Pandora-Like Bracelet Without The Pandora Price

Do you have an on and off switch? Are you all 'on' or, all 'off'? I do. I'm really into something or, I just couldn't care less about it.

This is what is going on with me right now with charm bracelets. Beaded charm bracelets to be exact.

I attended the Southern Women's Show, here in Orlando, last weekend. The type of things I look for are the unique and fun items. And, while the 'Pandora' type of beaded bracelet isn't really new, I've been intrigued by them. But, when I see that the lowest price for one Pandora bead is roughly $25, I shy away. Heck, I can get a ton of jewelry for that price at Forever 21, Claire's or some of the outlet stores locally.

So, I sort of went all out when I found this vendor...

 

 Each of these cups is filled with a different bead. The vendor had them in groups of colors. You can see where the yellow and orange beads are the easiest. The forefront, on the left, are the pink beads.

This is how it worked: each bead is $2; charm beads are $5 but were $3 for the show; the bracelet was $5. Help for making your creation was free. The nice lady that was running this booth, all by herself, couldn't have been more accommodating. She was a true delight. That's her in the photo above to the very right.

With just one bracelet and groups of beads, I started to work...

Well, yes, I did make a pink bracelet first. Naturally! One doesn't have to go with symmetry, however, I like the orderliness of it. So, beginning with a charm in the middle, there are beads on either side that mirror each other. You can see the last bead on the right is the 'stopper' bead. This is used to keep the beads from sliding off the bracelet.

Then I went on to create bracelets in red and one in purple...

Some of the beads are actually neutral, in that they are no particular color, so I can mix and match to my heart's desire...

And when I saw these red beads, they look like Christmas tree ornaments, I knew I wanted to make a Winter holiday bracelet...

 Here are the charm beads...

Total of all these beads along with the bracelet-$73. Most of the Pandora beads cost $65. And I dare say, my beads rank right up there in weight and quality of Pandora beads.

I got my beads from divadaisies.com. Their online purchases are different than the pick-your-own I got to do at the show. However, on their website, they list the shows that they will be at, if you wish to catch up with them and make a charming bracelet for yourself.

Do you have a Pandora or Pandora-style bracelet? Are you into charm or bead bracelets?