Quick Craft: No One Will Believe Your New Laser-Cut Necklaces Came From DOLLAR TREE

::runs in::

 

Y'ALL.

Dollar Tree just started carrying some new crafting embellishment thingies, and they are a GOLDMINE for jewelry-making:

These are laser-cut... wood? ::squints:: Maybe "wood" is being too generous. They're a wood-like substance. Think Masonite, but weaker. You get 6 pieces per pack, so that's 6 for a dollar. SIX FOR A DOLLAR.

Now here's the cool part: you can take those lovely wood-like things and make fabulous statement necklaces like THIS:

Or this!

This DIY is the perfect combination of "easy" and "infinitely customizable." Other than the wood-like designs, all you need are basic jewelry-making supplies: O-rings in various sizes, chain or cord, necklace clasps, and pliers. Also if you want to add some color, a little acrylic craft paint.

These embellishments are pretty enough to leave unpainted, though, like John did with his:

This Is The Hardest I've Laughed In Weeks, Omigosh

Last week John and I got to fix a ceiling fan in Apopka (the capacitor is now... fluxing), paint a house downtown, and start overhauling a cram-packed puppet room for some local entertainers down by Disney. (Eeeee!) 'Twas a good week, and I'm especially pumped about the puppet room. Because PUPPET ROOM, y'all.

Despite all that good stuff, I still find myself teetering. Any of you get like this? Where you feel like you're mostly OK, mostly functional, but only one slip away from falling into a deep hole of depression? I call that Teetering. It's walking the tightrope, holding your breath, and hanging on for dear life to any and everything that makes you smile.

Then yesterday I stumbled across Celina SpookyBoo on TikTok, and she not only made me smile, she made me straight-up GUFFAW for a solid 20 minutes. So heck yes I'm dropping it here, what kind of friend would I be to deprive you of this??

All you need to know is that Celina has some wild adventures in her sleep, and there are SO MANY more of these you need to watch, because they keep getting funnier:

@celinaspookyboo

Same intro but new clips!

♬ original sound - Celinaspookyboo

This isn't even close to her most popular video - they get way wilder -  but those cherries break me. every. dang. time.

Here's one more, where she bolts into the yard cackling while her poor hubby has to chase her down, bahaha:

@celinaspookyboo

This was taken from 2 hours of footage. Adam is a real trooper

♬ original sound - Celinaspookyboo

Head over to Celina's page and click on all the black-and-white preview pics for more sleepwalking - and in one memorable instance, sleep fighting a giant plush octopus. Be warned that a few have her cussing out houseplants(!!), so watch your volume if you have littles around.

Sleepwalking shenanigans aside, Celina is my new favorite person. I love her style, her attitude, her unbridled enthusiasm for tie-dying t-shirts in the snow and collecting actual hearses that she drives around town...  I think she's the real deal, gang. I also love that she's sharing all her adventures, no matter how embarrassing - like the one where she woke up naked in a hotel hallway - just to bring a little light and laughter to folks who need it. Folks like me.

So go, watch more of Celina's videos! You don't need a TikTok account to see them, at least not on your desktop. I hope they crack through any darkness around you, and remind you there's always light out here, if we just remember to look for it. <3

Oh hey, but before you go, let's pick some art winners from my last post:

The winner of the dragon coloring book is Lydia
The winner of the Ursula print set is WordWitch
And the winner of the Bianca print set is Elencello

Congrats, you three, and please e-mail me your mailing addresses!

*****

Edited to add: Oh wow, it's already February, isn't it? In that case, I also have some Squeegineer winners to announce! So congrats, Francine D. & Kim P., and please check your inboxes for John's e-mail, so you can choose your prizes.