Day 110 Soldering It Together

I went out to get a few items from the craft store and ended up in the jewelry making aisle. Let me say upfront, I have absolutely no talent in the craft arena. I have attempted all sorts of hobbies and tend to fail miserably at them.

But... I saw a puzzle piece pendant, the symbol of autism awareness due to the puzzling condition. I have been wanting one of those that I could wear, but I hadn't really seen any that harkened to me. This particular pendant was a bit large and was supposed to be decorated with tiny crystals to color it to your particular awareness preference. I wasn't particularly keen on sparkly crystals, so I almost put the pendant back. 

Then... Some pretty cool charms caught my eye and I saw that they already had bracelets that I didn't have to "make" or buy special closures and what not. It looked pretty simple. I picked out an uber industrial looking bracelet and some nostalgic charms to go with it. I knew my son would love the charms.

After simply adding the charms, I decided to change the tiny toggle that the bracelet was already equipped with. This is where the proverbial shit hit the fan and the craft reminded me that in his ring, I get knocked down. A little tiny ball fell off a tiny pin that held the bracelet together. It all hinged on the pin. 

My husband got out the soldering iron (We have one of those things? Cool... Can I make little tiny sculptures out of paper clips or something? Wait, one craft bout at a time.) and that little wheel of solder (is that what that wire looking thing is called?). We managed to just make a new ball on the end of that tiny little pin. There were quite a few tries and that craft sure tried puzzling us with all its bobbing and weaving, but we soldered and succeeded. Craft defeated!

Now, I have this really cool bracelet to show for it and a way to show my support for a puzzling condition that will not defeat us either. I can't wait to add more charms when I find ones that my daughter will like as well. I need a few that will down play the size of the puzzle piece a little, but I don't mind that charm being a little big anyway. It makes me smile...