Remember those add-a-bead necklaces back in the day? I always wanted one, but they were so expensive.

Using a similar jewelry concept, a new on-line boutique called Firefly has two collections of beads and corresponding jewelry components that allow you to mix and match and in a way design your own jewelry pieces.

The idea is that you select your choice of necklace or bracelet, and then you pick from their beads, either Chamilia or Troll beads. You can add them to the necklace or bracelet and rearrange them as you'd like. I thought this was pretty clever, and it's definitely a step up from the original add-a-bead concept.

Here are just a few beads available from the web site, but they have a lot more. Materials used include sterling silver, gold, glass, and gemstones.