Pom-Poms Are Evil

That there, ladies, is a LIE.  It is not "oh-so-easy;" it sucks.  And to top it all off, when I asked hubby to attach my pom-pom flower that I loved and had worked very hard to create, in my favorite colors even, he replied "What is it?" (this is where I gave him THAT look and he said "It's pretty, whatever it is." insert eye roll here)

One of the blogs I read everyday (I can't remember which, I get about 30 emailed to me) had a beautiful book page wreath up in her kitchen, and then found out her husband hated it.  He said it looked like a phone book.  I think her husband and mine are related somehow.....

Anyway, this is the honest truth about making pom-poms:
1. You need 8-10 FULL-SIZED sheets of tissue paper.  I tried cutting 2 sheets into fourths, and I cannot bring  myself to even photograph that monstrosity.  My poor little green and blue baby there is 4 sheets of 20" paper that I cut in half.
2. A useful tip: (I think I came up with this, but probably not) I used an alligator clip at the opposite end from where I was folding, so the pages stayed even together.
3. Make LARGE accordion folds, like 1.5" or even 2."
4. Crease each fold as if you were using a bone folder.  Seriously. 
5. Lastly, making your first one at 11pm at night after a long and difficult day is also something I advise against.  This is not a peaceful craft project. 

One more view, but a warning first: I attached my "happy little pom-pom" to my turquoise floor lamp I got last year for $5 during Wal-Mart's Back to School days (I'm hoping lime and turquoise things are still in fashion this year!)  Also, I've been painting today, so my brushes ended up in the picture too.

So, speaking of paintbrushes, I discovered something kind of awesome: I'm doing this FREE online art journal class provided by Strathmore called Visual Journal Series.  I'm loving it!  I have no art instruction in my background at all, so it's been a huge help!!  So many of my favorite Art Journalists are starting courses soon, but I feel like I don't know the basics, so I'm refusing to allow myself to give in to the temptation to pay $50 to just get confused and frustrated.

I think these classes are only available until August 1, so hurry on over there and get to listening.  Each class is about 20 minutes long, and there's also a worksheet with "homework" full of details they couldn't address in the video.  I made some backgrounds today:

Anyway, happy Sunday!  This is our last weekend before school starts.  I'm an absolute nervous wreck.  Did you ever see that movie where the cheerleader gets pregnant, and the other cheerleaders help her rob a bank?  Well, they disguise themselves as "Betty" dolls, and they name one of them "Mood Swing Betty."  The phrase stuck in my head.  I'm in total Mood-Swing Betty mode....  "Sugar & Spice" is the movie, thank you IMDB!