A Family Affair

One of the toys I bought for my daughter, Katie, when she was tiny was some large baby beads that pop together. When she was a bit older, I bought her some very large acrylic beads with a large hole so she could learn to string. A couple of months before she turned 4, I had some girlfriends over, one being one of her teachers in preschool. We were beading, and Katie told her teacher that she wanted to make a "real" necklace, so I sat her down, got her some beads from my stash, cut her a length of wire, and waited for the constant interruptions and complaining that she couldn't get the wire in the hole. A while after, she calls out "I'm done", and much to my astonishment, her string is strung, not one complaint, not one bead dropped, nothing but a completed necklace. From then on, she had her own beads ;)

My husband, James, already worked with chain mail, and had bought a book on wire jewelry, which he put away along with several other hobbies. When he brought up the subject of wire jewelry again, I bought him a jig and some wire and another book, and so far he is really enjoying it. I hope no one clues him in to all the work I will want him to do for me, though I've already gotten a necklace and earring set out of the deal. He made the links, I just designed it :D