go before you turn your head to look around!"). Also about this time, some babies' hands start to wander, touching mama's face, pinching her neck, twiddling the, er, other side (I DO NOT TOLERATE THIS MYSELF! AGH!) This is where a nursing necklace comes in. The mama wears the necklace while feeding her baby, giving the baby something to look at and maybe even play with. It is, of course, important to be aware of safety; nursing necklaces are not really meant to be mouthed by the baby, and baby should not play with the necklace unsupervised.
The fun part of this is coming up with different designs. Beyond the pinks and pastel blues, there are many adorable plastic animal beads out there, as well as airplanes and boats, bugs, basketball and baseball beads. This first necklace of mine was inspired by one I saw on another mom's website. She took red, white, and black beads to make a nursing necklace for an infant, as those are the colors a newborn sees most easily. Newborns aren't as distractable as older babies can be, but I thought it was a great idea for a first nursing necklace.
For me, this was really meant to be a practice necklace (especially since Aislinn is past the newborn stage), something I could make so I could say, OK, I finished one! I used black silk cord, cheap plastic pony beads, and alphabet blocks to spell her name. I finished the ends with crimping loops (and made a mess of THOSE, let me tell you) and a barrel clasp, but the necklace is big enough to be pulled easily over my head. I'm fairly satisfied with this, simple as it is, because I enjoyed figuring out a pattern. My only real disappointment is that it's not practical to wear; the pony beads are SO cheap, that they have bits of extra plastic around the edges, makign it very scratchy on my neck, especially when she pulls on it. I could probably file them off, but I won't. I'm already on to a nicer version of the red/black/white motif. I'll save this one for posterity.
Anyway, without further ado, here is my first creation:
I've already got a nicer one with glass beads laid out on my bead board, but I don't want to string it until I get really strong cord (Kevlar or PowerPro, I've heard are the strongest). I want a strong cord that's hard to break for this kind of necklace especially, because if it were to break, can you say "choking hazard"? I also want to order some magnetic clasps, for the same reason.
First of all, the first thing I thought of when I decided to start making beaded jewelry is something called a nursing necklace. When babies get to be about 5 or 6 months old, they are very distractable while eating (whether nursing or taking a bottle, I understand). Especially in the case of breastfeeding, for the mother, this can range from annoying ("How many people would you like me to flash today, Aislinn?") to painful ("PLEASE let go before you turn your head to look around!"). Also about this time, some babies' hands start to wander, touching mama's face, pinching her neck, twiddling the, er, other side (I DO NOT TOLERATE THIS MYSELF! AGH!) This is where a nursing necklace comes in. The mama wears the necklace while feeding her baby, giving the baby something to look at and maybe even play with. It is, of course, important to be aware of safety; nursing necklaces are not really meant to be mouthed by the baby, and baby should not play with the necklace unsupervised.
The fun part of this is coming up with different designs. Beyond the pinks and pastel blues, there are many adorable plastic animal beads out there, as well as airplanes and boats, bugs, basketball and baseball beads. This first necklace of mine was inspired by one I saw on another mom's website. She took red, white, and black beads to make a nursing necklace for an infant, as those are the colors a newborn sees most easily. Newborns aren't as distractable as older babies can be, but I thought it was a great idea for a first nursing necklace.
For me, this was really meant to be a practice necklace (especially since Aislinn is past the newborn stage), something I could make so I could say, OK, I finished one! I used black silk cord, cheap plastic pony beads, and alphabet blocks to spell her name. I finished the ends with crimping loops (and made a mess of THOSE, let me tell you) and a barrel clasp, but the necklace is big enough to be pulled easily over my head. I'm fairly satisfied with this, simple as it is, because I enjoyed figuring out a pattern. My only real disappointment is that it's not practical to wear; the pony beads are SO cheap, that they have bits of extra plastic around the edges, makign it very scratchy on my neck, especially when she pulls on it. I could probably file them off, but I won't. I'm already on to a nicer version of the red/black/white motif. I'll save this one for posterity.
Anyway, without further ado, here is my first creation:
I've already got a nicer one with glass beads laid out on my bead board, but I don't want to string it until I get really strong cord (Kevlar or PowerPro, I've heard are the strongest). I want a strong cord that's hard to break for this kind of necklace especially, because if it were to break, can you say "choking hazard"? I also want to order some magnetic clasps, for the same reason.
posted by Andrea | 11:14 PM
6 Comments:
Until I read the explanation, I thought I had come upon a Chicago Bulls fan. Red, black, and white are real popular colors in Illinois.
That one looks fine from here, especially the proper spelling of her name, which would be hard to come by in another place.
You did note the plastic prickly parts, tho. There were kids at the daycare center who would not even bother to work with them any more.
We have to give children credit for knowing what they want, right?
Passing the 'you rock' ball back at ya.
What a cool, fun idea. i wish someone would have told me about that when Xavier was a babe.. he was a "on the other sider" and I played hell trying to break him of that. And when I did break him of it? He started playing with the flab under my armpit. He is gearing up towards four years old and when he is sad, scared, hurt or being loveable, he still goes straight for the flab.
Adorable. I had never heard of a nursing necklace. But it makes sence. I had a gold chain with a diamond solitaire on it when I nursed both mine, and they always touched it. I love it when they would reach up and explore my face. Such precious moments.
Beautiful Andrea..lucky daughters to have such a loving mom...and artistic too.
I miss nursing and will till I die, what a special time in a woman's life. lawbrat...that reaching, exploring hand brings back such memories...
Andrea, I'm telling you, I want to do bead work and only because of your posts...
marybishop, do it, do it! Just do one, get a kit or something, just so you know how it feels. Then if you want to do more, you can start investing in tools and findings and a good stash of beads :)
MB said what I was thinking! Which was, HEY! I wanna do that, too! How do you get started? A book, what?
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