ljaugsburg
Independence Bottlecap Necklace Instructions
June 2008. I was zipping around the Bead&Button Show marketplace earlier this month and spied these fun little baubles. They really are made from bottlecaps and they're made by Cathy Collison at Glass Garden Beads of Northfield, MN. (Isn't there a college in that town, too?) And just looking at them took me back to picnics and the celebration of Independence Day and my own childhood celebration over the great independence that choosing my very own bottle of soda afforded me.
When I was a kid, the month of July was filled with picnics. My Dad's folks would have a 4th of July picnic with their card-club friends and families (who were mostly, in some way or another, related to us—some distantly, some more directly; I'm still trying to understand some of family tree's branches!). Also in July, my maternal Grandpa's family had a big family picnic. And my Dad's folks would have all of their kids and kids' kids together for a picnic too! Seriously, we were eating fried chicken out of a bucket every weekend in July! In my Dad's family, many of us lived on farms, and it seems like there was always an old-fashioned washtub or a big tank filled with cold water, ice, and bottles of flavored soda, or pop, as it's called in the Land of Lincoln. (Back then, you could get a case of assorted flavors in bottle for just such events.) And my favorite was always strawberry. You have to understand what a luxury this was. Yes, there was always Pepsi in the house, but normally that was for my parents or for when we had company. But FLAVORED pop—orange, grape, lemon-lime, and strawberry—well, that just wasn't something we had very often. We lived in the country, so there wasn't any of this "ride your bike over to the drug store and buy yourself a bottle" stuff going on like I hear my city-friends talk about. So this was a BIG DEAL. And if you were lucky enough to have the picnic at your house that year, any left-over pop was fair game for the next few weeks. Paradise, I tell you! ("Pop" for those of you who live in other places, was how we in northern Illinois—and other place—referred to the bottles of soda, soda pop, or, as I've heard it called "cold sodie". For those in the South who may call such a thing a "Coke," this is not to be confused with something like a vanilla Coke, which is a whole other thing. But I digress.)
So here's the necklace that that one little bottlecap bead inspired (shown top right), and the step-by-step photos and instructions (right) will walk you through the easy-peasy process. And lest you think I'm not going to help you out with the basics, think again. Turns out BeadStyle magazine has a bunch of basic information on its Web site, right here! If you're new to beading or just need a refresher, you might want to check out cutting flexible beading wire instructions, making a wrapped loop video or step-by-step instructions, and making a folded crimp video or step-by-step instructions in order to complete this project. I know a lot of us learn visually and the kindest compliment I ever got was when someone said they weren't able to successfully crimp a crimp bead until they watched it on one of our videos. Pictures are great, but sometimes seeing the process in motion lets us jump that final hurdle.
So now that I have my strawberry soda necklace finished, I can wear it to the family picnic next month. Yes, we still get together once a year—whoever can make it. We don't get soda in bottles anymore (who does these days?), and I'm sure strawberry soda has a ton of dread calories (something I didn't worry about then), but it's fun to remember back anyway. Maybe my cousins will get a laugh out of the memories that the necklace inspires as well.
Independence Bottlecap Necklace Instructions
June 2008. I was zipping around the Bead&Button Show marketplace earlier this month and spied these fun little baubles. They really are made from bottlecaps and they're made by Cathy Collison at Glass Garden Beads of Northfield, MN. (Isn't there a college in that town, too?) And just looking at them took me back to picnics and the celebration of Independence Day and my own childhood celebration over the great independence that choosing my very own bottle of soda afforded me.
When I was a kid, the month of July was filled with picnics. My Dad's folks would have a 4th of July picnic with their card-club friends and families (who were mostly, in some way or another, related to us—some distantly, some more directly; I'm still trying to understand some of family tree's branches!). Also in July, my maternal Grandpa's family had a big family picnic. And my Dad's folks would have all of their kids and kids' kids together for a picnic too! Seriously, we were eating fried chicken out of a bucket every weekend in July! In my Dad's family, many of us lived on farms, and it seems like there was always an old-fashioned washtub or a big tank filled with cold water, ice, and bottles of flavored soda, or pop, as it's called in the Land of Lincoln. (Back then, you could get a case of assorted flavors in bottle for just such events.) And my favorite was always strawberry. You have to understand what a luxury this was. Yes, there was always Pepsi in the house, but normally that was for my parents or for when we had company. But FLAVORED pop—orange, grape, lemon-lime, and strawberry—well, that just wasn't something we had very often. We lived in the country, so there wasn't any of this "ride your bike over to the drug store and buy yourself a bottle" stuff going on like I hear my city-friends talk about. So this was a BIG DEAL. And if you were lucky enough to have the picnic at your house that year, any left-over pop was fair game for the next few weeks. Paradise, I tell you! ("Pop" for those of you who live in other places, was how we in northern Illinois—and other place—referred to the bottles of soda, soda pop, or, as I've heard it called "cold sodie". For those in the South who may call such a thing a "Coke," this is not to be confused with something like a vanilla Coke, which is a whole other thing. But I digress.)
So here's the necklace that that one little bottlecap bead inspired (shown top right), and the step-by-step photos and instructions (right) will walk you through the easy-peasy process. And lest you think I'm not going to help you out with the basics, think again. Turns out BeadStyle magazine has a bunch of basic information on its Web site, right here! If you're new to beading or just need a refresher, you might want to check out cutting flexible beading wire instructions, making a wrapped loop video or step-by-step instructions, and making a folded crimp video or step-by-step instructions in order to complete this project. I know a lot of us learn visually and the kindest compliment I ever got was when someone said they weren't able to successfully crimp a crimp bead until they watched it on one of our videos. Pictures are great, but sometimes seeing the process in motion lets us jump that final hurdle.
So now that I have my strawberry soda necklace finished, I can wear it to the family picnic next month. Yes, we still get together once a year—whoever can make it. We don't get soda in bottles anymore (who does these days?), and I'm sure strawberry soda has a ton of dread calories (something I didn't worry about then), but it's fun to remember back anyway. Maybe my cousins will get a laugh out of the memories that the necklace inspires as well.