I must have been about 9 years old when my mom gave me the mood ring she had as a kid. Who hasn't been in awe when watching the dull brown of the colors swiftly change to golden, then light green, then blue, until the final deep midnight blue is all that is left? The idea that a little body heat can determine your mood is part of that magic that kids search for, even when they're old enough to only half-believe or half-wish it were possible. And that final blue of the mood ring was like opening a portal into space. I would try to imagine peering into that small oval and really seeing the universe, picture myself sliding through the opening like a slow leak of molasses until I was floating among the stars.
When I collected stickers (the average girl's hobby in the 1980s), I even had some mood stickers in my collection. (My dad always found the coolest ones for me.) And now, for the bead craze that has swept more than just this nation, my childhood nostalgia has returned in full swing. Our local bead shop had a string of mood beads, and I couldn't resist making a spider with them. But before I could begin, I squeezed the murky beads in my hand, a little at a time, so I could watch the colors change.
Materials: focal mood bead, gun metal spacer bead, foil glass bead, metal spacer bead, forest green bugle beads, purple E beads, round mood beads, silver wire
