When I got up this morning, it was 65'. The temp currently sits at 38', and is steadily dropping. It's supposed to be in the mid 20s by morning. In view of that, I went out and lugged up a good bit of firewood. I also copped out and bought a box of fake fire logs from Wal-mart. They make great fire starters if nothing else, and what with all the rain, I need something with a bit more oomph that the twigs I pick up out of my back yard. That being said, I've got plenty of wood, plenty of coffee and tea, and plenty of blankets. I'm all ready for the cold.
Oh, about that tea, I discovered I can make it in my Keurig knock off. It has one of those baskets you can put your own coffee grounds into it. It just so happens you can also put tea into it as well. The first time I tried it, I cut the bag open and dumped the tea leaves into the basket. It was kind of a pain in the bahoody to get all the loose leaf tea out of said basket. After needing to use an old toothbrush to remove the remnants of said loose leaf tea, I said to myself, "Self, what would happen if you just put the whole teabag into the basket?" So, I tried it. The tea turned out just fine, and was a whole lot easier to clean up.
Anyway, I'm glad this cold is hitting over the weekend -- and a long weekend at that, due to MLK day-- instead of a work day. I can stay huddled under a blanket watching TV and knitting.
Speaking of watching... well, not TV but YouTube...I've been watching sealing wax videos. I found one tutorial which showed how you can make a bunch of wax seals ahead of time. The presenter suggested using a silicone baking mat to pour your wax onto, then stamp them.
I got the idea that I could get one of those to just practice on. I've seen those videos where they make absolutely perfect seals, and I aspire to that. So, while I was making my mad dash to the store during one of the few rain-free moments today, I picked up a cheap silicone mat.
There is this one person in several compilation videos who kind of moves the stamp in a bit of a circular motion before pressing it down into the wax. It makes an absolutely beautiful seal. Once I'd gotten home, I got out my wax and stamps and tried it. It turned out great.
This is the first one I did, and as you can see, once it had cooled, it popped right off the silicone mat.
Naturally, I had to try a few more.
The beauty of this is, I can cut them up with a pair of scissors, remelt the wax and use it again. Or, if I want to, I can do like the person in the tutorial I watched and use a double sided adhesive tape or something similar and just stick them to the envelope. I'll probably re-melt, them, though this would be good if you have a bunch to do and want to make them ahead of time.
Now I can stamp to my heart's desire without feeling like I'm wasting any of my wax!
Oh, and while browsing YouTube, I came across this nifty video showing how they made their own envelopes back in the day, due to paper being so expensive.
I am going to try this next time I send a letter, just to see if it makes it through our postal system. Even if it doesn't, it's still cool.
Speaking of cool, the temp has dropped two more degrees just since I started writing this post, so I think I'm going to go make me something hot to drink and snuggle down under a blanket.
Stay warm, my friends.
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