Getting ready for Ginny's Birthday

Last week, my dear friend Ginny had her birthday. She was so kind as to throw me a birthday party last year when I celebrated my golden birthday and it was the best! I decided I should try to reciprocate. (There'll be more about the party soon...) But, of course, before I could prepare the party, I had to make the present!

As I've mentioned, I am new to jewelry making. Ginny LOVES jewelry - in the past, she worked at Claire's and at a very nice jewelry store. She's my companion for those jewelry parties too. Ginny's favorite color is pink, and she wears a lot of it, so I knew I could do beads in shades of pink. I had some beads picked out and had the idea that I was going to make a necklace where the beads were charms dangling from a chain. Then, one evening, I was waiting around the office and was surfing the internet. I made my way to the Stella and Dot website just to browse. Ginny hosted the only Stella and Dot party I've ever been to, and I know she loves their style. I saw this gorgeous Madeline Pearl necklace:

When I saw this, I knew this was the style I wanted to emulate, and I figured that as long as I used eye pins (with a little loop on the end) instead of head pins (with a flat piece of metal on the end), I could do this style rather than what I'd been planning. I also thought that this would be a little less fragile. Since Ginny has three little ones at her house, I figured more secure was better! So, I started putting the beads together:

And then I put even more beads together...

Once I had all of the bead sections done, I just had to add the chain. I decided to make the chain long enough that it was to be doubled. I know Ginny loves to wear statement necklaces!

I also decided to make some earrings to match.

So, here's the set:

And here's a close up on the beads:

I also decided to get Ginny a tube of her very favorite lip gloss, Maybelline Berry Bella lip gloss:

It was so exciting to put this present together for Ginny. I knew she was going to love all of it!