Books and a Tutorial

As much as I love my Kindle and free e-books, nothing will ever compare to real books.  For me, at least.

I have this passion for books, bookstores, libraries and the feel of a thick book on my lap.  I'm one of those people who flips open the pages of a new book and sticks my nose right in there, because the scent of the pages is one of my favorite things on earth.

Weird?  Maybe, but I know a lot of people who do the same.  Perhaps it's like a Book Lover thing, I don't know, but I think it's one of those habits that will never die for me.

This morning we had to go by Barnes and Noble.  My husband had to pick up some school books, Jasmine was looking for the next two books in her Last Apprentice series, and Nicholas wanted the new ones in his Dragonbreath series.

Me?

Well I never go in there with a specific book in mind, though I always leave with 2 or 3 in hand, because I just HAVE to have them.

The first one that caught my eye this morning, was this gorgeous Illustrated Children's Bible.  LO.VE it!

We read the Bible to the kids every night, but I think they'll enjoy this one even more with the pictures.

And then right across from it, I find this. I mean, could you just walk by and not grab it? Could you? Because I couldn't, I believe I may have danced a little jiggy right there because one of the Barnes and Nobles workers giggled as they walked by LOL

Just in time, since we were just talking about Laura Ingalls Wilder a few days ago, right?

Oh beautiful book, shiny new pages, with that magical scent wafting from within....

I also finally found my Simply Crochet Magazine and it's just as wonderful as I thought it would be, and even brings two hooks, a size 4mm and a 6mm

it's now sitting next to my yarn tub, just waiting to get started with one of the tons of amazing patterns in there

grabbed the Taste of Home as well. I have been collecting this magazine for so many years, well over 15 years now and I love it just as much today as the first time I brought one home.

I believe I have plenty of goodies to read this Saturday afternoon. It's cloudy, we have rain on the way and I can find no better way to spend it than on the couch with new books.

Now for the tutorial, if you can call it that. I made some Pom Pom Bookmarks earlier, nothing special just some quick cuteness for all my new books, and I thought I would share how I made them.

Making Pom Poms is something everyone knows how to do. I learned how to make them when I was about 4 or 5 years old, but I had always done them using the two circles of cardboard, and then wrapped the yarn around them etc.....when Jasmine was about 5 years old, I started teaching her how to make pom pom's but she would get really frustrated with the cardboard circles, and truth be told, I did too, I needed a faster way.

Then my grandmother said "why don't you just make them using your fingers, you don't have to use the cardboard". Well dangit, all this time I had no idea I could make them a quicker way LOL

Since then, it's the only way I make my pom poms, and it's so quick that I can usually sit in front of the TV and make a dozen at a time in just a few minutes.

I picked a few colors, though I only made 3 this time, so I went with the pink, the yellow and the blue, but I'll make a green one later as Nicholas wants one of these bookmarks for his books.

Wrap the yarn around your fingers, snug enough but not too tight. First time I made these I cut the circulation to my fingertips LOL It was quite funny.

I go around about 100 times, it may seem like a lot but you're wrapping so fast you don't even notice. Cut the yarn.

Then carefully remove it from your fingers, cut a strip of yarn big enough to tie around it. Lay the strip down, I just used my ottoman, lay the pom pom on it's side on top of the strip of yarn, then tie tightly around it. Remember you want to tie around the open sides of your pom pom.

Now take a longer strip of yarn, however long you want the bookmark to be, and tie it to the yarn that is knotted around the pom pom. (this may sound so strange, but I don't know how else to explain it)

Just take one end and slide it in between the pom pom and the strip that is tied around it, make a tight knot.  You should be left with a long tail, that is your bookmark.  Careful not to cut that one off.

Using sharp scissors, just go around and cut through all the loops.  AGAIN, careful not to cut off your bookmark tail, just push it out of the way as you go around.

You should be left with a pom pom ball, but it won't be very neat, so just take your scissors and trim the long ends until you're happy, or left with a nice fuzzy ball.

That's it.

I'm off to read and crochet, have a great Saturday :)