My Hero!

My Front Porch

It is officially 3 days since the blizzard and my road is STILL not plowed! Around 8:30pm I caught a glimpse of the amber flashing light of the plow and got sooooooooo excited, but alas my road was not on his list. Shucks! I wonder if they will return? 2 blocks in each direction is plowed, but for some inexplicable reason they skipped my little corner of the world.

My Hero! Hoo-Ray!!!

Late afternoon my knight in shining armor... OK, actually... my hero in jeans... arrived via snowblower to help dig out at least one car. Come to think of it... it is actually his car. Hmmmm. No seriously, he's letting me drive it until I get insurance on mine again (another story for another time, I promise). He carved a deep path from his house to mine... on the road. I can't even begin to tell you how appreciative the neighbors were. They could FINALLY leave their houses and walk around. Dogs could 'do their business', everyone without a lake view could come down and see the snow... and lament the road isn't plowed yet.

Sooooooo... what have I been doing for the past 2 days??? I napped a little, cleaned a little, did some paperwork, found places for some boxes that were thrown in my bedroom during the move, threw out a bunch of old papers, and.... made some paper beads.

I joined a YAHOO GROUP called ART CHARMS. Once a month they host a swap with a theme... all have to be homemade mixed media art charms. January 25th is the deadline to have 30 charms shipped to the hostess for a Valentine's themed swap. I haven't designed my charm yet... but have decided to start by making these paper beads. There are thousands of tutorials on YOU TUBE on how to make them, however I felt compelled to take pictures of the process in case you were interested.

Step 1: Tear out a magazine page with colors you like. Mark the page along one edge in 1/2" increments. Mark the opposite edge in 1/2" increments also, but start 1/4" in. Connect the markings to draw long triangles and cut. I use a paper cutter to make it easier, but scissors work well too.

Step 2: Using a toothpick (or a piece of spaghetti) begin wrapping the strip, starting with the wide end. To start, roll the top edge around the toothpick and gently tuck the edge in using your thumb nail. Keep the tension steady as you roll. Roll up to the last inch or so.

Step 3: Place glue on the last inch and finish rolling. I use a product called Mod Podge as glue, just because that is all I could find. A glue stick, Elmer's, or any craft glue that dries clear would work just as well.

Step 4: Gently slide finished bead off of toothpick.








Step 5: Pick bead up with a pin (or another toothpick), brush on a glossy sealer, like Diamond Glaze (found at Michael's and Jo-Ann's) then stick in a piece of styrofoam to dry.

Use these as you would any other bead. The narrower and longer you cut your triangle, the rounder the bead will be.

Don't worry... I'll post a photo of the finished charms before I send them out. I'm thinking of using an old page of sheet music to paper-mache a small heart to dangle from the paper bead, but you never know... these things have a way of designing themselves and maybe the charm doesn't want to go in that direction :-)

I'll leave you with a few pictures of my first Christmas in my new home.

Tin Man from Wizard of Oz

Peanut Stone Fireplace