Down-Cycled Necklaces ;D

I made jewelry for a lot of years.  It was a fun hobby and then it became not fun and then it became a pain in the a$$.  There, abandoned in my project room, are the little guys who never found a home.  They wait patiently in a heaped, careless pile for me to figure where their destiny lies... anyway, that’s a lot of unnecessary background to say that I have a lot of necklaces to choose from.  
 
Martha suggested updating a short necklace with a ribbon - it’s a romantic look, she claims. Lord. I’m not a fan of the ribboned-necklace look... OK, I was - in 2004 - it’s now 2012.  

Begrudgingly, I went to select something that had the potential to not be hideous.  I chose a double strand of stick pearls and three complementary spools of ribbon of varying widths. 

I knotted the three ribbons to one end of the necklace and at the same time tried to cover the clasp. I then braided the three ribbons together.  I actually liked the way the braided ribbon looked. Because of the different widths it had a bit of whimsy to it.. 

OK, some would say romantic.  It looked as though it should have been weaved though Buttercup’s hair in Princess Bride,  remember that movie?  Am I dating myself?  Again, I digress.  No, this braided ribbon was going to be attached to a necklace. Fantastic. 

Do you see the pearl in the middle of the right hand side?  That's the other part of the clasp. Classy, right?

Then I had the conversation with Ben about wearing it.  I didn’t want to - I was like a child not wanting to wear what my mom had picked out.  I was like my son not ever wanting to wear a sweater.  Ben thought I should, so I did.

Off to work I went with this travesty draped around my neck.  I was not proud.  I felt like a social experiment.  Would I be mocked?  Would people point and laugh?  Would there be whispering??  Then, not too far into the morning, it happened.  A compliment.  My friend exclaimed, 'that necklace is HOT!'  I loved her for it though I had to violently disagree.    Then, on my way home from work I stopped at the Papersource (love) and the cutest little bohemian elfin gushed about how much she loved it too.   Was I wrong?  How could I be wrong, when I'm always right?  It is hideous, no?

In retrospect, I should have given it to the girl at the Papersource, it would have made her day.

Ali

* * *

Ah, this is one of the few areas where Ali and I differ - I am not a jewelry girl.  I had very few necklaces to choose from (at least three of them were from Ali) and a less than extensive ribbon collection as well.  I chose a sad piece of ribbon from my stash saved from gifts of the past.  It seemed like it would work the best (who am I kidding, it was the only possibility) and set out to find a necklace to go with it.

My first attempt never made it to fruition.  It was a pretty necklace (thanks Ali) but didn't go with my blue ribbon.  So .... I went in a totally different direction.  I removed a silver flower from a chain and strung it on the ribbon.  Ridiculous, I thought.  Actually, I used a much ruder word when describing the result to Ali, but I put it on and went off to work. 

I received three compliments within the first half hour of arriving at work, including "is that new?"  Really?  I must have worn this flower with the regular chain 30 times!  I received 2 more compliments on my whole outfit!  And one on my shoes - unrelated, yes, but they are really cute shoes.

So, would I wear this again? It could be cute for a holiday party.  I'd give it a big maybe. 

Jacqui