Aaaahhh Christmas, how I love thee! You bring joy, cheer and magic into our lives. You warm our hearts and inspire us to give. You remind us that it truly does feel better to give, than to receive and this year especially, I was touched by this enchanting feeling more deeply than ever.

Kashi’s all smiles next to this homemade giving tree!

We’re lucky enough to be able to walk to the post office each day to ship the packages full of sparkles to all of our wonderful customers. While we were on our way back, we passed by a house in our neighborhood who had created a giving tree. This absolutely warmed my heart! What a fabulous idea! There were hats, gloves, treats and knick-knacks hanging from the tree and more goodies in the box below. “The Giving Tree” was my favorite book growing up and I instantly felt like a kid again!

As we walked home, my heart was full and I was inspired to give more this year!

I thought about what I could do to bring a smile to someones face and infuse a little more joy into their hearts… and then it hit me…

I could give the gift of SPARKLES – SWAROVSKI CRYSTALS OF COURSE!

I actually make and give Swarovski Crystal jewelry and sun catchers beaded to hang in windows every year to friends and family, so I thought, how can I get a little more creative this year?

How about, instead of me making the crystals for my friends (who lived in town), what if we all got together and had a Crystal Creating Celebration?! (P.S. If you mention Crystals and Celebration in the same sentence, you’ve got a winner & people will flock!)

It doesn’t have to be Christmas to do this with your friends. This is a fun and unique idea to celebrate any occasion, Birthdays, Bridal Showers, Bachelorette Parties, Promotions, Graduations, New Homes, Thank You/Appreciations, and/or just because you want to spend time with the ones you care about!

Needless to say…we had a ball!

It can certainly get very busy around this time of year and spending time with the ones you care about (and who care about you) well, there’s really nothing better!

So I gathered up a variety of Swarovski Crystal Beads, Pendants, Pearls, along with tools, and findings from Harmony’s little Crystal work shop ;-)…and away I flew!

It’s a Christmas Crystal Creating Celebration! This amount of fun seems downright criminal!  🙂

I landed at one of my best girlfriends house and just look at all this Christmas cheer!

We set our Christmas Crystal Crafting table up…

Husbands away, so the girls can play   

Cheerful holiday music on to fill our spirits   

A couple of festive sangria’s to enjoy  

A sleigh full of Swarovski Crystals   

Let the creativity begin…

With so many beautiful Swarovski sparkles, it’s hard to know where to begin!

I learned that this can actually be quite a daunting task for some people who don’t bead regularly. I suggested a couple of tactics;

Choose Your Favorite Styles

Look at every style you see and choose your absolute favorites. What jumps out to you? Grab it and set it aside to create a pile in front of your own work station. This way, you won’t be so overwhelmed and you can begin with your most beloved.

You may hear things like, they’re just to pretty, they’re ALL my favorite! I hear you ladies! I’m in the same boat! So if that’s the case, then…

Choose your Favorite Styles Within Similar Color Combinations

Think about who you are making your gift for, (or for yourself). Feel their personality, think about where they might want to hang it in their house and what colors would represent them and/or their home the best. Then choose colors that express their personality. This helps tremendously and it’s extra special to think about that person, hold them in your heart while you’re creating something for them that you know they will LOVE!

Helpful Tip: Arrange Your Boxes of Crystal Beads and Pearls in Similar Color Combinations

I store my crafting supplies in these easy to use bins. I find it so helpful to easily move them from room to room (or house to house). Wherever I will be doing my projects for that time, whether it’s outside on a nice sunny day, on the couch watching a movie with my hubby or at my girlfriends house. Wherever I go, my Crystals go with me….do I have a problem?? Nah …we’ll call it passion…I’m just extremely passionate 🙂

Making Swarovski Crystal Sun Catchers

The gorgeous rainbows created by a Swarovski Crystal is what inspired my parents to call our family business “Rainbows of Light” Hang your Swarovski Crystal Pendants or Prisms in the window or car and watch the Rainbows of Light dance about. One of my best girlfriends refers to that special time of day when the sun catches the crystal just right, she calls it “Rainbow Power Hour!”

It brightens her life and makes a sunny day even more special!

This warms my heart beyond measure, to know that every day she is uplifted. Some of my earliest memories is helping my parents make beaded Crystal Sun Catchers. As a family, we would sell these at arts and craft fairs. My absolute favorite memories would be to watch peoples eyes instantly Light Up from all the rainbows!

It’s pure joy and completely infectious!

Here’s my Dad with his Dad at his Crystal booth. Those smiles say it all!

