01 January 2002

Jane by Design Style Challenge: Task #6

Catching up? Check out Task #1Task #2Task #3Task #4 and Task #5.

Pretty pretty please stop by the Jane by Design Facebook wall, share your fashion inspiration, and tell them What the Frock? sent you!

This is the latest challenge that I got from the Jane by Design crew:


What does the future hold for the world of fashion?  That will depend on people like you.  It’s time to take a long hard look at yourself and the world around you.  What do you see & how does it make you feel?  The ability to be inspired by everyday life is an essential skill.  The ability to translate your inspiration into something fresh and unexpected that takes the fashion world by storm is a rare gift.  Rumor has it that one of the most coveted designer bags of all time was inspired by a roll of tape.

Find the bag of pretzels in your trunk.  Get inspired and create something that will amaze me.  Post a photo to your blog and write an entry explaining your design.  Ask your readers to share ways in which they were inspired to make fashion out of unexpected items here and mention the name of your blog.


In the trunk that ABC Family provided was three small bags of pretzels: sticks, snaps, and homestyle.


Crazy, right?

I was flummoxed for a while, but then I decided to get crafty and try to make some jewelry out of these pretzels.

For my first attempt, I strung the homestyle pretzels on a piece of leftover black velvet ribbon.


Um, nooo. It looked awkward and silly. I wasn't happy with how it turned out at all. Strike one.

Next, with the pretzel sticks in mind, I remembered an interesting necklace I'd seen on Artfire and tried to emulate it. This is the necklace:


But, well, sticking a needle and thread through pretzel sticks... is effing hard. I felt like the idea of the necklace was way better than the necklace actually turned out.


Cool in theory, but just weird in reality. Strike two.

But third time was a charm. I took the chain from a necklace I have, removed the pendant, and strung the square pretzel snaps through the chain.


Victory! It looks pretty cool, right?

I'm grateful to the Jane by Design team for this one. It was a weird task, but I'm really excited about how the necklace turned out!

Have you ever been inspired by unexpected items? Tell us about it, and see another clip from Jane by Design here.