Scrabble!

This post isn't about the board game, it's about a fun piece of jewelry I just put together. When I was at Crafts Direct, I found this really neat little pendant.

The pendant actually decorates the back of a Scrabble tile. Cool! It cost about $5, which I knew was a pretty good deal. Imagine what a piece like this would sell for at a gift shop. Once I was back in the Twin Cities, I also went to JoAnn, where I picked up a ball chain to use for stringing.

Here's a close up of the pendant:

The text reads, in a slangy French, "Lift the Balloon," which makes sense because the people on the bottom of the charm are in a hot air balloon. I fell in love with this particular pendant because it made me think of what it would mean: either, everyone pull together and get this sucker off the ground, or, let's get going off into the unknown. Either way, it's something to keep close to my heart.

Here's the back, where you can see this is a Scrabble tile:

So, when I bought the chain, the choices were 18" or 24". I was worried that 18 would be too short. I knew that 24 would be too long, but I decided to bring it home and trim it up to the correct length. I figured the best way to make sure it was the right length was to use a necklace I love as a model. I went to my jewelry wall and picked out a necklace whose length I wanted to emulate.

I lined the two neckalces up with one another laying on a table. Then I got out my wire cutters.

All you need to do is snip the spacer between two balls so it matches the length of your model necklace. Then, I tried it on.

I know it's not a very attractive match with my purple shirt, but I wanted to share this with you to show you just how simple it was to make it just the right length for me. Keep your eyes peeled for a charm that makes you happy, add a ball chain, and less than 5 minutes of your time with a wire cutter and here you go!

A parting shot: