Last month, I finished another book from my list: Little Women. My very favorite of the March sisters was Jo. I loved her strong will and courage to speak her mind.
The image of Jo's cozy writing nook in the attic reminded me of the time I spent in my childhood hide-a-way spots reading and daydreaming. My little treasures were hidden in boxes and under stairways to be kept safe, just like Jo's papers tucked safely in the old tin box. I imagine the attic to smell like old books and to be full of warm sunlight that catches dust floating slowly by the windows. The room would be a place full of forgotten toys and favored trinkets such as bits of ribbon, pretty stones, and bundles of letters wrapped in twine. I could picture Jo curled up on the faded old sofa working feverishly on her fairy tales and the newspaper stories that she worked on in secret.
Jo's love for writing inspired me to make these pretty literary pencils. At Goodwill, I just happened to find a worn, yellowing copy of Little Women with missing pages and no cover. I brought it home with me (I doubt anyone else was interested in it) and tore a few of the pages into tiny strips.
After sanding down a dozen wooden pencils, I used Tacky glue and my fingers to wrap the strips around each pencil. I hung them from a make-shift clothesline of yarn and bulldog clips on my porch to dry. Once the glue hardened, I clipped off any excess paper and sanded the rough spots.
To give them a finished, polished look, I glued pearl beads onto the top of the pencil and wrapped them with a strand of pink and gold ribbon.
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