Well it was all that she told me it would be, and more! See, she's a designer - one of those artsy type of girls; great at drawing and really creative. So when she showed me this hair clip she had, I immediately asked her where she got it from. It had flowers and lots of pretty things on it, and matched a dress she was going to wear to a wedding.
She told me she can take me there, and the place was amazing. A whole wall full of jars on shelves which had everything from beads to flowers and chains, etc. My jaw dropped. Not only that, each shelf had about three other shelves hidden behind so that when you slide it to the side, you can see another shelf full of more items you can use.
There were two areas in the store where the store employees can be seen working over a table full of tools, making the jewelry items that the customers request. You can get a small bowl, where you put in the beads, lace, or whatever material it is that you want to use to make your bracelet, earrings, necklace, hair piece, or whatever it is you want to create! You go around the store, gathering those items, looking at various samples already made, and getting advice from the employees who are readily available to give you tips and ideas. All the items were so unique, and since you can pick how you want them arranged, the length of the chain or whatever material you choose, you get a real unique piece that no one will have.
The prices were okay as well, less than $20 for the necklace I made, and about $30 for my earrings.
I was nervous and overwhelmed at first, and did feel a bit of pressure because I could be so indecisive and my friend was waiting on me to make a decision. I had no idea about what theme I'd pick, or where to even start for that matter... It took ages, and I finally decided to go with something simple (I didn't know how much it would cost me anyway). So I got this gold wired ball, put in this purple gem, and asked them to put the chain on it to make a necklace.
Once I handed it over and had some time to look around while it was being made and no more pressure, I started to look at the things differently. In fact, I could suddenly see all the potential and ideas would pop in my head from everywhere. I saw this snowman piece, which you can attach any type of pearl on the bottom as its body, and thought I wanted to make a christmas/holiday piece. I found a present and a star, and thought, "Ah, perfect!" My friend recommended which chain I should use (the thinnest one I think) and the lengths of each chain to hang the pieces, and a store employee recommended some of the actual earring types from which it would hang from. I just picked a plain studded earring.
The lady took the measurements, and we waited once more for it to be made. I could have kept going, but my wallet kept reminding me that I better stop, haha. I loved the way it came out, and it is hands don my favorite earrings that I own. I am going to wear them all the time once Halloween is over! I want to go back and make more the next time I go down near Kyoto =)
It was super fun! You get to make your own personalized jewelry without the hard work, haha! I love it because a few months ago I went to buy pieces to make my own personalized earrings, (the total was over $40 bucks too) and never actually went through with it. It's still somewhere in my room (I should probably start on that too now)...
Anyway, I hope you guys had a great weekend~
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