I wanted to shar with you the deep rooted history I have with all of this because this day with my girlfriends, making sun catchers and seeing their faces and hearts light up, brought back so many special memories for me. I felt as though everything was coming full circle. The loving spirit in which my parents started this business, it wasn’t just a business, it was a way of life for all of us. Our whole family nurtured it in different ways. It has been this magical source of energy, always growing, evolving and above all, continually giving. This was the powerful energy that was instantly renewed in me that day.

As we continued to create, the hours flew by, filling the house and our hearts with laughter and friendship. Before we knew it, her hubby came home and brought a few friends home with him. One girl, who I met for the first time, saw our craft table and was naturally intrigued. We said, come join us! She said, no that’s OK I’ve never beaded before so I’ll just sit a watch you. Well… I told you it’s infectious, the crystals are just too magnetic because literally not 5 minutes passed before she said , wow this looks like so much fun, I would LOVE to try and make one! My heart leapt for joy (again)

Then I hear a hubby say “I wish we were having as much fun as you ladies are!” Can you say, music to my ears!

A Newbie to Beading, and Now She’s a Lifer!

Here’s the Sun Catcher that she made and I always love to see how unique everyone’s creative is. I would have never thought to combine these colors together and it’s beautiful! She kept holding it in the light and each time her smile would grow. As her smile grew, my my heart grew!

She used various Swarovski Crystal Beads in Erinite, Emerald, Jet and Crystal Golden Shadow. The larger Crystals include the 5556 Galactic Beads in Crystal Golden Shadow and Crystal Copper. The 5650-16mm Cubist Bead, along with many 5810 6mm  and 8mm Swarovski Pearls in Brown and Bronze. She ended it very creatively by using the 3231-28mm two hole Oval Sew On Stone in Emerald attached to the 6620-40mm Avant Garde Pendant in Crystal Copper.

She showed her hubby and it was so cute to see how much he lit up too! (Yes, even the toughest of men can enjoy beautiful sparkles). I could hear them saying, WOW where should we hang it? It would look great in our kitchen window…or maybe in our dinning room with all the natural light. My girlfriends’ hubby chimes in and says, we have one hanging in our kitchen window and I love it because every morning I come down and see all the rainbows shining in the room and it’s a great way to start the day. I was actually shocked, I’ll reiterate…this was a GROWN MAN who loves football, grilling out and all kinds of manly things, saying this! I LOVED it!

New Sparkling Swarovski Designs

A very popular home, jewelry and fashion trend is the color gray. They say, gray is the new black. This is a sun catcher another friend made with gray tones such as Swarovski  Crystal Silver Shade and Black Diamond crystals, along with Light Grey, Platinum and she threw in a few Brown Pearls for a little contrast. It turned out beautifully!

The larger stones include the Swarovski Crystal 5523-12mm Cosmic Beads, the 5590-10mm wing Bead, 5650-16mm Cubist Bead, 5328-4mm Xilion Bicone Beads and the large Crystal at the bottom is the 6680-40mm Cosmic Pendant in Crystal Silver Shade. I used a Clear Crystal Rhodium Head Pin to put through the hole at the top then looped it around to hold in place. This gave it a gorgeous finishing touch.

Swarovski Pearls are an excellent product to bring to your Crystal Creating Party because of so many reasons. They are beautiful, their pearlescent coating is extremely durable, they have a crystal center that gives them weight, there are a huge variety of color options and they are (whisper this next word) inexpensive! (SSSHHH, that’s our little secret. They’ll never know)

Giving Truly is Receiving!

Here is the sun catcher that my friend made for her Mom. It was so long that the actual Prism at the bottom was cut off, but I’m sure you can imagine the beauty  🙂 Her Mom collects Swarovski Ornaments and she had so much fun giving it to her the next week she visited. Her Mom Absolutely LOVED it!

Here is one of the nicest thank you’s I’ve ever received…

“I just wanted you to know the joy you have spread. My mom pretty much peed her pants with the gift of sparkles. She keeps sending me texts to show how pretty it is throughout the day. Here’s a pic for you. Thank you again for this precious gift of time and generosity with these amazing crystals. You da best! Much Love!”

Doesn’t this just warm your heart!

When you give from your heart, people feel it and appreciate the time and energy you put into making something special just for them. It doesn’t have to be much, it just needs to come from your heart.

I didn’t want, or expect anything in return because I had already been given the gift of giving, but look at this beautiful platter that magically appeared on my doorstep the next day…

How sweet is this?! She knows me too well, I just LOVE it so much!

I found a special place for it in my kitchen and now her gift is the one that brightens my day!

The gift of genuine friendships, is certainly a gift that keeps on giving!

This Christmas I wanted to give gifts with a lasting nature. Gifts that warm your heart and remind us of special times. Gifts that keep on giving. In turn, I received some of the greatest gifts of all. The warm and delightful gift of giving.

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