Two weeks ago I found myself inspired by Mera’s cheerful bathroom update, and I set out to do a little bathroom makeover of my own. The first thing I did was buy a gallon of paint. The second thing I did was fall in desperate, blind love with a shower curtain (I had no idea it was possible either) that I couldn’t afford.

Look how pretty it is! Those colors! Those tassels! I wanted it so badly I called both Mera and my mom from the Anthropologie store (they have really comfortable chairs and the salespeople loved me sitting there talking on my phone) asking them to talk me out of buying it. That I chose to call them is telling – I actually wanted them to convince me to buy it of course; to say that if I loved it, it was worth it. If I had truly not wanted to buy it I would have called Cameron, the frugal pragmatist, who would have asked whether – with a price tag of more than a hundred dollars – the tassels had a utilitarian function, like reducing shower steam or deploying as little tub scrubbers.

Ultimately my own frugal pragmatism prevailed, and I came home determined to make a tassel-bedecked shower curtain I could afford. I took advantage of a family trip (and my nimble-fingered family) to get everyone on board with making tassels. Once I worked out some of the production kinks, tassel tying became addictive. It’s the perfect mindless busywork, similar to knitting or crocheting but requiring less skill. Best of all you can do it while watching crappy television and at the end you have a pile of shiny little darlings to show for the hours you spent, instead of just self-loathing.

I’ve put together a tutorial for tying a two-tone tassel like the ones I made for the tulip chair pillow last week. Remember those?

Let’s get started:

Supplies:

Embroidery thread or yarn

A chopstick (a bamboo skewer or knitting needle would work well too)

An embroidery needle (with a big eye)

An index card

A fine tooth comb (optional)

Step One:

Fold the index card in half. The length of the folded card will be the length of your finished tassel. Put the loose ends of your threads at the folded end of the index card and continue wrapping (I used about half a skein of thread per tassel)

Step Two:

Turn the card so the open end is at the top and gently insert the chopstick so it is under the thread

Step Three:

Gently slide the looped thread off of the card (but not off the chopstick) and tie a knot right under the chopstick and then give the thread a few more tight wraps

Step Four:

Cut the thread and use an embroidery needle to push the thread up through the neck of the tassel, then tie a knot and bring the needle back down through the neck to become part of the tassel

Step Five:

Use scissors to cut the looped ends at the bottom

Step Six:

Use your comb to separate the threads (combing the tassel hair was my favorite part). If you don’t have a comb you can use the needle to separate threads, but it’s neither as effective nor as fun.

Step Seven:

Trim tassel to desired length

I’ve used tassels on a pillow, a shower curtain (which I’ll show you next week, along with the updated bathroom) and on my cat. What else should I be-tassel? Are you planning to do any projects with tassels soon? Let us know in the comments!