Paper and Glitter
"Can you show me how to do that?"
When John stumbled out his bedroom at nine in the morning and made his way to the kitchen to make some coffee, the last thing he expected was to see Pat sitting at his dining table surrounded by a whole lot of craft materials.
It looks like he had been there for a while judging by the mess and it took John a couple of minutes to remember that he had agree to help make Christmas cards with Pat a couple of days ago on their way home from where the band has been recording the next album. He sort of forgot about it.
With a shrug, John walked around the table; silently waving a good morning as he passed and started making himself breakfast. At the sight of a paper bag he paused and peaked into it finding a couple of doughnuts.
“Your coffee is in the microwave.” Pat said offhand, more focused on the paper in his hands he was crafting.
John opened the mic door and pulled out the plastic cup. It was cold, so he put it back and set the microwave for 30 seconds.
“When did you get here?” John asked turning around to face Pat.
“About an hour ago. I was going to wake you up but you were busy snoring your head off so I figured I’d get a head start on this idea for a card I had.” Pat looked away long enough from the strip of paper in his hands to flash a grin. “I saw this paper craft called quilling, thought I’d give it a try.”
The microwave beeped and John took his drink out, before grabbing the paper bag and sitting down across the table from Pat. He pushed a couple of pieces of paper out of the way to make room.
“So how many cards are we making?” John asked taking a sip and eyeing all the stuff that was covering the table top. “And are we doing other things than just cards?”
“I was thinking cards for guys and close family to start with and I’ll make a couple of presents for my family. Just thought doing something handmade for a change would be nice.”
“Yeah.” John agreed with a smile.
As John finished his breakfast he watched as Pat curled tiny strips of paper around some little stick with a needle sticking out of it and wondered if he should’ve been surprised to find Pat sitting at his table with a large collection of arts supplies without warning or even knowing he wasn’t alone in his house like he was when he went to sleep the night before. He was mildly surprised that he wasn’t.
John watched for a while and it wasn’t until Pat started sticking the small spirals of paper together that he realised what Pat was actually making. It was a multiple coloured snowflake roughly two inches wide. It actually looked really, really cool.
“That’s awesome! Can you show me how to do that?” John asked moving the rubbish of his breakfast out of the way and placing an already folded blank card in front of him.
Pat grinned and handed John what he said was a quilling tool, a short stick with a needle sticking out of the end that had a quarter of the needle’s loop end cut off.
“Put the end of the strip of paper in the gap of the needle and spin it around until the end, the looser you do it the bigger the shape will be and glue the end shut so it doesn’t unravel. Then made a whole bunch of them and arrange them into a snowflake shape. It’s a lot easier than it looks.” Pat explained. “I’m giving this card I’m doing now to my Mum.”
John did as Pat said and after a couple of go’s to make sure he was getting it to the size he wanted, John smiled and copied Pat’s design but in different colours.
John couldn’t remember the last time he really sat down and make a whole bunch of things for people and had forgotten how fun it could be. What was meant to be just a few cards ended up being enough for other friends besides close ones and even some extended family members.
There also may have been a couple of confetti and glitter fights but if anyone asked, the glitter that seemed to be all over John’s house was completely coincidental to the process of making the cards.
It looks like he had been there for a while judging by the mess and it took John a couple of minutes to remember that he had agree to help make Christmas cards with Pat a couple of days ago on their way home from where the band has been recording the next album. He sort of forgot about it.
With a shrug, John walked around the table; silently waving a good morning as he passed and started making himself breakfast. At the sight of a paper bag he paused and peaked into it finding a couple of doughnuts.
“Your coffee is in the microwave.” Pat said offhand, more focused on the paper in his hands he was crafting.
John opened the mic door and pulled out the plastic cup. It was cold, so he put it back and set the microwave for 30 seconds.
“When did you get here?” John asked turning around to face Pat.
“About an hour ago. I was going to wake you up but you were busy snoring your head off so I figured I’d get a head start on this idea for a card I had.” Pat looked away long enough from the strip of paper in his hands to flash a grin. “I saw this paper craft called quilling, thought I’d give it a try.”
The microwave beeped and John took his drink out, before grabbing the paper bag and sitting down across the table from Pat. He pushed a couple of pieces of paper out of the way to make room.
“So how many cards are we making?” John asked taking a sip and eyeing all the stuff that was covering the table top. “And are we doing other things than just cards?”
“I was thinking cards for guys and close family to start with and I’ll make a couple of presents for my family. Just thought doing something handmade for a change would be nice.”
“Yeah.” John agreed with a smile.
As John finished his breakfast he watched as Pat curled tiny strips of paper around some little stick with a needle sticking out of it and wondered if he should’ve been surprised to find Pat sitting at his table with a large collection of arts supplies without warning or even knowing he wasn’t alone in his house like he was when he went to sleep the night before. He was mildly surprised that he wasn’t.
John watched for a while and it wasn’t until Pat started sticking the small spirals of paper together that he realised what Pat was actually making. It was a multiple coloured snowflake roughly two inches wide. It actually looked really, really cool.
“That’s awesome! Can you show me how to do that?” John asked moving the rubbish of his breakfast out of the way and placing an already folded blank card in front of him.
Pat grinned and handed John what he said was a quilling tool, a short stick with a needle sticking out of the end that had a quarter of the needle’s loop end cut off.
“Put the end of the strip of paper in the gap of the needle and spin it around until the end, the looser you do it the bigger the shape will be and glue the end shut so it doesn’t unravel. Then made a whole bunch of them and arrange them into a snowflake shape. It’s a lot easier than it looks.” Pat explained. “I’m giving this card I’m doing now to my Mum.”
John did as Pat said and after a couple of go’s to make sure he was getting it to the size he wanted, John smiled and copied Pat’s design but in different colours.
John couldn’t remember the last time he really sat down and make a whole bunch of things for people and had forgotten how fun it could be. What was meant to be just a few cards ended up being enough for other friends besides close ones and even some extended family members.
There also may have been a couple of confetti and glitter fights but if anyone asked, the glitter that seemed to be all over John’s house was completely coincidental to the process of making the cards.
♠ ♠ ♠
Happy Holidays! :D