Holy Binding Wires!

So the new place in town, Zipp Outlet, that I told y'all about like last week has some really good bargains and while I didn't like the store at first I am getting over my OCD tendencies and getting to where I am able to just get in there and dig around. I have learned that it is easier if I don't take my purse in because they don't have carts but rather have Ikea bags, ya know the huge blue ones, that you use for your shopping experience and to me it's easier just to go back out and get my wallet if I find something I want to buy.

I was in there last week and I saw this huge ball of binding wires, notice I said ball. If ya know anything about binding wires you know they should be stored flat, separated, away from each other, with dividers...not in a ball! They ball had a white tag, which meant it would be half off, but there was only a corner of the tag on there. I took the ball up to the cashier and she said she could let me have it for $3, so it would be $1.50. I figured for that price I would take a chance on getting a few wires out of the ball.

I spent much of Friday night at my craft desk working on untangling the wires and through much patience and tenacity I was able to get all of the wires untangled except two. I did have to clip to others at the ends because they were so intertwined it was impossible to get them apart. With all the wires laid out I was almost giddy thinking of what a great deal I got. Even though the wires were only the 5/8" size I figured they could be used for some smaller projects.

After I got all the wires laid out I had to do the math and figure out how much I had saved and I was so proud of the total. I had $75 worth of binding wires for $1.50! The picture shows part of the wires, the rest were on another part of my craft table. 

On Saturday I found a way to keep the wires stored without them getting tangled again and due to my experience in the past with binding wires I know you can carefully put two together without them getting enmeshed with each other so I knew it would be better for storage to use this method. The wax paper sheets I also found at Zipp came in handy to wrap the wires to keep them separated from each other. I was able to wrap 4 wires in each sheet.

Wanting to try the wires out I started on, and still working to finish, some coaster mini albums. Once I got one of them completed I couldn't wait to punch the holes with my Cinch and check out the wires. Imagine my frustration when I quickly realized that the wonderful wires I got are actually 3:1 pitch and not the 2:1 pitch that my Cinch punches *okie gives herself a smack on the forehead*. Now what was I suppose to do...well I am finishing my little albums, the one I punched has the 2:1 pitch wires but the others I will try another method of punching so I can use the 3:1 pitch wires. When I find out if it works I will post pictures. Even if it doesn't work I will still post pictures of my failure...but I am not use to failing when it comes to crafting. I will make this work!