This tutorial works for both PSP and Photoshop, though the transparency steps I only know for PSP (optional anyway, only needed if you wish your avatar to be transparent)

Tools needed: well, not much, just tool needed! Right click on this image and save it to your harddrive, it's a transparent ping, and even if it doesn't appear transparent on your monitor, when you open it up in your graphics software the four marigolds will be in it's own layer for you to copy and paste out of. (like magic!)

2) Next, locate your avatar (I'm assuming you have it saved somewhere!) and open it. Here you have two options, depending on your avatar file type..

a) If it's a Jpeg or Ping with no transparency, go up to Edit and down to Copy or CTRL C, then Edit and Paste as new image or CTRL V. Skip to step 2)b.

b) If it's a .gif file with transparent background, ie; your avatar has been 'cut out' of another image, here you need to go up to Colors in your edit bar, and down to Increase colors, over to 16million (the highest color setting) Once done, click on your magic wand tool or selection tool. Click one time in the solid background of your avatar, you should see marching ants around the edge of image and your avatar itself. Go up to Selections in edit bar, and down to Invert. Your avatar itself should now be selected from your normally transparent background. Go up to Edit and down to Copy, or hit CTRL C. Paste as a new image (CTRL and V).

3. Your avatar should be a new image at this point. Go up to Layers and down to New Raster Layer, name it "marigolds" if you like.

4. Minimize that image, or just make the Marigolds image active. Choose your Selection tool (not the magic wand, the one that looks like a dotted rectangle) Have the settings for it as rectangle if it isn't already. Click in the area above one of the marigolds, and drag it to encompass one of them. CTRL C, or Edit-->Copy that selected image. Paste it as a new image. Do the same to the other three, so you have a variety of marigolds to use.

5. Choosing one at a time, copy and paste each into your avatar, around it's neck in a way that's suitable to it's position. It works best if you vary the marigolds, one over another slightly overlapping. I recommend starting at the neck or top on one side and moving downwards to their mid waist then back up again in a circle, so all the marigolds are overlapping and in a natural row as they'd look on a real one. Or not! Up to you.

* Alternately, here's one made in just that way in a necklace form, now this is only suitable really for an avatar that's facing the viewer, unlike mine and you may need to use the erase tool around the neck for it to fit properly.

6. If your original avatar is a jpeg or ping without transparency, meaning it's got some background stuff going on, here I'd personally put a drop shadow on that layer over your avatar to make it look natural. Just a mild one, go to Effects, and down to 3D effects, over to drop shadow. Use about 50% opacity, color black, -1, -1 for settings and maybe a very slight blur of 1.6 . Save your new avatar as something memorable, and switch to that!

If your avatar is a transparent gif one originally, I'd skip this step as it'll make recreating that transparency difficult!

7.) Recreating transparency in psp: Choose a color that's NOT in your avatar or marigold necklace, preferably the color that your original transparent avatar was set in, seemed to work for that one! To do so exactly, use the color picker and click one time in the background of your old avatar. Open up your layer pallette, (tools, options, layer pallette or click on colored thingy up top) as your new avatar should currently be the background or first layer and have the grey and white blocks signifying layer transparency in it, and copy that layer. (to do this, simply 'pick up' that background layer and drag it up to the little file icon, automatically copies it) Once copied, click on the background layer again to select it.

With your foreground color set, and your foreground style set to solid color, flood fill that background layer (the original, not the copy).

Go up to Layers and down to merge, over to merge all flatten.

Go up to Colors, and down to Set Palette Transparency. There will be a series of screens, in the first I recommend Optimized Median Cut selected and Nearest Color, though these may differ according to what works for you. These options basically allow good transparency without degrading the final product with pixelated bits too much. In the next screen, select set transparency value to foreground color, the second option i believe. Hit ok.

Go up to Colors and down to View Transparency, make sure it took effect the way you want, you should see no background at all. If you do, go to undo and flood fill that background layer with a different color until this works.

That's it! Have fun and hope this wasn't too complicated. It seems like alot of work for some decorated avatars, but once you get the hang of it it's easy fast work, and handy to know!