I may be in my second childhood here. But I've 'discovered' paper beads.
Rubber stamping on beautiful paper is something I've been doing for a couple of years. Trying to develop my craft I read a lot of internet sites that show paper crafts and when I came across a tutorial for making paper beads I had to try it.
And my paper of choice? A McDonald's paper 'to go' sack. Yep.
It had many colors on it--pinks/reds, blue, yellow, white...some polka dots, the text....all of that shows up in the beads. And I was able to get enough beads out of my sack to make a bracelet.
At first making the beads--cutting the paper, rolling them, top coating them-- seemed a tad tedious....but somewhere along the way I developed a rhythm in the process and it became very soothing. Time passes quickly and I don't want to stop making beads. They look so pretty all piled up once rolled.
I have no idea how to make jewelry so my beads are strung onto elastic jewelry cord--no clasp necessary. And it's easy to make any size needed. Child size, adult size..whatever.
This would be a great craft for kids. To my surprise there are adults who have made a business out of making and selling paper beads. I guess there are other people out there who love them as much as I do.
This new hobby is a better pastime than being consumed by food and eating. And it makes me wish I'd been exposed to arts and crafts growing up. At best I can remember coloring some mimeographed picture with some crayons and cutting with rounded scissors and pasting--and eating the paste, which tasted like wintergreen. But that was the extent of art for me. Sadly the kids today are missing out as well.
Perhaps if we'd fill ourselves with arts and crafts and hobbies that empty place we try to fill with food wouldn't exist. Reading is good and watching television can be relaxing, but they are passive activities. We need to be doing--we need to be living..not reading about or watching others' lives, but living our own life.
The take away here for all the dieters out there is this: if you hate exercise, get busy with a hobby that does appeal to you. You may not be burning many calories but you will be filling your time with activities that don't involve food and eating.