If you want to be unique, be fashionable and be noticed, then head over to the new Beadifferent Boutique and create something bead-utiful.
Located at 14 N. Washington St. and owned by Metamora resident Mary Lou Bielak, the new store features everything for the beginning or experienced beader including a large selection of beads, findings, tools, rolling luggage, accessories and how-to books.
Strand after strand of colorful beads in wide variety of shapes and sizes line the walls of the quaint shop,
The diverse selection includes everything from affordable Czech glass beads to elegant Swarovski crystal beads to semiprecious stones like jade and amethyst.
“I want to give people around here a bigger selection of costume jewelry components,” Bielak said.
Beadifferent Boutique will offer customers hard-to-find items like gold clasps and Miyuki beads, a Japanese bead line which “nobody in the area carries.”
Every other month, Bielak said the shop will offer a new color of Swarovski crystal bead.
Bead prices range from $1.89 to $100 per strand, depending on the brand and material, so there’s a little something to match almost everyone’s budget.
“I’ve made it a really big goal to be competitive,” Bielak said. “I’ve done my homework. I compared four other bead stores catalogs and my prices are cheaper. So I can say I have the cheapest prices around.”
If you don’t know how to bead, don’t worry, Bielak or one of her three instructors will show you how. “I want to concentrate on teaching people how to design their own costume jewelry,” she said. “I want their jewelry to look like they bought it at the store, not made it.”
Beadifferent Boutique offers convenient morning and evening classes teaching everything from beginning and intermediate beading to “peyote stitch” to “looming.”
Bielak is particularly proud to offer “looming,” a technique which utilizes a loom to weave strands of beads together to form patterns. “Basically, what the Indians did years ago,” she said.
“No one in the area offers looming,” Bielak said. “I’m really excited about being able to offer this in my store.”
Bielak also plans to offer “make-and-take classes,” which will consist of setting aside two hours on a Saturday when people can just come in off the street, learn how to make a “memory wire bracelet” and leave with what they’ve created.
Beading classes typically last two hours, but Bielak said students usually stay for at least 3? hours.
“The women don’t want to go home,” she said. “It’s like a big social night. They’re relaxing, laughing. That’s exactly what makes it so enjoyable.”
One of Bielak’s main goals is to make her customers feel at home.
“I wanted to create a warm, comfortable atmosphere,” she said referring to her rich decor, which feels more like someone’s den than a store. “Most bead stores are all white and very sterile because they want the lights to reflect on the beads.”
Because beading is primarily a woman’s hobby, Bielak is setting up an area where gentlemen can relax in comfort while their wives shop.
Right now, the area consists of a lounger and some magazines, but she’s hoping to add a television in the future.
Beadifferent Boutique will also offer a complete line of finished costume jewelry (at least 80 percent of which is Swarovski), beaded purses and feather purses, which contain either real or fake ostrich feathers.
Beadifferent Boutique is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The store is closed Mondays.
For more information call (248) 969-7777.