New Glass from Double Helix Glassworks!

I love love love silver glass! I know I’ve typed those words before. So Double Helix, everyone’s favorite silver glass maker is releasing new glass colors on Saturday, March 26. They’re calling one of them Chloe, a green glass that looks like mother of pearl when it’s worked. They’ve also got a new Aether…Aether 2. Read all about the differences here:

Original Aether was extremely labor intensive which was why it was priced at $60 pound and not available to re-sellers. Aether 2 has solved the production issues so, we’re making it available to re-sellers and lowering the price to $50/pound. It also has an improved viscosity curve. Please, note that Aether 2 and Zephyr are not the same. Aether 2 is a reactive clear and Zephyr is not. Aether 2 will react with silver glasses and it does a better job of holding the luster under encasement. To help distinguish the two clears, Aether 2 will be wrapped in white paper and Zephyr will be wrapped in brown.

And of course pick up some of the other yummy colors while you’re filling your shipping cart. Happy Beading!!

As if Diwali weren’t colorful and fun enough, The Festival of Lights: A Lift-the-flap Diwali Celebration by Namita Moolani Mehra, illustrated by Darshika Varm, makes it even more fun to read about with flaps and things to lift and pull to see more information or details in the illustrations.

The book is a story about a family getting ready for Diwali and what happens on the different days of the five-day celebration. There’s cleaning, shopping, crafting, food preparation and getting the home altar ready for the big day.

It covers decorating the outside of the house with rangoli, diyas and lanterns, buying sweets to share with family and friends, the sights and scents of the mandir (home temple), getting dressed up in new fancy clothes, the story of Diwali and celebrations with relatives.

Flaps (there are more than 140 in all) give you vocabulary words for different foods and definitions, as well as fun things like what’s inside the shopping basket or where the cat is hanging out. They also help illuminate the story of Diwali, which is the triumph of good over evil as Lord Ram defeated the demon Ravana to save his wife, Sita.

This pretty and colorful book helps kids understand what Diwali is and how it is celebrated, regardless of whether they practice it at home. This would be a nice book to keep in a classroom (it’s rated for kids ages 3-7) or to have at home to teach kids about Diwali even if it’s not something you celebrate. Where I live there are a lot of people from India so we are probably exposed to Diwali more than some other regions of America, but it’s a nice holiday to know about wherever you live.

Combine with the book Diwali and check out some fun lantern crafts and printables for kids to round out your experience.

About the book: 24 pages, hardcover, published 2025 by Wide Eyed Editions. Suggested retail prices $22.99.

Have you read?