The hustle and bustle of the holiday season has made many people lose sight of what’s special about this time of the year. This year, instead of a gift purchased on impulse, give a gift from the heart: one made by loving hands that embraces its recipient in thoughtfulness and creates a lasting memory. We want to take you back to a time when gifts were more meaningful, when holiday family traditions were as much a gift as the box with the shiny bow. Our Holidays from the Heart series will provide you with gift ideas, decoration tips and more to prepare you for the most wonderful time of the year—full of good cheer and heartfelt traditions you can pass on to future generations. Each week until the end of December we will bring you inspiration for heartfelt gifts, fun family projects and party hosting.
Have you thought of what to give for the holidays yet? Your last minute gifts can sparkle with rich, holiday cheer when you incorporate gold. Warm, golden tones are always an excellent choice to create a rich feel. It’s no wonder why gold is a precious metal—it exudes warmth, power and sophistication. With gold-plated pieces you can emphasize this feeling through bright shimmer and economic charm. This week you’ll learn how the golden touch can elevate any gift, including simple jewelry designs.
Understated Elegance with Earrings
Any ordinary day can get a boost of excellence with just the right amount of elegant glow. Create cute earrings that can be worn any day of the year and take just a few minutes to make! Our Lucky in Love earrings would be perfect for a good friend and aren’t overpowering in their appearance. Or, you could recreate a pair of our Desert Dandelion earrings for a special someone to wear and help brighten their day. For a more feminine idea, try making our Gossamer Butterfly earrings. This idea includes a cute gold vermeil butterfly accented with blues and greens, but you could switch the tones with other shades like purple and pink. Any of these ideas would be perfect to slip into a stocking or place atop a bigger present—and with their glimmer of gold they’ll be hard to miss!
Turn Ordinary into Extraordinary
If you have someone on your holiday list with a knack for fashion, or someone who just needs some fancy office accessories, try one of our more chic earring ideas. Take a look at our stylish inspiration idea, Disco Diva earrings, if you need help on where to start. Our Bead Orbit earrings are a trendy display of knitted wire encapsulating a single, colorful bead. They’re ideal for an outfit that goes straight from the office to a night out. If the fashionista on your list likes things a bit more refined, try making our Classic Bridal Earrings that she can wear for any occasion. These chandelier style earrings feature lovely pink components accented with gold for a timeless, beautiful feel. All three of our extraordinary earring ideas use just enough gold to create a sense of chic style worthy of both catwalks and sidewalks.
Take Necklaces to the Next Level
You can always pair the chic earrings with a golden tone necklace! Because gold is such a complementing finish, you can add it to any color palette for unique new designs. In our Bristol Belle necklace, we used vintage gold components to accent a colorful focal bead for an idea with both casual and formal appeal. Ramp up the dimension in your gift idea and you can recreate something like our Bold Heart necklace. The bold golden chain works perfectly with the delicate silk string and colorful glass pieces for a fun look that makes a wonderful present. Contrasting tones is another great way to design, and there’s no better example than our Golden Glimmer Choker. The brilliant gold-filled pieces paired with intense, deep colored crystals create an impactful display that’s perfect for an evening look. Use your favorite dark colors to make it unique to you. Each necklace will take mere minutes to create so you can give a great last-minute gift! With their brilliant golden glow these ideas will exude professional polish, so you’ll be proud to give one away. Try making one of these necklace ideas and wrapping it around a second present as a little surprise.
Be Bold with Gold
Incorporate gold into fast and fashionable designs using components with golden tones. Our Amber Memories bracelet uses large-hole beads with golden coloring for a glamorous look. Choose your favorite large-hole beads from both our collection from Caspia™ or Lassero for a style to match your recipient. Go all out for your golden gift and recreate our Cheetah Chain Belt! This stylish accessory is made from nothing more than heavy duty chain and a few glass beads, but emphasizes attractive style with its rich feel.
A Golden Eye Catcher
Make a special pendant as your handmade gift to inspire the journey of your loved one’s next designing project! You can never go wrong with gold toned components, so use gold to highlight their favorite color for a pendant that epitomizes their personality. Seed beads are the easiest route to take because they’re offered in a wide variety of colors and finishes, so you’re sure to find the perfect style for your idea. Take advantage of what’s trending now if you’re not sure where to start. Owls are hot in fashion right now, and their versatile symbolisms make them an ideal focal point for jewelry. You can use the pendant in our After Midnight necklace idea for inspiration.
Never think that because you make your gifts that they can’t shine just as brightly as a store bought present. All it takes is a little golden glow and dedication. Explore the variety of gold components from TierraCast, and take advantage of our TierraCast sale happening this week at Artbeads!
-Marissa