Ribbon Winners

Do-It-Yourself Decorating

Grand Prize

A closer look at my sister's entries at our county fair revealed not one but two ribbons! I agree with the judges that the blue one gets First Place. There was another jewelry entry that got Second, and her brown set finished with Third Place. Personally I think these were some of the nicest entries in the fair's fine arts gallery that year. Of course, after the fair was over and my sister had brought the entries home and photographed them, she had to dismantle them from their velvet mounts. This jewelry is just too pretty not to wear!

At the Fair

Do-It-Yourself Decorating

Blue Jewelry Set

After dropping off the pieces of framed jewelry at the fair, we waited with anticipation for the fine arts exhibit to open. Would the pieces win anything? How much competition would there be? When the fair finally opened up, we rushed to the fine arts hall to see the exhibit. Biased as I may be, I thought my sister's pieces looked stunning amid the other entries on display. Can you pick them out in the pictures? Her hard work had paid off for this impressive exhibit. Oh, and do I see some prize ribbons on her pieces?!?

Brown Jewelry Set

Framed Jewelry

Do-It-Yourself Decorating

Mounted and Framed

My sister decided to enter her beautiful jewelry pieces in our local county fair. To display them, she mounted them on black velvet in picture frames. This was a complicated process. I believe she used thread to attach each strand of beads in several places to the velvet, which had been mounted on cardboard. Thread attachments were needed at many places in order to keep the necklaces in a nice rounded position when turned vertically. My sister then removed the glass from two matching picture frames and inserted the velvet-covered cardboard. They really came out beautifully!

Brown Set

Do-It-Yourself Decorating 

Another Pair

And here, at last, is the completed brown necklace and bracelet set. It came out beautifully, just like my sister's first jewelry set. The rich blue beads stand out brilliantly among the brown and tan shades. This is an interesting style, spacing out large beads with much smaller seed beads. If you look closely, you will notice that even the seed beads range in size and shape. This necklace would match a lot of outfits, and the bracelet would just add the finishing touch.