Kalamazoo Week: Can You Use This?

First Post of the Day

Two years ago, Leslie gave me all her bead working supplies. This included millions of beads. (I kid you not.) She had BOXES of beads.

The plan was to let my grands have them for crafting, but when I saw Just. How. Many. Beads. there were, I moved to plan B.

Send some of the beads to grands (with a note of apology to their parents if need be) and then figure out what to do with the rest. That box above is what I sent Pony Pals Cambria and Titan.

I kept the skeins of beads, thinking I might let kids bead at my booth during the Feast, but I am too busy selling to supervise that activity.

I will contact Brooke and see if the person who runs the bead-working booth for kids at the Feast can use them. Fingers crossed; I'd like to pass them on and see them used.

See that plastic bag on top of the bead case? Those are special beads that I found mixed in among those millions of beads, beads that I knew were valuable. I decided to contact some friends who made and sold beaded items at living history events.

Jessie and Brandon of Eagle Talon Traders. 

I sent pictures of what I wanted to give them, and they were happy to take it all.

 

Real glass wampum, not an imitation. That is a 1980s price tag. In 2026 money, that glass wampum would be priced at $6.83/ounce. Or $109.28/pound. (I triple checked my math on that price - I could not believe how valuable glass wampum is.)

These are an unusual bead called "greasy yellows." I think that's a nickname, and they certainly are not greasy. They are from the 1980s and my understanding is that now they can be hard to find.

Shells drilled for stringing, bells, flat shell discs, and tube beads probably made from bone or horn. 

Jingle cones and some ear wires. All sterling silver.

Of course, I have to post the Women's Jingle from the 2019 Gathering of Nations Pow Wow.

An assortment of beading needles.

Brandon and Jessie are dropping by during Friday night's set up to say hello, and I'll pass these things on to them then.

Glad to see that someone can use them.

Comment to enter the March Give Away!

The April Give Away

Second Post of the Day

I just learned a rather humorous lesson:

Never assume that just because other sewing vendors sell their twill tapes on 25 yard spools, that ALL sewing vendors do.

This is a 25 yard spool of bias tape. This size of spool is overwhelmingly common at living history events when buying twill tapes, decorative trims, ribbons, and bias tapes.

So, when I placed an order with my friend Brandon of Eagle Talon Traders, I asked him if he had a spool of inch and a half twill tape that I could buy and assumed I would get something similar. 

Why, yes! He sure did have a spool of inch and a half twill tape! A big ol' two fister spool of twill tape! This thing is huge and weighs a lot!

In reality, spool sizes vary for a variety of needs as well as for the width of the tape you are buying.

I just assumed he'd send me the twenty five yard spool - I never specified how much yardage I wanted.

There is a lot of twill tape on that spool - the core is 2" wide and the outside is 7" in diameter.

To enter this month's give away (prize TBA) you have to guess just how much twill tape is actually on that spool.  

Please guess in yards, not feet or inches. You can guess on each blog post posted beginning with this morning's post about the JCs^2 pregnancy and then this one. You can change the yardage that you guess on each post, too. Entries close Sunday night (4/13) at 11:59 PM EDT.

The one closest to the actual amount will win; if more than one person guesses correctly, I'll spin to win on Monday or Tuesday. 

Good luck and have fun!