Basteln

Basteln basically means to do arts and crafts, which usually I hate. I don't have the patience: I concentrate, I try, I'm ambitious, but in the end something always goes wrong and it all looks like crap and I loose it! The project (whether knitting, sewing, card-making or cake-baking) goes in the bin and I'm in a terrible mood for the rest of the day. So when my friends invited me to go along to a pearl shop where you can make your own jewellery, I wasn't sure I should go. I thought I'd just tag along and buy some pearls as presents for my more talented friends who love that kind of stuff.

When I walked in the shop, I realized my friend A was there to make jewellery, not just shop and then go for coffee. I strolled aimlessly around, staring at the endless rows of pearls and materials. Not a single good idea of what I wanted to make came to me. Meanwhile A had already picked out her pearls into a little dessert bowl, had sat down and started to chop pieces of wire into earrings. I had to decide on something, and saw a pre-made pair of earrings that I could copy the idea from: with a hook, a piece of chain and a pearl dangling at the end. I'd be out of there in no-time, hahaa!

But once I sat down, something happened. It was fun! It was really fun! The girl who works in the shop helped me to make little links to attach pearls to the chain with, and to attach the chain to the hooks. I went back to the rows of pearls with my little bowl and picked out more colours, more sizes. I could have sat there all day, making earrings for all my friends. Unfortunately the shop is really popular and we had to give up our seats at three o'clock. My earrings cost €6: that included all the pearls, materials and the help I got. And they didn't look home-made, either! On my way home I ran a few errands, and when I got home and proudly showed off my earrings, A pointed out that some of the pearls had fallen off. Typical! So much for my talent at crafts! But I liked it so much this time, that I'll go back and fix them, make more earrings, too – but be sure to ask the pros to check my links and loops before I go!

I promised A and A, who showed me this great little gem, that I wouldn't share it's location. If you do want to know where it is you can ask and I can send it to you via email.