Third Tri Mama Gift Idea

[JenInMpls]

While reading Birthing from Within, I came across an idea that I felt was very cool. While it feels strange to me to suggest it to my circle of friends here in town, it seemed to make sense to suggest it all to YOU. So here you go:

It's the idea of a birth bracelet. A woman's friends each give her one bead or a charm with one wish or thought for her birth. Mama strings this into a bracelet which she can wear or take to her birth to be reminded of the support of all of her friends.

Folks who wanted to take part in this would have to join the Yahoo! group and share their address in the database, but it would not have to be something that is really organized or moderated. The only logistical thing is that thank yous would probably have to be by PM or by e-mail in order to not hurt feelings of anyone who may not have received something from that person, or who chose to not share their address for one reason or another - and there are lots of good reasons.

I would suggest starting it in June, since some of us will already be hitting 28 weeks then!!! (ohmigosh!)

Thoughts on this idea?

Jen

[sistermama]

I love you Jen. At my Mother Blessing with Jack, my friends all brought me a special bead and strung them and kept them with me during my labor. I was thinking it would be cool to do it here, but couldn't think of a way to make it work - which you figured out perfectly I think. I would definitely like to do that.

Kind of off topic, but something I've been glad we did. For Jack's Blessing Ceremony, which was officiated by my best friend's mom, we had every person bring a bead and written blessing for Jack (written cause wanted to keep them). After the ceremony, we all sat in a circle and passed a blessing jar. Each person read their blessing and then dropped the bead in the jar. It was a really wonderful experience. Afterwards, I strung the beads in a long line on some hemp, added a couple more in including ones with his name. My idea is to work them into his nighttime routine now that he is a little older and what he does now is hold them and say who he loves and who loves hime. I'm thinking as he gets bigger that pick a couple beads for that night and come up with the number of blessings that he experienced during the day or some such thing.

[Mom2baldie]

Jen,

I think thats a great idea. I really liked that part in the book, but dont have any friends IRL that would share those feelings. I would LOVE to be a part of this with you girls. Tell me where to sign up!

Sarah,

You are so lucky you had a Mothers Blessing! They sound so special.
Thats really sweet about Jack and his beads. I should do something like that for Paityn.

[adventuregirl]

A great idea! My friends/family did this for me at a wedding blessing just before I got married. It was really sweet to have everyone's blessing and kind words. We strung them together and attached them to our Wedding Stick, which is a Native American tradition, its a beautiful piece of carved wood with bead work on each end. Its supposed to be used to commemorate achievements in your marriage by adding notches (babies are big ones) and to "hold counsel" during rough times, kind of as a talking stick, as well as a reminder of all that is blessed and good in your marriage.

So to get back on topic, I would love to do this as a baby blessing with all of you! I think we all share a pretty special bond in our journeys thru our current pregnancies.

[msrog]

I'm not really into blessing ceremonies, marriage sticks and beads on hemp.... but the idea of a smaller bracelet sounds nice, maybe like a silver charm bracelet? I've been eyeing them lately. Maybe the beads mentioned in that book are small, but I'm just envisioning these giant funky wooden and pottery and all types of mismatched beads, and I just cannot figure what I would do with such a thing. (I'm probably too practical for my own good!) On the other hand, I CAN figure out what to do with a regular charm bracelet!

Would someone explain the details of the beads you're thinking of, because I suppose charms or fancy beads would get expensive if we were sending one to everyone, but if they were simple little glass or metal beads, maybe not too expensive?

Obviously, I'm confused and in need of some clarifications...

[sistermama]

When people brought beads for Jack, they brought all different kinds - glass, ceramic, metal but they all look pretty next to each other. I'll post a picture on Monday of his blessing strand. Plus I think the cost would be pretty negligible, so even if you got a nice little sack of beads from say, Michaels or Joanns, it wouldn't matter it they were all the same or very similar since you would be sending them to different people.

[JenInMpls]

Yes, you know, being me, I'd go to the bead store and get everyone a hedgehog charm, but that's just Jen. You wouldn't have to spend money on fancy beads, you can get very lovely stone/semi-precious/glass beads for 30 - 75 cents apiece, and you wouldn't have to string them on hemp - you could using fishing line with an ordinary clasp at the end, like people who make jewelry use (you can get kits for that at Michael's or Joann fabrics, too).

And I'm hoping small, I don't go for huge jewelry - I was thinking beads that were no more than 1/3 inch in diameter at the biggest!!

j

[msrog]

Oh, good, those sound like what I would like... even the hedgehog, though I missed that joke. =O) Actually, a bracelet of small, varied beads would look great with my bright rainbow tie-dyed summer dress.

Have a happy Sunday,
Savannah

[JenInMpls]

Well, see, there you go. That's actually exactly what I would like, too, is a bracelet of many-colored small beads.

The hedgehog joke - there isn't one, I just love hedgehogs for no reason other than they're seriously cute, and I was stunned to find pewter hedgehog beads at the bead store. Amazing what you can find at the mall of america!

jen

[sistermama]

With Jack's beads, I bought little tiny spacer beads to between the ones he received, and it really ties them together, so they don't look mismatched.

[adventuregirl]

If it ends up not being your style, you would't have to WEAR it, you could just put it somewhere special, like in/on something of yours or baby's to remind you of the blessings. I think it would be a cool thing to have on hand at your birth for an object of focus.

[chrissy]

what a great idea!!

i'm in for sure.

[sistermama]

Sheryl - I love the idea of a marriage stick. I hadn't heard that before.

[banana girl]

Bead freak chiming in!

Recently I've been daydreaming about making a "charm bracelet" and would love to receive beads from you wonderful women! I love the idea and fully endorse it!!!!!

That said... practicalities intrude. At my sister's blessing way we ran into the problem of very different bead hole diameters. Some of the beads were small enough to slide through the bigger holes in other beads. This was very frustrating when trying to string them up together. Also if anyone hasn't worked with beads before and signs up for this anyway, they may find it difficult to actually create the bracelet. Little clasps and other beading findings can be tricky... but i'm sure all us bright ladies can figure something out (especially with help from a bead store employee)

Also, how do we get the beads to each other? does this mean every one of us will have to send out like 15 little padded envelopes individually? (really small padded envelopes could probably go for .37 cents) Or do we want to send them all to one person, who then creates a packet of beads for each participant? But then would that person be footing the bill for shipping costs?

Anyway, practicalities aside, this is a wonderfull idea and I am excited to start bead hunting for you all!

Love, Anna Banana

[msrog]

I would think it would be simple and inexpensive to protect the bead in a small enough little package that it can slip right into a greeting card envelope. It would be fun to get a dozen cards and little beads...

[msrog]

So, did we decide to do this or not? I didn't see as much response on this thread as the first swap... Was it Caroline that organized the first? I can't remember. Whoever it was did a fantastic job, I nominate her!!!

[sistermama]

I say Jen should do it, since it was her idea!! I think it is fine that it is not as many people. I would say, pick a size range for the beads and mail them out in normal envelopes with just a little something in there to pad the bead. Also, since not that many people have signed up (7 by my count) maybe we could each send each person two beads, its not as if they are that expensive. I would think you could do the whole thing, including shipping, for $10-$15. More input?

[banana girl]

Maybe we should just start something in the yahoo group... a database of who is interested and any color preferences. Our addresses are all available there so no one person needs to "organize" this. I'll go there next and see if i am computer savy enough to start it up!

anna banana

[banana girl]

O.K. I added a new database, lets start filling it up!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MDCseptmommies/

Anna Banana

[cottonwood]

I love this idea, and it is definitely something I can handle!