nitpicky and curiosity

Today, while making room in the basement for garden furniture, I found the rest of my light stakes, so I tidied up the C-9 bulbs outlining the beds in front of the fence. I feel much better. *whew* Christmas is saved!!! Also, some funky stuff is going on between the new LED walkway lights and […]

the gbgc ’20, how to: final assembly

Assembling the garland sections uses exactly the same process I learned to make a wired necklace, or earrings. It’s important to note: the flat-nose need to be the type specifically made for jewelry, with a smooth pinching surface. Traditional needle-nose pliers with a serrated surface will chew up the surface of the wire pins. A […]

the gbgc ’20, part 2.2

I am nearly out of segments comprised of smaller glass/crystal beads that are needed at the scallop peaks to let the strands meet up well at the hooks. I’ve nearly completed three tiers of double-stranded garland. At this point, the longterm goal is two more rounds of the same. I would ultimately like to see […]

light it up, part 2

“I’m quite aware of how ridiculous I am.” – Albert Goldman, The Birdcage There are three distinct whites in LED lighting: pure, warm, and cool. This is the first time I have ever used more than one in the same place. I wouldn’t call it intentional. The faceted C9 LEDs in any decent bulb count […]

the gbgc ’20, phase 2.1

Since I’m not likely to run out for more eye pins on Black Friday, I’ve moved on to assembly. Knowing that future rounds of making new segments will involve different color sets, I’m leaving space between this round of garland, so the final results will have a consistent color variation throughout the tree. I decided […]

light the place up!

While I’ve had trees up inside for over a month, exterior decorations are different. Our family always lit the exterior of the house on Thanksgiving weekend, and I like keeping to that tradition. I admit I’ve never started on Thanksgiving Day. Until today. Two exciting thing this year: First, I found the large LED lightbulb […]

a beaded detour

I ran out of eye pins today, so I indulged in a distraction, making beaded icicles for the unicorn tree. Some of the beads from vintage garlands absolutely belong there. Reclaimed glass drops, from a lamp shade, finish off the ends of these vibrant icicles. I made my own hooks from aluminium armature wire. They […]

the gbgc ’20 how-to:

The first stage of the Great Beaded Garland Caper is to make individual beaded segments. Hundreds and hundreds of beaded segments… Using the pre-cut, pre-formed eye pins speed up the process. I have made my own from spooled wire. Head pins need to be purchased and are for dangly bits; eye pins will connect to […]

the great beaded garland caper of 2020

I am anticipating the need for a holiday season distraction to help keep me distracted as we get closer to a holiday open house that won’t be happening… So, I’m moving forward with a holiday project that has been on the back burner for years… I removed and destrung the glass bead garlands from the […]

through the whole damned house…

I think the mantle display is as complete as it will be this year. I think… Last night, I completed the shelves for the “upstairs” vignettes. Installation proved difficult hooks and pegs allowed the shelves to lean and pull away from the wall. Cleats were the way to go. Fast forward through pre-drilling, and levelling, […]