A fitting conclusion

Here we are on New Year's Eve with the 52nd entry in this crazy self-challenge. And this one was a doozy! I started working on it around Thanksgiving. There are a lot of beads covering this tiny 2 1/2 inch ball.

The swags were made first and they have two layers - a flat ladder of beads and, on each row, a swag of beads. Then the five tassels are made separately, each with the three strands of beads. These took FOREVER! The longest in each group has a main strand of 80 beads, then 72, then 64. I'm not a fan of counting out that many beads. Attaching them inside the swags was even more frustrating. In fact, as I finished the ornament, one came unattached but it was easy to fix.

Next, there were four dangle pieces that attach each pair of swags. These were fun to do so it was good it was at the end - kept me going this morning! Finally the hanging loop and top decoration was done. I love the

technique of covering a larger fire polish bead with strands of seed beads. I'll probably use that idea again.

I'm pretty relieved to not have to make an ornament next week. But, there were at least two that I didn't get to at the end: a green glass tree ornament with a bead cover that I got from the same website as this week's ornament (I'll try to add a link) and a chain maille one from Blue Buddha. I will get to them - but probably not next week! I have really enjoyed the blogging aspect and am thinking about keeping it going. The Karen's Post Weekly Ornament Blog? We'll see. Happy 2015!