Teacher's Gift

My son just received his ten year piano pin for guild auditions of ten memorized pieces each year so I thought his teacher deserved a thank you gift for helping him accomplish this goal. The teacher is a classy lady who often dresses up for performances. (Pearls are so elegant but they can even be worn with jeans.) I started with a strand of soft colored pearls in shades of cream, pink and gray. Rather than using silk thread and knotting between the pearls I chose to string the 60 pearls on beading wire and put 3 mm silver gray bi-cone crystals between each pearl. The crystals add a bit of sparkle to the necklace and make it more modern. I think the tiny gold plated rose clasp (Kiwa) is the perfect dainty closure. All of the parts for this necklace are from Ben Franklin Crafts Bead Shoppe. I think you will be surprised at how easy it is to create this necklace and will find that it not only makes a terrific teacher's gift, but it would please a graduate, too.

If you are (like me) interested in pottery, the vessel in this photo is a piece I purchased in Japan at an outdoor fair. I recently learned (from the Martha Stewart show) that this piece of pottery is a sauce container used to pour noodle sauce over soba. When I bought the container I just loved the wood ash glaze and thought that I would use it for a vase. The next time I make soba noodles I will use this ceramic piece to pour sauce over the noodles instead of dipping them in a small sauce dish. I'm happy to learn new things everyday!