Thursday, July 4, 2013

Polly-Acorn plays the Glad Game

 As she talked, she did not look at his face. Her rapt eyes were still on the dancing flecks of color from the prism pendants swaying in the sunlit window.
"And that's all," she sighed, when she had finished. "And now you know why I said the sun was trying to play it--that game."
For a moment there was silence. Then a low voice from the bed said unsteadily:
"Perhaps; but I'm thinking that the very finest prism of them all is yourself, Pollyanna."
"Oh, but I don't show beautiful red and green and purple when the sun shines through me, Mr. Pendleton!"
"Don't you?" smiled the man. And Pollyanna, looking into his face, wondered why there were tears in his eyes.~ Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter


Do you remember the film Pollyanna?  Heyley Mills won an award in 1960 playing a character by the same name.  She was the "glass half full" kid who went around cheering up the curmudgeons in her town, introducing them to the "Glad Game", where you find something to be glad about in every situation.  In the movie, Pollyanna transforms the life of one particularly crabby woman simply by hanging some sparkly-warklies in the old dame's window.  Ah, if it were only that easy...

I'm not exactly what you'd call a "glass half full" girl.  I can, if not careful, lean towards the curmudgeon-y, so I work at it.  I've been playing at my own "glad game" by making a ka-razy chandelier for over the dining room table.  


We put in a glass-beaded ceiling lamp from one of those home warehouse stores.  But the very next day, I regretted buying it because it was BORING.  Still the thought of returning it meant annoying my husband and son who installed it, finding the receipt which I probably threw out, and blah, blah, blah.  Til one hap-hap-happy day, I got the idea to start attaching old crystal chandelier prisms and other bits of colored glass to the beaded strands...


I've made a game of finding the sparkly bits at yard sales and what not. It's not quite long enough yet to catch sunlight from the window and shoot mini-rainbows around the room.  So, I'll keep hunting.


I hope I can add enough pieces so it gets really long and dangles and clinks and tinkles eccentrically and just skims the tips of the flames at a candlelight dinner -


Like something you'd find at a Wonderland-esque tea party.
Ooh, Pollyanna meets the Mad Hatter! I'm feeling less curmudgeon-y already. 

14 comments:

Leslie said...

That is uber-cool. Keep sparkling!

Joy Lake said...

Good post I gush with gratitude that I stumbled over this post the way I trip over my labtop cord in the the dark. It never ceases to astound how incandescent one can be when we try to sparkle.

Anon


....Just kidding...

Love how you are slowly building it with interesting sparklely-warklely pieces and I especially love that you want it to hang just over your candles. Hope to see it in person soon. xx

Hana - Marmota said...

Isn't it wonderful when an idea sparks, and turns an ordinary thing into something special?

Also, I read a wonderful post on another blog (I wish I remembered which, but I think it was one of the blogs linked to on Lisa's Searching for a Balance blog...) - that because there is air, the glass is always full!

Cheryl said...

Oh my goodness. I love the idea of you finding more bits so that it catches the sun and sends out rainbows. What a fab work in progress. You turned the boring into fun. Can you tell I'm a glass half full kind of gal?

Southern Gal said...

I loved Pollyanna! I have to keep the curmudgeon-y me at bay sometimes, too. Oh, how I would love to go with you on your prism adventure. Keep us updated on the progress, please?

elizabeyta said...

How lovely! It makes me smile.

Unknown said...

The good news is, since I haven't mailed your package yet I can now insert some crystals from my great granny's lamp that broke. xoxoxox

p.s. I needed this, and Pollyanna is my fav.

It's Just Dottie said...

I really like it.
I dislike boring too. I tend to march to my own drummer.
Smiles, Dottie

Thickethouse.wordpress said...

Oh, Jody, this is so inspired! I hope you keep posting pictures of the progress of this lovely piece of prismatic art! It makes me smile. It makes my soul sparkle.

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

You have found some lovely baubles to add to your light (which I did not think was boring to begin with, which must mean I'm boring - LOL). Glass and light are two of the most wonderful combinations, don't you think? Can't wait to see how your wonderful chandelier grows and develops under your very artistic direction.

Dewena said...

I love this! Charming! I remember how our kids kept borrowing the prisms off our one old chandelier decades ago after seeing Hayley Mills in the movie.

We all need sparkle in our lives!

Thickethouse.wordpress said...

Now I'm imagining you painting pictures of your dining room when the sun is shining on the prisms and lights are dancing across the table.

Linda said...

Wonderful! Now taking on the aspects of real art, and so much more fun!

Unknown said...

Somehow I missed this !! You ooze creativity.

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