From The Mother Earth News Special (With Poster) Issue NO. 12:

I thought this was interesting...  I might try it sometime, since my hair is very straight, and only holds a curl if I braid it overnight with just the right dampness.

If you've read "Little Women," by Louisa May Alcott, you may remember the entertaining (but somewhat hapless) episode where Jo attempts to curl her sister Meg's hair for a party: 

  '...On New Year's Eve the parlor was deserted, for the two younger
girls played dressing maids and the two elder were absorbed in the
all-important business of `getting ready for the party'. Simple
as the toilets were, there was a great deal of running up and down,
laughing and talking, and at one time a strong smell of burned hair
pervaded the house. Meg wanted a few curls about her face, and Jo
undertook to pinch the papered locks with a pair of hot tongs.

"Ought they to smoke like that?" asked Beth from her perch
on the bed.

"It's the dampness drying," replied Jo.

"What a queer smell! It's like burned feathers," observed Amy,
smoothing her own pretty curls with a superior air.

"There, now I'll take off the papers and you'll see a cloud
of little ringlets," said Jo, putting down the tongs.

She did take off the papers, but no cloud of ringlets appeared,
for the hair came with the papers, and the horrified hairdresser
laid a row of little scorched bundles on the bureau before her victim.

"Oh, oh, oh! What have you done? I'm spoiled! I can't go! My
hair, oh, my hair!" wailed Meg, looking with despair at the uneven
frizzle on her forehead.

"Just my luck! You shouldn't have asked me to do it. I always
spoil everything. I'm so sorry, but the tongs were too hot, and so
I've made a mess," groaned poor Jo, regarding the little black
pancakes with tears of regret.

"It isn't spoiled. Just frizzle it, and tie your ribbon so
the ends come on your forehead a bit, and it will look like the
last fashion. I've seen many girls do it so," said Amy consolingly.

"Serves me right for trying to be fine. I wish I'd let my hair
alone," cried Meg petulantly.

"So do I, it was so smooth and pretty. But it will soon grow
out again," said Beth, coming to kiss and comfort the shorn sheep.

After various lesser mishaps, Meg was finished at last, and
by the united exertions of the entire family Jo's hair was got up
and her dress on. They looked very well in their simple suits,
Meg's in silvery drab, with a blue velvet snood, lace frills, and
the pearl pin. Jo in maroon, with a stiff, gentlemanly linen
collar, and a white chrysanthemum or two for her only ornament.
Each put on one nice light glove, and carried one soiled one, and
all pronounced the effect "quite easy and fine". Meg's high-heeled
slippers were very tight and hurt her, though she would not own it,
and Jo's nineteen hairpins all seemed stuck straight into her head,
which was not exactly comfortable, but, dear me, let us be elegant
or die.'

...If you do attempt this method of curling, I would suggest that you take a word of caution from the passage above, and try simply letting your hair set overnight, instead of using heat to set the curls.  Or, at least proceed with caution... and stop before you smell burning. ;)

 This is a necklace I made using some wooden beads I got at a craft store (without a particular idea of what I would use them for-- I just really like wooden beads, for some reason), and some teal colored freshwater pearls.  This is the first necklace I've made (other than some I'm sure I made with plastic beads, etc, as a kid), and I think it turned out pretty well.  I strung it on some quilting thread I happened to have, (no, I don't quilt), which seemed sturdy enough, although it will probably wear out over time.  My boyfriend's mom does beading, and she suggested that I probably should use beading wire- which is thin wire that's braided together for strength, and then you would use a crimp bead at the end.  (Uh, I think that's what it was called.)  However, I'm impatient, and also don't have the money to spend on stuff like that.  So, the quilting thread seemed to work pretty well for me.  I tied a "fisherman's knot" at the end, looping through the toggle clasp's loop.  Then, I tucked the ends of the string back through the last bead and did a single knot.  I haven't worn it anywhere yet.  But, it should be fun when I do.

I've always found beads and necklaces sort of fascinating-- in the same way that I seem to find almost everything else in the world that I'm interested in- I like thinking about the forms, patterns, and designs, and wondering what makes one thing more interesting or better than another.  And, I also happen to just have an affinity for shiny objects.  Yes, I'll admit it, I like anything that sparkles.  But I was never all that interested in beading.  It just seemed boring and unappealing.  However, one day, my boyfriend brought me some of his mother's old beading magazines, ones that she was just getting rid of (he knows how I adore all things sparkly, and crafts, etc).  I started looking through them, to see what all the fuss was about, and because, well, why not?  ...And, something happened.  An interest began to dawn.  I looked up some of the beading sites advertised in the magazines, I googled "beading," to see what I could see, and, my interest has been building, slowly, ever since.  I ordered a few beads from a reputable website.  They sat in my craft drawer for a couple months, and, after a while, I finally got an idea for something to do with some of them.  And, voila!  Here it is... 

I still have a few beads left, and my boyfriend's mom invited me over sometime to do some beading with her... so, I guess we'll see what happens.  This may be something else I can add to my  repertoire of "things I can do."  And, maybe it will even become a hobby I enjoy on a regular basis.  Who knows?