Paper Possibilities

We finished hanging our paper chains today and then had all of these extra strips of luscious, cut patterned paper all over the table. I quickly came up with more paper crafts. The guys weren't as excited as I was at the prospect of working with paper again, but as soon as I started they found themselves drawn to the table for hours, while they were taking a break from the trampoline and game cube. This paper is that persuasive. Here's a sample (though my picture doesn't do it justice.) I gave up on getting a great picture of the paper chains. You'll just have to visit and see them in person.

We had learned on Friday, at the High Museum, how to make paper beads. You tightly wind thin, triangular pieces of paper around a dowel and then glue the ends down. The coolest part is that you can take this one step further and make them look like glass beads by rolling them on an embossing ink pad, coating them in embossing powder and then heating them with a heat gun (all of which I happily happen to have)to create a "glass" coating. Gillen loved this project and made two sets of beads. Here, he is rolling a bead on the dowel.

We listened to more of "Little Town on the Prairie" and I made some Christmas cards. I was in bliss.

Later, my paper passion still ignited, I continued - with an old Christmas origami kit that I remembered my dad giving the kids many years ago and that I was able to find. I created many cranes (tried a reindeer but it turned out to be too advanced for me, yet) while we watched "March of the Penguins". The cranes kind of look like the penguins. They need to be flying from fishing wire, or at least higher up, on a mantle.

I still haven't cleaned the table. So tomorrow holds yet more paper possibility. Though, we do have my father in law and his wife coming the next day so maybe I need to switch gears.