Timeless Thoughts is a monthly linkup hosted by Georgie and Tara, where bloggers write about something from their past – it could be an item, a place, an event – anything that evokes a trip down memory lane. Timeless Thoughts is held on the first Saturday of the month, and runs for two weeks.

Pop on over to Tara’s blog for this month’s linkup! Today I am writing about something that I really enjoyed as a kid but something that I wouldn’t really do now.

When I was younger I used to make my own jewellery. I was very keen and very eager to make new bits and pieces. Back then I wasn’t really familiar with style or materials, so all my bracelets would be made of various different beads in different patterns. I liked getting crafty and doing a lot of DIY stuff, and I would even go to the local library and participate in craft activities. I really liked jewellery from a young age, so anything shiny, small and pretty was of interest to me.

After church every Sunday we used to visit the shopping mall and I would always find myself in the discount or bargain store. They always had a tall rotating stand of packets of beads and other sewing items like buttons and hooks. It was fairly expensive, I think about $12 for three packets. My parents made sure I really wanted the beads before getting them. Each packet had maybe twenty or thirty pieces. That was enough for at least two bracelets, or more if I was using other beads.

Some beads were nice enough to be used for one bracelet, while others were even better used with others. I got very creative and made repeating patterns, symmetrical patterns and random ones before moving on to making some really simple earrings. Other bracelets I made were made from braided string or wool – I was not amazing at making friendship bracelets, but once I learned to use a method called ‘finger knitting’ to make a nice threaded piece of wool using just a few fingers, I made a few bracelets out of those!

My skills were by no means advanced, but it was enough to make bracelets that I liked to wear. If I had better tools I would have made something better, but I think I gave up once I saw that I was not as advanced as other people were. One of my mum’s friends made beautiful earrings out of glass beads and wiring and I just thought, wow, I can’t even afford to buy nice pieces like that.

I think my love for jewellery just continued throughout the years. I went from making my own pieces to buying them, though. Even if I had the time now, I don’t think I would have the skill to make something really nice that I would really want to wear. I admire people who make their own extravagant pieces, but of course I accept that there are some things that machines do much better (and much faster) than humans.