The video and marketing direction behind these fashion and beauty product videos by Juicy Couture is enough to make my heart hurt and my eyes bleed rainbows, glitter and grime. Take in the visual splendor with me and feel inspired to live a life as art. I can never get enough of their saccharine sweet, colorful, serendipitous and opulent campaigns that have always been right up my alley (cat).
This perfect summer craft originates from the Bahamas and other tropical places where they are blessed with beautiful sandy beaches. Die-hard jewelry makers will use just about anything to make jewelry with, even the beach itself! If you are lucky enough to live by the beach and have access to any department store or craft store, then you can make your own sand beads from scratch. It is a bit time-consuming to roll and shape all of your own beads, but its worth it in the end when you have tons of colorful beads to make all the jewelry you want!
Fine sand (from the beach or from the store)
All purpose flour or papier-mâché
Elmer’s Glue
Wax paper
Vegetable oil
If you got your sand from the beach, sift it through a cheese cloth or a window screen to separate the larger grains from the fine stuff. Pour the fine sand into a bowl and mix in the flour or papier-mâché and mix it together well. You need to use equal amounts of flour and sand. Coat your hands lightly with vegetable oil so the sticky paste that you’re about to make won’t stick to your hands. Pour in your Elmer’s Glue slowly and knead it with your hands like bread dough. If it starts to harden before you’re done mixing, add more glue. If your hands get too crusty as you work, rinse your hands off and apply more oil. Also, if you are using beach sand and you want to add color, mix in some acrylic paint.
Break off pieces of the sandy dough and roll them into your beads. This is where you use your imagination to create the beads you will use for your jewelry. Make many different colors and sizes, or make a series of the same kind for a long beaded necklace. You can also make short tube-shaped beads, square ones and irregular shaped beads.
Set your beads on a piece of wax paper and let them dry overnight. Use a large sewing needle or any other sharp metal skewer (be careful!) to poke a hole through the middle of each bead. You need to do this while the beads are still slightly tacky, but not so soft that you squish the bead. Let them dry all the way.
Coat them with clear acrylic varnish to make them glossy and protect them, if you want. Now you can make your homemade jewelry for yourself and your loved ones!
Substitute half of the sand (or less) with fine glitter to make sparkly beads.
Swirl different colors of the sandy dough together to make multi-colored beads.
Make beading kits with your left-over sand beads and give these kits away as gifts.
Add other natural beads like shells and tiny pieces of drift wood to make a real beachy necklace.
Sell your sand bead jewelry to people at the beach.
Oh my Florida, pan handle! Nearly surrounded by beaches and golden balls of sunshine on orange trees. The sunshine state is also the kitsch capitol of the world. “Florida is the land of pink flamingos, bathing beauties, palm trees, coconuts, and beaches.”
MIA aka Miami is the city of delicious candy-coated, art deco cafes, shops and hotels on the beach. “Miami is an international city. It’s not only the business capital of the Caribbean Islands, but also a playground for wealthy European, Central American, and South American travelers. Miami attracts more foreign visitors than any other U.S. city.”
There are so many fabulous beaches in Florida that you can find something for everyone. Whether you’re looking for a tropical getaway or a party beach, you can find the perfect spot on the sand (or rocks/tide pools) for you.
Cat circus, cute-neighborly bars on the ocean, cotton-candy coated homes and kitty cat mosaics hidden within even the drugstore’s architecture. A favorite paradise.
“The Florida Keys are famous for harboring such historical luminaries as playwright Tennessee Williams, novelist Ernest Hemingway, and bird-chronicler John James Audubon. In truth, aspiring artists continue to be drawn to the Keys. They come not just for the spectacular sunsets and stunning wildlife but for the free-spirited way of life embodied by the Keys. That spirit is evident at the many festivals and events you will find listed on our cultural calendar. Here you can visit a tiny gallery, take in a community play, enjoy an open-air festival or attend a symphony orchestra. You’ll find that the Keys are rich in cultural opportunities. ” – Florida Keys
Mmmm! Do you dig the cirtrusy candy-sweet smell or would you prefer just the taste of an orange grove cookie?
You get free admission on your birthday and a bit of special treatment, a definite time to book a trip to the happiest most magical rainbowland (besides my home) in the USA.
In Miami the fallen coconuts are layed aside with straws stick within their broken shell, sipped dry of their delicious cocomilk (there is a nut inside of the fruit, filled with a layer of white coconut and sweet watery cocomilk) they are left for useless but create a cute visual memento for passersby.
“Coconut Palm is one of the finest Florida Palm Trees. It is native to the Malay Archipelago or the South Pacific. Coconut Palm is also the most recognized palm in the world.” – Florida Palm Trees. Coconuts??
Florida has a rainbow of wines from every delicious tropical flavor you can imagine. Just think, orange, pineapple, coconut and key lime wines (similar to a margarita). Yum! Take a look at the assortment of wineries and visit the ones that sound tastiest!
The 1st Oriental Supermarket is the hot spot in Chinatown, 42,000 sq. ft., live seafood, fresh bakery and BBQ products, groceries, herbs & medicines, you imagine it and they probably have it hand somewhere. Other shops through the district include a CD & DVD store, beauty & facial shop, hair salon, travel agency, mobile phone store, karaoke, employment agency, realty company, advertising & marketing company, etc. available to serve you.hungry or in need of a tasty treat, just step into one of the delicious and inexpensive specialty restaurants to enjoy a cup of Boba Tea, some Taiwanese food, Chinese take-out, or even a cat-shaped sweet roll. (also hosts a number of special events to celebrate the Chinese Festivals)
Prime vintage kitschy deliciousness can be spotted everywhere here. One of these reasons is because it’s such a sunny, relaxing place to retire, many retirees get rid of their and their collected goodies here. Which leaves for absolute popculture art archeology, as Lala might proclaim.
Cute art deco, salt-water taffy colored wonderland in the sunshine.
The Florida lifestyle is generally more relaxed than other rural areas, take it easy. Island living~
Dylan’s Candy Bar
Bear & Bird Gallery and Boutique
Carnival Cruise Lines
Everglades National Park — plan a picnic!
Universal Studios
Sanrio Stores SE
Sanrio Stores SW
