Reminiscing

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A few weeks ago we celebrated the boy's 5th birthday.  It seems like no time at all since his 4th.  No really.... no time at.  It prompted me to look back over the world wind year in an attempt so see where the time went.

I am amazed at how much has occurred during the last year.  Considering that it has been some time since I have blogged, and so much has occurred, I have decided to catch you up a bit, rather than jumping in with my latest crafting endeavor.

As I said, it was about this time last year that we celebrated my son’s 4th birthday with a Lego party.  Soon after that we left on an epic journey across the country from Florida to Texas (about 900 miles).  On the way we visited my sister in New Orleans, LA, and ate beignets at Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter.  In Texas, we visited some friends who have a cattle ranch on the Colorado River.

   

These friends had a few chickens at their house that Fire Beard was very impressed with, and when we got back he decided it was time for us to get some chickens of our own.  We now have 9 chickens, and are planning to get a few more this Spring.

The girl kicked off the summer with her graduation from Preschool and her first ever Ballet recital.

The summer was spent having fun, and avoiding the heat as much as possible.  The kids spent most of the summer in the kiddie pools we kept filled with cold water, but we did venture out a few times on some amazing adventures.

We started home schooling in the fall.   Science is one of the kid's favorite subjects.

At the same time Fire Beard quit his job and set off for Law School.  My search for a job became desperate - we had no income.  At the end of October we celebrated the girl’s 6th birthday.

The kids were Ron and Ginny from Harry Potter for Halloween.  I was completely overjoyed about the costume choice.  I wish I had been able to make proper costumes for them, but at around the same time I finally found seasonal employment at Target.

 

Target was part time, and minimum wage, not nearly enough to live on (although my experience there was a positive one), so the search went on.  I was finally contacted by one of the local universities that I had applied to about two months earlier.  They were offering me a job - full time, and including benefits.  The pay wasn’t nearly as much as Fire Beard had been making, but it was enough. I started working full time at the University right after Thanksgiving (after working the opening shift of Black Friday at Target).

The  transition to working full time - or for that matter part time - was difficult, especially with Fire Beard away.  We are still adjusting, but we managed to have some fun this winter anyway.  The county fair was in November.  My family tends to visit the exhibits rather than the rides - although the kids did go on a few rides.  This year the chickens were particularly interesting.  The kids want to enter our chickens next year.

Christmas was very modest, but we enjoyed it.  It was full of handmade goodness (at least as much as I could muster), and 1 long desired gift shared by the kids.

Thus far, this year we are still adjusting to me working full time.  Fire Beard is back home this semester, and is acting as Mr. Mom.  The kids are happy with him home, as his priorities are a bit different than mine - the house is a bit messier, but there is a lot more play time.

I am a bit surprised to report that I have actually been crafting more since starting work.  I have a whole hour to myself every day during which I can craft my heart out (they call it lunch time for reasons I can’t comprehend).  I have already finished a pair of socks (pictures forthcoming).  I have even joined the gym, and may finally loose some of the weight I gained with these kids.

Hopefully my next post will be back to the normal crafty stuff I have tried to provide in the past - here’s to hoping.

Chalk Alternative

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I love chalkboard paint.  I use it on just about everything.  Even my dining table is covered in chalkboard paint.  There is just one problem.... chalk.

Even if you forget about allergies, and the mess that chalk dust makes, chalk still has a serious flaw.  Chalk will not hold a point, it simply  breaks too easily.  So it is nearly impossible to write fine lines or on small surfaces with chalk.  I have seen a few new liquid chalk pens that write wonderfully, but they are very expensive (around $5 or $6 per pen).  What is a thrifty, chalkboard loving gal to do?

Buy a soap stone marker like the one pictured above.  Soap stone is an extremely soft stone.  It is so soft that a small amount of it will actually rub off on hard surfaces and leave a light mark.  This mark can be removed, but it does not rub off as easily as chalk, making it ideal for marking on items that will be handled (like the above food jars).  They can even be sharpened like a pencil, so they can write very fine lines.

Soap stone markers are traditionally used by metal workers, as they write easily on metal.  And since they are a tool they can be found, rather cheaply, at hardware stores.  My soap stone marker, seen above, was found at my local hardware store for about $2, and refills can be found for about $1 for a five pack (not that you will need them - I have used the same piece of stone for about 1 year now).

Happy marking...

My Daughter Held a Snake

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Hello all.  My family has been busy of late.  We have been doing a lot of traveling since Fire Beard started law school.  A few weeks ago we stayed at his new studio on the way to visit my parents.  He has done a really good job with his place, and I hope he will let me show it to you all soon.  In the meantime, I would like to show you what we did with my parents.

