Hello! Happy January! Sunday I ventured into the city and spent the day with my Ganesha girls. We went to a Mala making workshop at Beadniks, Chicago. When I first stepped into the store, it was taken aback. It was absolutely gorgeous! The perfect sanctuary for stringing Mala beads AND they had some pretty fabulous looking jewelry for sale too. We were each given a tray, and some guidelines for picking out the beads we wanted. What would work with what, and what to make sure we had (and didn't have). The first thing that caught my eye was a Buddha head charm on the front table. I went back and grabbed it. I needed this on my Mala.
Then I started looking over the beads. All of them were so pretty. I had made a Pinterest board with ideas. Everything from colors to patterns to styles. I have to say, with so many choices in front of me; I was super overwhelmed. I hadn't decided on a color going into it and that added to my anxiety. For some reason, I kept getting drawn into the purple section of "the wall-o-beads". So, I knew I had decided pretty much on having a purple Mala. I really liked the texture of having a bigger bead pass through my fingers. It's just less stressful for me to move through the Mala when the beads are bigger. I'm not experienced enough to want spacers - so I nixed that idea. I wanted something with smooth beads, that would easily pass through as I counted. I feel like I hit that on the head. I wanted beautiful intricate beads, but was also on a budget. So I settled for a solid and then added about 40 or so of the pretty patterned beads. I was so concerned I wouldn't have enough. OR that I would have too many. When I got back to the table, I literally hit 108 ON THE HEAD! I couldn't do that again if I tried. So, after fretting about whether or not I was making the right choice (cosmetically AND for my tight budget this week) that's how I knew it was meant to be.
I chose navy blue string because it complemented the purple without being TOO MUCH PURPLE. For my guru bead, I chose a brass bead that matched my Buddha head. For the tassel, I really wanted something to pop. I didn't want it to be a sea of purple, and I didn't want to dull it out with a washed out color like white or gray. I wanted a little punch. On the inside of the guru bead, there was this teal/aqua color. I loved it! So, I chose that as the tassel color. Originally I had picked a string that was coated in wax. That was awful. So halfway through wrapping, I changed my mind. I'm pretty happy with the way my tassel turned out. If I plan on making more - I will need to perfect this.
The overall process consisted of arranging your beads, stringing your beads and then tying the knots. The knots were the most tedious. The bigger the bead - the harder it is. The longer the strand gets - the harder it gets. This whole process, after picking out what I wanted took me about 2 1/2 hours or so with little breaks. It would definitely be a great craft while watching TV or listening to a book. When I got home, my hand was a little cramped. Tying such small knots with big chubby fingers is a little hard lol.
Price wise - I paid about the same as if I were to buy one already made. The experience was much more fun though. The workshop cost $35. Then my purchase at the store for my beads and materials not given to us in the cost of the workshop, was around $75 with tax and all.
I'm interested to see what I make now that I semi know what I'm doing. I'll be sure to post anything that I do!
I'm so glad I got to spend some QT with my yoga girls! It was so nice to get together. I am looking forward to more things like this!
All of us, and all of our Malas. (Well accept one) They are all so unique to our personality. I think if we were to drop them in the center of the room, without knowing who they belong to, our instructors could have probably gave them back to each of us knowing who's was what! :-)
and here is my finished product;
