Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Snowflake Torture

Just turn around...



Walk away...


Forget what you've seen here...



These snowflakes had it coming to them.

So I finally starched and blocked the snowflakes I crocheted. It does look like the poor little things are victims of some sick medieval torture. It's like The Snowflake Inquisition.  Or maybe it's more reminiscent of a bad horror movie. Maybe Pinhead from Hellraiser got in touch with his crafty side and worked out some evil frustration on these defenseless little guys.

Starching and blocking the snowflakes was not as frustrating as I thought it would be, but it was definitely a project I needed a block (get it?!) of time for, so I had to wait until the baby went to bed to complete it (plus I didn't want any witnesses). I mixed a tablespoon of corn starch in 1/2 cup of water and simmered it until it was no longer white/ somewhat transparent and kind of gloopy. Then I put on my executioner hood and while the glop was still warm I drowned the guilty snowflakes in it and let them soak up the starch (like being tarred and feathered, without the feathers). Then I squeezed out the excess glop (which is like going through a pressing device, I suppose)  and got them ready for the rack.

(Insert maniacal laughter here).

I attached wax paper to a long cardboard gift box I've been hoarding in the basement for no reason, and then stabbed the snowflakes to it with quilting pins, stretching them into shape. A cork board or foam board would probably work better, but the gift box seemed to work ok. I left them to die, I mean dry, overnight.

The next day I removed the pins from the corpses--er snowflakes. I was left with  lovely, crisp snowflakes to use as gift toppers, christmas tree ornaments, or hanging decorations.


I am pretty happy with the end result, and I can definitely see myself making snowflakes again. I'll be using these for gifts, but I could see making a beautiful hanging snowflake curtain like here if I had more time to plan next year. I hope the gift recipients like them as much as I do.

***
Disclaimer: The events depicted in this blog entry are fictitious. Any similarity to any snowflake living or dead is merely coincidental. Mommisquare does not endorse the use of torture or mistreatment of snowflakes. No snowflakes were harmed during the writing of this blog entry.

2 comments:

  1. I think it's pretty sick to torture such innocent little snowflakes...the things some people do for art! Nonetheless, I am very impressed with the talent, vision, and sense of art I see here on this blog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This was pretty funny. I hope I am a recipient of many of those snowflakes cause I have the perfect use for them!

    ReplyDelete

 
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