Silk and Pearls Anniversary

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Every wedding anniversary is associated with specific items. The first year is the paper anniversary, the 50th is the golden anniversary, etc. A few years back we started taking photos of ourselves with those items.

The traditional items for the 12th anniversary are silk or linen (traditional) or pearls (modern). Husband has a (probably) silk brocade jacket, so that set the formalwear tone. I made spider and pearl accessories to go with them.

I started with a faux pearl necklace that looks like a spiderweb. After some sketches and image searches I realized that what makes it read as a spiderweb is if the curved segments curve up. It's not how it would happen in real life because of gravity, but even in my sketches if the arcs drooped down it looked more like a chandelier than a spiderweb. 

The three strands that make up the main part of the necklace were harder than I expected, both to get the lengths right and to get all three to lay flat against my neck.

But it works! Not bad for a first try.

Photo of strings of pearl beads arranged into a necklace that looks like a spiderweb attached to a pearl choker

Process video:

I also made two spiders, one for my hair and one for his shoulder.

photo of handmade fuzzy gray spider with pearl bead eyes sitting on man's shoulder

photo of tiny silver hat with a layer of sheer white fabric. A handmade fuzzy gray spider with pearl bead eyes sits on top of that. This whole thing is attached to a headband

I struggled with how to attach the spider to my hair. Hat? (what kind of hat?) Fascinator? Clip? Headband? Some combination of all of those? What kind of hat goes with a spider and an evening gown? I didn't want to purchase a fascinator base from a craft store, it was not necessarily expensive for a nice accessory, but it was far too much for a nice accessory that will get precisely one use. So I made a tiny pillbox hat out of cardboard and silver satin. I used the basics of this tutorial.

Process video:


I originally thought I was going to make another beaded web spanning the area between the spider on the shoulder and the pocket, in lieu of a pocket square, but that didn't end up being the right solution for aesthetics or time. But I did happen to have some sheer fabric on hand that worked very well as an accent to evoke spiderwebs. I wanted to add a little something extra, so I lined the edges of the tie with stringed pearls. That didn't go great, though, I wasn't able to attach them very securely and they didn't last all the way through the photo session.

Photo of black on black brocade suit jacket over the back of a chair, with a gray tie with pearl beads around the edges, a spider on the shoulder, and a sheer white pocket square

We borrowed a friend's house for the photo shoot.

Photo of couple in anniversary getup. She is wearing a blue evening dress that is cut fairly low in front to fit the spiderweb-pearl necklace and there is a small pillbox-style hat perched jauntily atop her head with a small crumple of sheer white fabric and a furry gray spider with pearl eyes. He is wearing a black-on-black brocade jacket with sheer white fabric for a pocket square and there is a larger fuzzy gray spider with pearl eyes on his shoulder. His silver necktie is edged with pearl beads. There is an emoji over his face
Husband is a little camera shy

Photo of couple in anniversary getup. She is wearing a blue evening dress that is cut fairly low in front to fit the spiderweb-pearl necklace and there is a small pillbox-style hat perched jauntily atop her head with a small crumple of sheer white fabric and a furry gray spider with pearl eyes. He is wearing a black-on-black brocade jacket with sheer white fabric for a pocket square and there is a larger fuzzy gray spider with pearl eyes on his shoulder. His silver necktie is edged with pearl beads. There is an emoji over his face.

Photo of couple in anniversary getup. She is wearing a blue evening dress that is cut fairly low in front to fit the spiderweb-pearl necklace and there is a small pillbox-style hat perched jauntily atop her head with a small crumple of sheer white fabric and a furry gray spider with pearl eyes. He is wearing a black-on-black brocade jacket with sheer white fabric for a pocket square and there is a larger fuzzy gray spider with pearl eyes on his shoulder. His silver necktie is edged with pearl beads. There is an emoji over his face.
If we were the stars of a British murder mystery comedy, this would be a pretty good promo shot


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