Wonder and Whimsy June 2025 Reveal: Staring at the Ceiling

It's the last Friday of the month... hurray! 

Around here, that means it’s time to reveal what I made for this month’s Wonder and Whimsy Challenge. As a reminder, this month’s challenge was rather unconventional: I decided to make jewelry based on my living room ceiling.

…because, if I’m going to be staring at the ceiling due to having migraines, I might as well make it into something pretty.

Overall, I had a lot of success! I made four pairs of earrings, a bracelet, and two necklaces. I have a few other pieces in the works, but I wasn’t able to get them done in time. Which is okay! I’m quite happy with what I’ve got.

So, without further ado… this is what I made!

Earring Pair 1

These earrings were the first things that I made for this challenge, and are honestly one of my favorites. I like the different shapes and textures—the juxtaposition of the gold, the white, and the brown is very much like the ceiling-inspiration. 

I also think it’s rather fun that the round filigree tapering off into a wooden spike is reminiscent of the ceiling fan. It’s always fun to be inspired by form as well as color!

Earring Pair 2

This second pair of earrings took its inspiration from the golden filigree work on the ceiling fan. (I think it’s visible in the introduction picture.)  Oh, and also the ceiling’s colors. Each one of the pieces I made uses the color palette of cream and gold at its base.

I happen to have an entire bag of these filigree teardrops, and I am so glad that I unearthed them as I was going through my craft room. They are just perfect for this challenge! I paired them with little Czech glass bicones and gold tone findings… simple in construction, but the extravagance of the focal beads more than makes up for it.

Earring Pair 3

When I was designing this third pair of earrings, I was curious to see how I could combine the different shades of my color palette in such a way that they overlapped and shifted. After all, the ceiling has a cohesive look that is actually made up of several colors. 

With a base of white, with golden-hued Czech dangles, this pair of earrings was one of my interpretations of that particular design goal.

Earring Pair 4

This pair of earrings took the above stated design goal and took it up a notch. Different colors and shapes of Czech glass have been dangled from jumprings in a shaggy loop pattern. While the number of beads is the same for both, the colors are asymmetrical; I added them in a completely random pattern.

The result is a cohesive whole made with shifting hues—again, much like the ceiling itself.

Plus, they are super dangly and a lot of fun to wear!

Bracelet

Once I started working on the “many-shades-coming-together-to-make-a-whole” design goal, it took over my creative space. It can once more be seen, this time in the bracelet I made for this challenge.

Toho 6/0 beads have been strung on four strands of waxed linen, in a combination of creams and golds and whites—with just a touch of silver to act as a contrast. I did follow a tutorial for this piece, which can be found here. 

…And now that I’ve made one, I want to make them all! Hah.

Oh, and I should add that I chose this particular button closure because it reminded me of the ceiling fan.

A mix of ceiling colors, paired with a swirling-fan button… I think this is pretty faithful to the inspiration. 

Necklace 1

And now we move to the necklaces. This one was made with Czech 4mm and Toho 11/0 beads, and I used the Russian Spiral stitch.

…I am such a sucker for the Russian Spiral stitch.

The main connection to the inspiration was, you guessed it: the colors used. I thought the spiral made for a lovely way for the different shades to complement each other—all parts of the whole, while being distinct.

Necklace 2

And now, for the piece I am most proud of. 

To make this necklace, I first took this picture:

…and came up with a custom matching blend  of Toho 11/0 beads:

Which I then stitched together in a tubular herringbone pattern, picking up the colors at random—to emulate the elegant-but-splotchy color distribution on the ceiling.

Here is a progress pictures:

Once the tubular herringbone portion was done, I then used those same beads to make a tassel. 

I found a lovely focal bead in my stash, combined all of the elements, and thus this necklace was created:

I am so incredibly pleased!

…I am also very rapidly learning that seed bead projects take a considerable amount of time. Especially necklaces. Perhaps that is why so many seed bead artists make bracelets… it’s easier to make them lay flat, and they don’t take as long!

From a distance, you can’t actually tell that the herringbone cord and the tassel are made of different colors. They do very much look like they are all the same. 

Upon closer inspection, however, you can tell that there are three different shades of seed beads—a pearly white, an opaque ivory, and a matte galvanized aluminum. They play together to act like highlights and shadows, much like the different shades of paint on the ceiling.

Oh, and you might recognize the beads at the bottom of the tassel… they also show up in Earring Pair 4.

I cannot begin to state just how ecstatic I am with how this turned out. I actually drew out a little sketch at the beginning on the month of how I wanted this to look—and the final piece looks even better than I could imagine. 

Who knew that a ceiling could inspire something so pretty?

So, there you go! Those are the pieces that I made for this challenge. I really had fun experimenting with different techniques and possibilities. I am definitely noticing that I’m being drawn more and more to seed beads… don’t be surprised if they show up more. Something is clicking in my head, and I’m excited at the ways that I can mix them with the things I already know how to make.

Hurray for learning! And hurray for finding inspiration in unlikely places.

Come back at the beginning of July to see what my next Challenge will be.

Until then, have a lovely day, everyone!