All Those Lovely, Lovely Beads

Wooden beads as green as giant peas

A month ago I took my smashed DSLR to the clinic (which is still there, being repaired), and on my way home passed an unprepossessing charity shop. I wandered in, because you never know what you’ll come across, especially when you’re not looking for anything in particular. (That is a cardinal op-shopping rule.)

I didn’t find anything in the shop … except a vintage set of bright green wooden beads on a petrified elastic string that was one swing away from choking curious and unsupervised infants. They wanted $1 for them. They could have it.

Nice wooden beads are so hard to find, at least here in Melbourne. I cannot sufficiently kick myself for not purchasing some in Porto when I had the chance – but there was so much choice I couldn’t choose between all those lovely, lovely beads. Vintage wood beads especially are nice, because the colours are subtler than the garish modern versions found in some craft shops, and also for their attractive patina of age.

I have already remade the beads into a new necklace, teaming them with some black onyx round beads and two vintage silver (although not sterling silver) beads I bought in a souq in Marrakesh. Stay tuned…