Best Beads/Jewelry Making

Although it's tucked away in the not-always-inviting alley of Minna Street, General Bead is a jewelry- and dressmaker's paradise. The worldly store houses millions of decorative adornments, from Austrian crystal to African wood, as well as all the fixings to secure, string, or display them. The organization of the place makes it a friendly one for all designers' skill levels. Long a secret weapon of international figure-skating and ballroom-dancing costume designers, its many gloriously glittering accouterments have been displayed on the outfits of at least one Olympic champion that we know of, the one and only Kristi Yamaguchi. Even if one's bead needs favor the less flashy, General Bead's got it -- regardless of what it is.