Failed plans, tantrums, and rhinestone madness

I had planned a trip to NYC to see Sleep No More with my BFF.  I had bought tickets months in advance and the two of us spent weeks planning our outfits (something fun and outrageous, yet comfortable and easy to run up and down 5 flights of stairs in).  Then that week…we started getting storm warnings for Hurricane Irene.  As Irene moved closer, we started to get nervous.  Not because we are actually scared of the hurricane (I grew up on a monsoon and typhoon prone tropical island…anything less than a Cat 3 doesn’t even warrant buying extra food and batteries), but because we were afraid that the hurricane would mean rain…which would impact our outfits.  Yes, we’re hilarious that way.

Still, to be sure that we would be able to go see this show, I cancelled my bus plans and instead made the decision to drive.  If I had to drive through PA and into OH to get to NYC…I would.  That’s how badly I wanted to see Sleep No More. 

Then Mayor Bloomberg shut down the city.  I’m not going to lie…at that point, if I saw Mayor B crossing the street, I may have “accidently” hit the gas pedal instead of the breaks.  My BFF wasn’t too far off.  She and I spent most of Friday afternoon on the phone with each other, trying to console each other, only to get all worked up again.  It was a crazy cycle of frustration, tears and disappointment.

Clearly, I wasn’t going to the city…and I wasn’t going to see Sleep No More.

So I did the only thing that would keep me from being a whiny, tantrum throwing mess.  I went to the craft store and loaded up on supplies.  Not just any supplies…but rhinestones.

For a while, I had wanted to start enhancing some of my hair flowers with feathers or rhinestones to make them fancier for special occasions.  However, being so busy with orders and just everything else, I hadn’t had any free time to devote to this.  Well, with this unexpected free weekend, I had nothing but time.

Better then I envisioned!

Friday night, after dinner, as my husband was trying very hard to stay out of my way (he really deserves a medal), I started to play with the rhinestones on the flowers.  At first, my heart was still filled with rage over missing Sleep No More and the wonderful weekend we had planned.  A few times, my eyes started to tear up (I *really* wanted to see this show), but I doggedly applied rhinestones, one by one.

Perhaps it was the repetitive nature of applying the stones, or perhaps I was so emotionally exhausted from throwing tantrums all day long, but before long, I was in a zone.  My mind shut off and I was almost in a trance-like state.  All I could see were the sparkliness of the stones, as I placed them, methodically, one after another.  Each time I came to the end of applying rhinestones to a petal, I got a little thrill of exhilaration.  Before I knew it, it was past midnight and I hadn’t snapped at my husband once in the past few hours!



The wine may have contributed to my ultra calm state...heehee!

 The next morning, instead of sulking, I got up bright and early to rush to the store the moment it opened…and bought 1200 more stones.  It sounds like a lot, but they go quickly!  I spent the majority of the day, alternately glaring at the bright sunny day, and going back into my craft and rhinestone induced state of serene euphoria. 

By dinner (when we would have been on our way to see Sleep No More), I was fully relaxed.  Still a little miffed about missing the show (we were able to reschedule our tickets for a later weekend), but alternatively excited by how much I accomplished and how I finally perfected my rhinestone method.

Again, craft therapy is the best therapy.  Although, the glue fumes may have something to do with that as well.  Heh.

Now available on my Etsy store!

UPDATE: Rhinestoned hair flowers and fascinators are now available on my Etsy store!