Useful Tools

Since the weather has taken a turn for the worse (at least where I live) I thought I would throw a couple of short weekend projects out there in case you were in the same boat as me.  Awful pun, totally intended, and you're welcome.  The first one is easy.

Hair Clips
Go to Wal Mart and buy some women's hair clips.  Do this while looking as burly and tough as possible.  This is not a joke.  I usually have 3 on hand at all times and they are attached to the post of my vice.  Whenever you need an extra hand to hold fluffy or cumbersome materials out of the way, a clip can be really useful.  When it comes to managing rabbit strip, marabou, or creature tails, these clips keep materials out of your bobbin and keep you from getting frustrated.

Alligator Teeth and Bamboo Skewers
While you are at Wally World, go ahead and stop by the hardware department and pick up some alligator clips.  Typically, these are used to make electrical connections, but today, we are going to make a stronger set of hackle pliers that will make blending materials a breeze.  Just insert a bamboo barbecue skewer into the cylinder shaped back of the clips and cut it to size.  You're done!  Now you have a pair of pliers that can handle multiple materials without letting go or slipping out of the end.  I don't know about you, but my conventional hackle pliers don't have a lot of grip to them which renders them all but useless.