I always thought the girls who made their own jewelry were very cool and interesting - they had their own style and everyone always went crazy over their creativity. Well - now I know just how simple it is to do what these girls have done. Beadazzler Beads - and for yours and mine own sanity, let's just call it BB - is an affordable bead shop where you can experiment.
To get the full range of what you can do here, let me just list it:
1. Buy beads and string and clasp and do the handiwork yourself to create your own necklace for anywhere from $20 to $50.
2. Pick out everything you want and have them put together the necklace. You still get the credit for the design, and they do all the work - everyone wins!
3. Bring in a photograph or a necklace and ask them to remake it - and they do. If they don't have the beads you need or something that looks identical to what it is, they will go out and find it, for no additional fee.
Incredible artistic freedom has never been so cushy, you know? Girls have it so easy now - they can make their own string of pearls or their own funky bead necklace - it's really anything you want at your fingertips. I even found some silver Pandora lookalike beads for $6.00 a pop (they usually go for like $30 a pop). You can trick a lot of people - I'm telling you (for those of you who don't know, Pandora jewelry is like the it-bracelet of the year. Oprah sells it in her magazine if that explains anything. It's just a silver bracelet that you buy these silver beads for and they're very expensive).
The guy in the back gave me a personal tour of the place - what a nice guy! He stopped what he was doing to explain the setup and I got the feeling he would go above and beyond to try and make a customer happy, you know? He told me that the necklaces in the glass case by the register are made by the shopkeeper but that everything else was up for redesign. The store has pre-stranded necklaces you can purchase and then use that as a base or leave it as it is. They also offer a wide range of clasps from $2.50 to $50 - it's really up to you (I'd shoot for $2.50).
The coolest thing about this place to me is just the liberty it gives its clients. They're like, "GO AT IT!" It's nice to be creative and free when so many stores try to control this and that so much so that you feel like you're at the employee's mercy - which is no way to feel. read more