Jane By Design Style Challenge: Task six

Tonight was the premiere of Jane By Design and tomorrow is my final deadline and interview for the (fictional) blogger position at Donovan Decker. Our sixth challenge came in on Friday from Jane:

Hi Again! You did it! Gray said my assignment was not entirely ridiculous and that your day-to-night styles were not horrific. So we’re both still here! Still, I made sure I did not misplace your next assignment! This is one that will really make you think. Here’s what Gray wants you to do next.

"2012 is almost upon us. What does the future hold for the world of fashion? That will depend on people like you. It’s time to take a long hard look at yourself and the world around you. What do you see & how does it make you feel? The ability to be inspired by everyday life is an essential skill. The ability to translate your inspiration into something fresh and unexpected that takes the fashion world by storm is a rare gift. Rumor has it that one of the most coveted designer bags of all time was inspired by a roll of tape.

Find the bag of pretzels in your trunk. Get inspired and create something that will amaze me. Post a photo to your blog and write an entry explaining your design. Ask your readers to share ways in which they were inspired to make fashion out of unexpected items here and mention the name of your blog."

Yes, she did say “bag of pretzels.” I double-checked that. I don’t envy you, but you’ve made it this far, so just give it everything you’ve got and hope for the best! That usually works for me.

Watch this video for additional inspiration into this phase of the interview process, and make sure your readers get a chance to watch as well.

Pretzels. Yes, pretzels. For pete's sake, this challenge made me feel like one of those flummoxed designers on Project Runway. You want me to make something inspired by that?

Because I've been so busy launching the TxSC'12 website, I considered phoning it in. String + pretzels= alternative to a candy necklace. I'd totally wear this during SXSW and nibble on it as the day went on.
But I figured since I have given my all for the other challenges that I owed it to Jane and Gray and you and ABC Family and me to actually do this challenge. So, off to Home Depot I went for rope. I got some white rope and some yellow mason twine. I needed tape, scissors, and a lighter to complete this challenge.

Simple instructions (first part per Love Meagan):

1. Cut two lengths of rope about 3.5 feet long. Tape the ends to prevent fraying while you work. | 2. loop the middle of the ropes together | 3. tie them in a pretzel shaped knot | 4. flank them with other knots

You can stop here because it's pretty cute as is, but I did not stop here. Inspired by my mustard (what? I can't eat pretzels without yellow mustard, okay?) I added some mason twine as an accent color and tied off the back with the same twine (you can use white dental floss for this part if you can't find any mason twine- -mmm, minty!):

I know the back doesn't look the greatest, but it does stop the fraying. Next you can snip off the frayed white part from the ends and burn them to make sure no more fraying occurs. Add more twine or floss to cover up the burnt ends.

Ta-da! Now you have a simple to make, completely adorable, pretzel inspired rope necklace. So much better than a string with pretzels on it, right?

Dear Jane,

Wow! I am thrilled to have made it this far in the interview process. This was the toughest challenge, yet. It was important to me to not go too literal with the this pretzel inspiration, so I took the iconic twist of a pretzel and built on that for a nautical rope necklace. This is an easy DIY and I hope you and Gray like it. Thanks for the snack and congrats on the big premiere tonight!

Most sincerely,

Indiana

I have one more challenge left in this Jane By Design Style Challenge. This has been so much fun for me, and I really appreciate all the love and support you've shown me here on Adored Austin and on Instagram, Twitter, and the Jane By Design Facebook page.

See my other Jane By Design Style Challenges: one | two | three | four | five