Nursing Necklaces and More

I know I promised camping pictures, but I don't have any! My dad took all the photos and I haven't downloaded them yet. So you'll just have to believe me - we had a great time. Very, very D I R T Y, but tons of fun. Garion absolutely loved it! His favorite thing to do in camp was "cooking" pine needles and sticks on his imaginary rock stove. And I must admit, he is quite the gourmet. The dishes he created with dirt, sap, and dead brush - simply delectable...

Out of camp, we had an absolute blast in Tuolame Meadows where we spent the day on the river. Garion loves the water, and what could be better then spending the day at the river? How about having an endless supply of rocks to throw into said river. . . apparently this is all that is needed to create a 3-year-old's dream of perfect bliss. And Aiden loved the water too - though for the most part his interests centered solely around trying to eat rocks and mud.

Anyway, we all had a great time. I am eager to go again, and hope this was merely the first trip in a long line of Skinner family camping tradition.

So, onto the crafty stuff...

I am excited to say that I'm starting to see more success with my Etsy store. Yeah!! One of my new designs are the nursing necklaces.

A "nursing necklace" is certainly not my own idea - there are quite a few sellers on Etsy. But I think I have a different look and a unique design that will stand apart from the rest.

I first stumbled upon the nursing necklace while browsing Etsy and thought it was a great idea and just what I needed. It gives baby something to focus on while nursing and something to play with - instead of pulling hair or even pinching. (And yikes, Aiden is a pincher!) Or course, any necklace would do the trick, but the whole point of a "nursing" necklace is that it's made super strong and safe for baby to pull and tug. Most styles have beads for baby to play with as well.

Well, I had to have one and eagerly looked at all the designs on Etsy. There were various styles, most of them were fun and bright, but not the right style for me. So I made my own. I sold the first few fairly quickly, and am excited to make more and come up with new styles. There are a bunch curing out in the garage (uh, I mean "studio") right now.

I've taken great care to make them strong, safe and practical - but stylish at the same time. My biggest challenge is finding beads with a large enough hole. I'm using 2mm Greek leather cord and most beads are just too small. And I also want to use only acrylic beads, as they are the safest, but finding acrylic beads with any aesthetic value has proven to be quite challenging.

Last night, I completed an extensive search on Etsy for large-holed beads that actually look good too. I found a nice selection, and hope to receive them in a few days. I hope they look as nice as the photos!

I also finished some cute glass tile pendants that I am quite pleased with and want to share, but...I really need to make dinner. There are 3 hungry boys waiting on me. So I'll try to share some more tomorrow...