One of the many advantages in wearing man-made pearls is adding color.  (Keep scrolling down for previous color entries.)  Majorica chocolate pearls are unique and beautiful, with a little irridecense to set them off.  Our customers like to give a few chocolate truffles with their chocolate pearls!   Here are some delicious examples:

Large Chocolate Baroque Pearl Drop Necklace

Chocolate Baroque Pearl Necklace with Fancy Clasp

Multi (Nuage, Gold and Chocolate) Baroque Pearl Necklace

Chocolate Pearls go well with Ann’s Texas Chocolate Truffles! 

Dark Champagne Chocolate Truffle

Gold pearls from Majorica flatter just about every skin type and hair color.   Wear them with a white shirt and they really pop!  Here are some of our favorite gold pearls at Ann’s:

Gold Baroque Majorica Pearl Necklace

 This bracelet is a triple strand.  Gold, white and nuage colored baroque pearls encircle your wrist.  Fabulous!

Gold Multi Triple Strand Baroque Pearl Bracelet

Gold Pearl Earrings

This week we feature Majorica pearls. 

Majorica is a Spanish company that has manufactured quality man-made pearls for over 120 years.  Why buy man-made?  Price, for starters.  These are much, much less than cultured pearls.  Majorica pearls won’t chip or fade, and they look so real because they are made with natural ingredients and lacquered to a high shine.   But one of the really great advantages of manufactured pearls is the color!   These are gray, and some are Tahitian, which is a darker gray with irridescence.   Get them in baroque or round, necklaces, earrings and bracelets.  Great for Mom’s birthday gift!  Feast your eyes: 

Tahitian Round and Gray Baroque Pearl Necklaces

   Above:  Gray Baroque, $295.  Tahitian 14mm, $383.

Gray Baroque Pearl Bracelet

 Gray Baroque Bracelet, above, $165.

Gray and Tahitian Round Pearls mixed with Nuage and White in Necklace

Not when you have an Urban Cowgirl’s hat from Ann’s!  New colors, just in.  Bend and shape the sides to suit your style.  Choose feather, beads, wild colors, all in Texas taste!   You don’t have to ride the bull if you wear a hat like this.   Come try them on!   $119 each

Urban Cowgirl Hats at Ann's

Green Cowgirl Hat

Get a new nose and you’ll always be able to find your glasses.  Take your pick of colorful schnozzes, some with bling, and brighten your computer desk or night stand with an affordable, practical little sculpture.   Makes a good pick-up gift for someone who needs a laugh or a lift. 

Nose ($19.95 each) holding readers (also available at Ann's, $19.95 each)

Green Nose with Bling, $19.95

Included in the new Healthcare plan is a requirement for all restaurants and food-sellers to display calorie content on the menu, so consumers know the caloric content of the food as they order it.  We’re happy to tell you that these cupcakes are exempt from that requirement, because you don’t eat them!   This is the first time anyone has been happy about a cupcake that can’t be devoured!   Aren’t these the cutest candles, though?  Brighten the day of someone you know by giving a treat guaranteed not to fatten.  Cupcake candles at Ann’s Fine Gifts, $12.50 each.

Cupcake Candle Table at Ann's!

Lemon Cream Cupcake Candle, $12.50

Blueberry Cupcake Candle Treat, $12.50

Hats are fun to try on.   However, most people just grab each side, hoist it overhead and yank it down like you would pull the rip cord on a life jacket, then howl, “I don’t look good in hats!”  Well, that’s just not true!  Anyone can wear a hat well, but you have to work it a little.  Choose one of ours that is flexible, then shape, twist, and adjust it until you get a good look.  A picture hat should frame your face (think of Kristin Scott Thomas in “Four Weddings and a Funeral”).  Tilt it back from your forehead and work that style!  Here is Ann, ready for her close up, modeling one of her new arrivals; more colors below.  These hats are all same price, $69 each.  Leave a comment if you want prices for the matching totes.  Totes come in two sizes.

Ann in a Hat, $69 (for the hat, not Ann)

Picture Hats with Totes

Picture Hats

You don’t have to tour the cathedrals of Europe to enjoy beautiful scenes and pictures in glass.  Just visit Ann’s!  You can buy ours and take them home.  Our stained glass isn’t real stained glass (the real thing would be much more expensive) but painted glass that looks like stained.   Colored glass panels hang in a window or anywhere in your home that has a light behind it.    New pieces have just arrived, here is a sampling.  Come see what’s new!

Butterflies Glass Panels

Texas Flag Glass Panel

Just like our candles and our wonderful Lampe Berger, diffusers add fragrance to your home.  Unlike items that require burning, however, diffusers “diffuse” the fragrance without lighting a match, making them a great and safe alternative to candles in powder rooms or homes with pets or small children.  The fragrances are made of essential oils and permeate the air for months, keeping your home smelling wonderful.

Agraria fragrances fill your home with flowers and scents evocative of Northern California and are an Ann’s favorite.  Available in two sizes, they are packaged beautifully for gift-giving (perfect hostess gifts) and come in a lovely bottle.  The reeds are the sticks you put in the bottle (included in your purchase); the fragrance is pulled up the sticks and dispersed into the air.  No flame necessary.  The little tray shown in the pictures beneath each bottle is also included.

The elegant bottles and jewel-toned colors are pretty, too.  8 Agraria fragrances to choose from.  Small size, $45; Large, $110. 

Agraria Bitter Orange Diffuser

Agraria Mediterranean Diffuser

Agraria Riviera Pear Diffuser

Modern take on a timeless tale is a favorite inspiration for artists.  Here’s a great example:

"Little Red Riding Hood" Caithness Paperweight

More of a ghost than a real girl, this “Little Red” is captured in a beautiful Caithness Glass paperweight for all time.  From Ann’s collection.  Add it to yours!