I just wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who mentioned the word "wax" in their comments regarding my rhinestone adventures.

I took a brief "vacation" last week and did the 24-hour Disneyland Leap Year extravaganza with the BF, so I was MIA until Saturday night, but the BF (who is much more diligent at reading my blog than I am) reported that I had 16 comments and most people were advising me to get a wax pencil.

The BF then asked me what, exactly, a wax pencil was.

Well, heck if I know!

So I did some Googling and kept coming up with it being a synonym for "grease pencil." I remember my grandfather using grease pencils in his woodworking shop when I was a little girl. I really liked the way they "sharpen" — by pulling a little string. You can imagine, my poor grandfather had trouble keeping his grease pencils in usable condition once he'd taught his 6-year-old granddaughter how to "sharpen" them!

But his grease pencils were always black. I don't want a black grease pencil to pick up my rhinestones with — I don't want any color that would smudge on the stones.

BUT … the wax pencil research did give me a great idea. Aha! What about that earthquake wax for holding down valuables in museums?

So, yesterday (Sunday, since I'm writing this Monday night) I made the BF accompany me to the local Orchard Supply Hardware where I purchased not just a couple of Inferno Pepper and cilantro plants, but also these fabulous items: a container of "museum wax" and some sort of weird "pencil" used for touching up scratches on wooden furniture (I chose the one for natural oak finishes; it appeared to be colorless).

Today I am thrilled to report that the furniture touch-up pencil — which is very much like a light tan grease pencil, complete with string-pulling sharpening fun — worked like a charm to pick up my little Fimo cane slices. Not a single one sassed back!

I don't know if I'll end up using the museum wax at all if the pencil continues to wow me, but I just want to hug every one of you for the suggestion!