I know, it’s weird to be excited about napkin rings, but I’m not going to judge it. I’m just so glad to finally be at the end of this project. There was definitely a lesson in patience in this project. I have none, is the conclusion I have come to. No, seriously. I have gallons of patience all day long when I’m teaching, but after school is out, it’s like I’ve got none left. Maybe that is the actual lesson. That I need to manage my day better so I don’t use all my patience during the day and have none left for afterwards.
Anyway, after I wrapped the twine around the cardboard a very specific number of times, twenty-five times to be exact, I had to tie it off and cut the end to make a tassel out of it. It looked absolutely ridiculous, but the directions insisted I was doing the right thing, so on I went. Boldly going where no man has gone before…no wait, that’s wrong. I mean, it was an exploration of sorts, but not of the universe. Let me try again.
I decided to throw caution to the wind and cut the loops, even though I couldn’t imagine it turning out as nicely flat and decorative as the pictures showed. Huh, another lesson? Imperfection will come even when you follow the directions, because that is life. I know I’m being deep, but really these napkin rings are becoming an almost transcendental experience at this point. I’m also getting a little punchy. These things have taken over my life and my living room table for the better part of a month now.
Next I began to wrestle with the twine like it was a living thing. The directions said cut two feet of twine and then wrap it around the tassel and tie two knots. Then I was supposed to wrap the twine around the tassel and tie it with another knot, but this time there was some convoluted direction to stick the end of the twine through the wrapped part. Which I couldn’t do because I had pulled it so tight I don’t think it would have come undone for any reason. But it said make a knot, so I did. No life lesson here, just frustration because, to be honest, I should have read the directions through completely in order to refresh my memory. Trying to slide twine into a tight space is just never going to go well. Come to think of it, I might have just found the one thing MacGyver wouldn’t have found useful.
Ok, not bad. Not the cutest thing I’ve ever made, but not bad. It looks a little like I’m going to start saying some Buddhist prayers with my napkin ring Japamala’s but I’m going to stick with the fact that I made them and that they are cute. Ok, cute-ish.
Once it put it around a napkin, I actually liked them. It is weird to be so annoyed by something for so long and then to get to the end and realize you are actually going to miss working on it a little. I’m not sure if that’s yet another lesson, but what I do know is that my mother’s birthday is coming up but she has read this saga so I can’t give them to her. Maybe my next craft, which should arrive soon, will be better suited as a birthday present.
Thanks for sticking with me through the whole process. If you’re interested in reading some other kinds of writing I do you can check out my website Jennifer-Ryan.org
Duct Tape and Dreams 