Get Crafty with Happy Hour

Who doesn’t love happy hour? Whether it’s a well-priced cocktail at an upscale bar or a pint from your favorite pub, happy hour is a welcomed way to celebrate the end of the work day. Happy hour is a time to reflect, reward ourselves, and connect with other people, and can happen anywhere, even in your home or office.

To mix things up, invite your friends over to your house and host a happy hour in your workroom with snacks and crafts. It’s a great way to connect with people and unleash your creative side.

Having fun at your job is an essential part of having a fulfilling work environment. After a long hard week at the office, taking a break with your colleagues and relaxing over a nice beverage is the best thing you can do. Because, after all – all work and no play makes everyone dull boys and girls. So here are a few happy hour ideas that will make your workroom the subject of envy of all the neighbors.

When planning a happy hour, we love to pick a theme and then pair it with drinks, snacks, and an activity. Try a tasting menu for beer, wine, or cocktails that suit the season. Perhaps it’s cider or red wine for the fall, or spiced wine or homemade eggnog for the holidays. For the warmer months, pick cocktails with light liquor like vodka, gin, and rum. Another great option is a boozy agua fresca.

Aguas frescas (Spanish "fresh waters") are a combination of fruits, herbs, flowers, or seeds blended with sugar and water to make light non-alcoholic beverages. They are popular in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and the United States. Some of the more common flavors include tamarind, hibiscus, and agua de horchata. Aguas frescas are very versatile, and they pair well with alcohol while providing a refreshing non-alcoholic version for your guests as well.

Once you have your happy hour theme in place, pick an activity that encourages the creative spirit and fosters community. In fact, it’s proven that offices which play together have a more cohesive, productive team. So, take a lesson from innovative companies in the startup community and plan an event that brings the team together for fun and comradery.

Here at Beads of Cambay, we love to hold beading classes to teach our staff the basics of beading as well as instructions for the medium and advanced jewel-crafting. It’s fun to learn new skills together. We understand that it might be a bit daunting for the newcomer, but we can ease your fears and ramp up your enthusiasm. After all, the most basic projects involve beads, a string, and a fastening device.

We start our beginning bead class with a project that everyone can enjoy.  If you’ve already got your jewelry-making-basics down, you can just enjoy the simple style (we just love these chunky stone beads!) and won’t need a tutorial to tell you how to make it.  But, if you haven’t really tried beading before, we recommend starting with the most basic styles out there: stringing focal beads to make a stunning necklace to bring attention to your face and neckline.

The list of ingredients is short and sweet. Shop our variety of focal beads and keep in mind that a 7-inch strand of focal beads is generally sufficient. If you like, add some spacer beads. These will be smaller beads.  We like to use spacer beads because our focal beads are so large, they don’t curve well when strung.  Small metal or glass beads work well as spacers.

Also consider adding some crimp beads; we find that 2mm beads are the most versatile. It’s worth having small pliers for your crimp beads, and a pair of wire cutters to trim your wire.  If you don’t have specific jewelry tools, you can often use pliers from your regular toolbox, as long as they are small enough.

Of course, you will need some beading wire to assemble the project. Next, you’ll want some wire guards.  What are wire guards, you ask? These are just what they sound like.  They will prevent your wire from fraying from the friction of where it attaches your clasps. Last, you’ll need a toggle clasp set – you can also use a lobster clasp or other type of clasp if you want.  Voila! Your beaded creation is complete.

See how easy it is to put together your beaded creations? How did yours come out? Most people catch onto beading fairly quickly, but, like everything else, patience and practice will help you get good really fast. Please share your beading stories and projects with us. We’d love to hear from you!