Flashback: Disneyland 1997

Flashback is a feature in which I dig through my memory box and re-discover my make-and-do past.  The flux capacitator is fluxing and we're going back to 1997...

In seventh grade, a pop-top necklace was a badge of honor: one saved the tops off their soda cans, strung them on a string, and proudly displayed the amount of Mountain Dew one had consumed.  This trend extended to both sexes, although it was slightly more popular among the boys.  

I think it started when the school removed the Surge vending machine after installing it the day before (please remember, I've lived in Utah my whole life).  After losing the status-symbol Surge can, the cool kids needed a way to showcase their rebellious consumption of caffeinated beverages and the pop-top necklace found its way to Cedar Ridge Middle School.

As ever, I wanted to participate in the trend, but in my own way.  Uninterested in bragging about my soda-drinking ways, I wanted to put a creative, feminine spin on the popular pop-top necklace.  So I got out my sparkly nail polish and got a-painting.  I added a few white beads and I had the necklace I wore nearly every day in seventh grade:

If you're wondering why Mickey found his way into these pictures, seventh grade was the year I finally got to go to Disneyland.  Being twelve, I knew that it was important to look my best while I wandered the streets of Tomorrowland, so I made sure to bring my necklace with me.