Gala Gown: Froggie Saves the Day

My capelet needed a closure of some kind.  A button and loop did not look quite right to me.  So off to JoAnn Fabrics I went, hoping for the best.  They did have a few decorative hooks and eye closures, but they looked cheap or were not the correct color.

I found something that I could live with on the notions aisle (not sure what it was doing there when all of the others were with the buttons).  And behold, there in the notion aisle were two frog closures, in silver and gold.  Unfortunately, the gold was too bright.  But it got me to thinking  . . . how difficult can it be to make my own?

And after being called out for being a lazy girl by Peter over my purchased beads, I thought it was time to step up.

One quick google search later, and I found this lovely tutorial from Bridges on the Body.  After a quick test run with some yarn, I made some bias tubing with my leftover fabric.  

My tubing is probably a little too thick, and the frogs are not perfect, but they are an infinitely better match than anything I was going to find on such short notice.

Thank you big box sewing store for a wonderful idea (but not for your cheap notions)!

Have you ever found inspiration in an unexpected place?