diy jcrew flower lattice necklace

Recently I came across the most lovely necklace from J.Crew

Photo Credit: [J.Crew]

It is seriously gorgeous and I knew that I needed to have it. But beauty doesn't come cheap, this baby will cost you $228. So I tried to forget about it and move on to my next covet-worthy item. But I couldn't, it was haunting my dreams (yes I sometimes dream about clothing, shoes, jewelry, etc. haha) So I thought, it's nothing more than some pretty brooches strung together on a necklace right? And I set out to make my very first homemade piece of jewelry.

I first ordered some different rhinestone brooches and buttons from Etsy. I found this set of J.Crew-esque buttons for relatively cheap: 

Rhinestone Buttons (here)

I also got a few larger brooches to complete the look. This Etsy shop is actually perfect for finding brooches. You can also find them in other Etsy shops or on Ebay. After I got my brooches/buttons I just went to Michaels and got a necklace chain and some jewelry wire. You could also use just a jewelry chain and get a lobster clasp but I was too lazy so I just got this 18 inch necklace chain that already had a clasp. These were all my supplies:

Total cost of this project: Less than $30

After that I basically arranged my brooches into the design I wanted and started stringing them together with the jewelry wire. I started with the the largest brooch and attached it to the chain. Then i used the jewelry wire to attach the adjacent brooches. It took a LOT of trial and error until I felt like I got it right. So don't be afraid to undo all the work you just did and start over. 

This was my rough draft:

This is the finished product after a few tweaks! I'd say I got it pretty close to the actual thing! 

The chain is different of course but you don't really see it when you're wearing it! See:

Anywho, I was pretty proud of myself for this one! High fives for DIY projects!

Xxxxooo

Skiing in Ohio

When the hubs won two free ski passes at the Mandiball, we weren't really sure what to do. Growing up in Utah, we definitely grew up skiing. But in my case once I got older, I realized I was awful at it and despised being cold. So consequently I stopped going... a long, long time ago. And I really had no desire to go again. Then we got these free passes. So I thought, why not?! It could be fun. Then I remembered the one and only hill I have seen since I have been in Columbus. It was approximately ten feet tall. Needless to say, I was skeptical of this so called "ski resort," but we decided to go anyway. While we were driving there, I was expecting to see the landscape slowly become more hilly. But no, it was still flat as a pancake. It wasn't until the GPS said ETA 5 minutes that I began thinking we were being punked. I was just waiting for some of the hubs' school mates to appear and laugh at our snow outfits. But alas, we found a hill and rounded the corner. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is Ohio's largest ski resort:

And that's  it... in its entirety...

The hubs and I seriously laughed for a good five minutes. The best part was all the people who thought they were hard core snowboarders getting all hyped up in the ticket line. I don't really think it's possible to be hard core when this is the largest ski resort in your state. 

Now I am not good and I probably looked like a fool the first couple times we went down the slopes. But we sure conquered that "mountain." 

Here are a few snapshots of the day:

The mister went for a retro look

Don't laugh skiing friends, this was my first time going down and it was a weird grainy snow... but I know I totally look like a fool haha

While the ski resort was basically as big as a Utah bunny hill, we still ended up having fun! Maybe next winter we'll take up real skiing in the 801. 

Xxxxooo