Springtime dreaming

Let me say that this winter has been rough. Between the snow, wintry mix, sub-zero temperatures and all around gloominess, I'm pining for spring. I want to see my bare skin again! I want to make it from point a to point b without a runny nose and rain-boot-induced blisters! I want sun! So today, inspired by the promise of the distant spring (two more months? Really?), I made flowers. Martha-style.

Martha loves her tissue paper. She has a ton of crafts that use this material, which can be found cheaply at a local drug store. Today, I picked tissue paper pom-poms. They had a nice flowery feel and can be used for a variety of things: party decoration, jewelry, gift wrapping, napkin ring... you name it.

I ran to the Duane Reade down the street, ducking falling ice that was, of course,  blowing directly into my eyes, and acquired a megapack of tissue paper in every color imaginable for under five dollars. Thankfully I already had beading wire on hand, which worked well for the project.

I decided to make two different sizes, perfect for different uses. Cutting the tissue paper was definitely the hardest part; I ended up ripping more than slicing neatly. Thankfully, this is a very forgiving project and I could hardly tell from the resulting pompoms. After folding a stack of eight sheets of tissue paper fan-style and tying with wire at the center, I then cut shapes into the ends, varying between pointy and round. Then I just spread apart the paper, and voila!

I am not sure what I am going to do with these yet, but they definitely cheered me up on a snowy, freezing day.

P.S. Did any one else catch the reference to Martha Stewart in the latest 30 Rock? I definitely perked up at the sound of her name...