Hello! My name is Doris Weinbaum and I am the owner of Bead in Hand. Bead in Hand is a retail bead shop in Oak Park, Illinois. Oak Park is just outside of Chicago, and easy to get to by car or by public transportation. Please come visit us! If you are a beader, you won’t be disappointed - we have an extraordinary selection of beads and beading supplies. We just celebrated our fifteenth anniversary, so we have lots of beading experience! Here we are with our fifteenth anniversary cake from the Buzz Cafe - from left to right, Store Manager Julia Schaefer, Kim Humphrey, me and Debra Stephens. Kim and Debra both work in the shop and teach classes.
Ellen Warren of the Chicago Tribune just featured Bead in Hand in a wonderful article about all the gifts you can make at Bead in Hand. You can read it here: Chicago Tribune article May 7, 2009
For information about our classes, go to the Classes pages. We often add classes, so check back for additions. We are very excited about our latest additions - Reinvent Your Jewelry and Jewelry Reproductions that we will be holding on the second and fourth Fridays from May to August, and Kumihimo - Getting Started on Sunday, July 12. Find details about these classes on the Basic Beading page. I’ve been having so much fun with reinventing my jewelry - see my samples in A Note From Doris.
For a quick look at the dates for the classes we offer, take a look at the Calendar. We no longer mail a flyer, but we do send a weekly email with the latest on upcoming classes, class changes, new inventory, and special events. Be sure to sign up for our weekly email if you haven’t already.
Our birthday parties and Celebrations for Adults are still lots of fun. Great for kids, but also for adults who just want to bring friends together for a fun evening. Celebrate a birthday, a bridal party or just being friends. We can schedule a two hour class and you can make some jewelry; if you want to make the event extra special you can order food from the Buzz Café.
We offer beadwork repairs – we are happy to help advise you on how an item can be repaired and what you need to do it yourself, but if you prefer to have us do the repair, we will charge a repair fee plus materials.
We had 12 entries for our 2008 Going Green Bead Challenge. I posted the winners and put pictures of all the entries on the 2008 Going Green Challenge page. Participants in the Going Green Bead Challenge used their imagination and created an artistic beaded piece that represents what GOING GREEN means to them. Take a look - they are, as always, extremely creative. Many thanks to all who entered!
I know that you have choices for your bead shopping and I thank you for your business. It’s our goal to make shopping at Bead in Hand your most pleasant bead buying experience. If there’s more that we can do toward that goal, please let me know! In the meantime, please look around our website for pictures of class samples, call soon to sign up, and keep on beading!