my love/hate relationship with paper source (today)

There's the beautiful
felt leaf garland. Ugh.

I don't really hate Paper Source. It is one of the greatest stores in Manhattan (and other big cities) and is definitely in my top ten. Click here to read my post about it from June. However, I went there today to purchase a few cards and two items caught my eye - a garland and a pack of pre-cut leaves. Before moving forward with my reaction to said garland and leaves, I would like to provide you with a little back story about my recent idea for crafting. It is no secret that I hate do not love football (I also don't like birds and Margaret Schroeder from Boardwalk Empire, but that's another story). I like the "idea" of football - lazy Sundays at home with fatty snacks - what could be better?! However, I find the actual game boring and the large men make me nervous (gigantic necks = scary time). My creativeness and craftiness escalate during football season because I am actually home and have time to stop and smell the roses - and of course think about decorating and getting ready for the holidays. At the instant this year's football season started (little fib) I spotted a leaf garland made from shiny card stock on Pinterest (not glittery, I said shiny) . I was sold and ready to craft! I ordered the paper to make it online and printed the leaf patterns on the printer at work. Thirty dollars later, I am ready to cut some leaves and sew them together to make a fall-like garland we can keep up through the Thanksgiving holiday, when we will be entertaining eleven guests at our home for dinner (definitely another post).

Even more back story: I don't know what happened in nursery school or kindergarten, but my cutting skills are less than par. I am not sure what I was thinking when I initially set out to tackle this project, but as the days pass and I get closer and closer to starting it, I have realized I am going to be tracing and cutting a lot of shapes that are not quite square or round. Leaves are hard. So, this Sunday is the big day for my craft project and I have been trying to psych myself up to cut for many, many hours and I was doing a good job until I walked into Paper Source today. Sitting directly in front of my face as I walked through the doors was a thirty-six pack of colored leaves - I even had my choice between small and large (I mean really?). The only thing keeping me sane is the fact that the packaged leaves are red, orange, yellow, green, and brown, and my leaves are going to be rust, copper, silver, gold, bronze, and plum. After I calmed down and found the cards I needed, I did a lap around the store to see if they had anything birthday appropriate for my mother-in-law. (How many people's birthdays are in October? Geez Louise, so many.) I turned the corner and saw an actual full garland made of felt leaves. Of course I initially wanted felt, but I thought paper would be so much easier. Why am I going to spend hours of my time handcrafting something I can buy for fifteen dollars? Damn it Paper Source. So, I walked out with one strand of the felt garland and still plan to tackle my project this Sunday (and because my husband will be away, I will be watching Bravo and crafting, not football). I figured I can put one set on our front door and the other set on the dining room hutch. I will post on Monday and let you know how the paper garland came out. My fingers are crossed and already sore from cutting.