None of the Three Birdies really know much about jewelry making. So when we found these cool pendants from Plaid's Fresh line, we thought, hey, we could do that! Any of their pendants would be beautiful just on a plain chain or piece of ribbon. They look really fancy, but they take about two seconds to put together. So even though you didn't make the pendant, you still technically made the necklace. We like to call this method "almost handmade." We're actually kind of pros at "almost handmade." You know we like simple!

However, knowing that some of you like things a little more elaborate, we got Stacy's cousin Megan to help us dress these pendants up a little. She knows her stuff when it comes to making jewelry. She already had a ton of beads to choose from, so we just started by picking out some coordinating beads. Check out her bead design board that helps you lay out the beads so you can see how they'll actually look (without trying to keep them from rolling away!). Very handy.



Megan did the fancy footwork on the chain and clasp. Definitely something you could learn in a beading/jewelry class at your local bead store. And here's our finished product! Cool, huh?



The Fresh line has so many other cool resin pendants to choose from, like these.


We have some other great ideas for the Fresh jewelry line, so watch for more "almost handmade" soon. . .