Another Look for the Frugal Fashionista

Another hot sticky day has dawned in Sarasota, FL but the sun is shining, the sky is blue and sometime today a thunderstorm might roll in.  It's all good - this is our Paradise in a little spot on the globe!

This is the outfit I wore yesterday:  Lilly Pulitzer capri pants (which I might add I bought for next to nothing at Off Fifth at the Ellenton outlet mall a while ago) and the Ralph Lauren top (also purchased in Ellenton at the Polo Factory outlet store).  

The fabulous colors in these two pieces necessitated a swap of 4 beads.  I chose the raspberry cat eye beads (SCG8002) and 2 of my favorite glass beads in cyan and pink (SCG109).

Tomorrow's outfit is to be determined because all my beads are now packed for an event we are doing.  I promise to be back soon with an update!

Make it a GREAT DAY wherever you are!

Frugal Fashionista

This is the beginning of a series that will track the evolution of a Pandora style Beads and Dangles' necklace.  I actually laughed out loud when I titled the blog today because the last attribute I would ever think of giving myself is "fashionista".  But, I am pretty darned good at designing necklaces and bracelets using the beads from my collection and I want to share how easy it is to start with something basic and re-invent it each day with a minimal investment.

Day 1
Start with a 40 cm or 45 cm Pandora style silver plated necklace ($ 12.00)
Add approximately 6 Silver plated metal beads, Enamel beads, or
    Jeweled beads at $5.00 each ($ 30.00)
Add 2 Spacer beads at $3.00 each ($6.00)
Add 5 Glass beads (or three is you prefer) at $8.00 each ($ 40.00)
Pop 2 Clips ($5.00 each) on the center threads to keep everything in the center ($ 10.00)

Your necklace is all set.  You have a gorgeous Pandora style necklace for less than $100 and remember, you can always start with fewer metal beads or substitute some of them for the $3.00 spacers!


Day 2
Here comes the fun part.  Open the clip at one end to slip off the beads.  I just lay them out in order on the table.  What colors are YOU wearing today?  On this day, I wore a flowered skirt and a gold tank top.  Here is what I created by just changing a few glass beads.

I kept the pearl bead in the center (which you won't be seeing for a while because it was just sold to a customer who "had to have it" and it was the last one I had). I removed 4 glass         beads and replaced them with 2 green cut glass beads and 2 blue cut glass beads.




Total cost to change 4 glass beads is $32.00.
                      

















Day 3

I am working at home today and just slipped into a fun but colorful tee shirt with a pair of jeans.  A simple exchange of just the 2 blue cut glass beads today created this fabulous, color-coordinated fashion statement for the low cost of $16.00 using the yellow-orange-white glass beads.

Check back soon to see how easy and affordable it is to create entirely new looks with your Pandora style beads.  Think about traveling this summer with just one necklace and a tiny pouch of glass beads in a variety of colors to match all your outfits.

Beads and Dangles Gets a "Facelift"

I am so excited to share the new look for Beads and Dangles.  I have loved the clean, streamlined quality to my website since the day it launched.  It was what attracted me to the ProStores templates in the first place (in addition to the price I paid to create it myself which was just my time invested in a challenging but fun project).  Oh, I guess I should mention that  ProStores has tech support 24/7 and I spent many hours on the phone with their people guiding me through my innumerable questions.  Sometimes FREE isn't worth the price, but I have been very proud of this website since Day One!

But then I longed for something more, just a little bit more colorful and "girly-girl".  So I was led to Kelly, an adorable local gal who has more talent in graphic design and web creation than I could have asked for.  Along came the musical and colorful splash page, the fabulous "lady" that adorns my banner, and ultimately, we tweaked some of the basic colors of the borders provided by ProStores.

The newest changes that went live last night came about after Nisey, my friend from Nisey's Beads, told me that many people found "splash pages" to be cute but cumbersome.  The consensus was to get to the shopping pages ASAP.  So, Kelly came up with some ideas and in just a few hours of programming, we agreed on the current version.

I LOVE IT!!!  This is my BLOG and as my husband often says, "Everyone is entitled to my opinion".   But, I would love and welcome your comments.  Maybe together we can keep Kelly even busier than she already is.  The next "tweak" could be your suggestion!