Here in Florida we have a nature themed theme park called Silver Springs.  It is centered around the gorgeous natural spring flowing onto it's grounds.  The park have glass bottom boat rides, animal exhibits, and animal shows.  It was the animal shows my kids liked the best.

Years ago, when I was about my daughter's age, I volunteered to hold the ball python at the reptile show.  After hearing that story my daughter was determined to hold the giant snake too.  They no longer allow audience members to hold the animals during the show because the animals can be hurt by careless, or even aggressive audience members, but the nice young man running the show allowed my daughter to hold the snake after everyone else had left.  She loved it!

I was allowed to hold a corn snake which my son consented to pet (he wouldn't touch the big snake), and the bird in the above pic got so close it actually pecked my camera.

Have you ever been to a great american park that wasn't as famous as Disney World?  I want to know about it.

Fabric Covered Button Tacks

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I thought I would give you another little peek at my up and coming studio.  This is a peek at one tiny detail - the tacks I have made for my pin board.

If you would like to make some tacks like these for yourself, it is really very simple.  Start with a fabric covered button kit, a few fabric scraps, and some tacks.  Make sure the buttons you buy are large enough to fit over your tacks.  If you can find them, buy the buttons that do not have a shank attached to the back.  The shanks can be taken off with a heavy duty wire cutter if you are unable to find the buttons with the plain backs.

     

First, remove the shanks if necessary.  Then follow the instructions on your particular button kit.  Once your buttons have been made, use hot glue to attach the tacks to the buttons.

This is a great project to use up scraps of precious fabric that are too small for any other use, as well as fabric covered buttons left over from other projects.  These buttons are also great magnet covers; but if you use the really strong magnets keep them far away from each other until the hot glue has thoroughly cooled – I know from personal experience that the magnets are stronger then the glue.

The Kid's Craft Area

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My kid’s have a little craft area adjacent to my own.  Its complete disarray was driving me to distraction.  It was also driving the children into my own craft area.  Something had to be done!

I decided to install 2 small Bygel rails and 8 Bygel containers that I picked up the last time I was at Ikea (total cost around $12 USD).  The containers hold things like colored pencils, markers, and scissors.  I also repurposed some small tin cans to hold crayons.  Under their table 2 cloth boxes I made a while ago hold paper, felt, coloring books, stickers, and other craft embellishments.  The kids started using their newly organized table almost immediately, so quickly in fact that I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of the table while it was mess free.

Now it is time to brag!  The morning after the kid’s craft table was cleaned up my daughter presented me with a project she made entirely on her own.  She turned her little shopping cart into a horse for her dolls to ride in.  I think she did a really wonderful job, and I just had to share.

Thread Organizer

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Fire Beard was able to come home this weekend, which was great for the kids.  It isn’t something he will be able to do every weekend, since the cost of gas is so high, but I think that the transition will be made easier for the kids by this early first visit.  

Since Fire Beard Vacated his section of our office I have been transforming it into my studio.  I was inspired by some of the beautiful crafting spaces I have seen on Pinterest, to create a space that that was more organized, and more beautiful.  When the transformation is complete I will show you my entire “studio,” until then, I will show you some of the pieces I am creating to make this space my own.

This thread organizer is probably one of the most useful changes I have made in my craft area so far, as my thread organizer was constantly falling over, and allowing the spools to roll across the floor.  To make this organizer I painted an unattractive cork board that we had on hand.  I covered the cork portion with fabric (I glued it on with modpodge).  After spray painting the thread holder, I screwed it on to the cork board.  Then I mounted the whole apparatus on the wall.

You may be wondering why I didn't simply mount the thread holder to the wall.  Well, mounting it to the cork board allowed for an additional use.

I could stick pins in the cork to the bobbins as well!

Recycled Crayons

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It is back to school time once again, and you know what that means, new school supplies -  Fresh notebooks, full bottles of glue, and best of all, new whole pointy crayons!  But what do you do with the old broken bits of crayon that sit neglected in the shadow of the new crayons?  You make crayon blobs.

Simply take your broken bits of crayon (paper labels removed), stick them in an oven safe mold, and melt them at 175 degrees Fahrenheit until they are well melted (about 30 minutes).

Helpful Tips:

  • Use a mold that will not be used for food later, or line the mold with paper.
  • Don’t be tempted to turn the temperature up, or leave them in too long, because the pigment will sink to the bottom of the mold.
  • Small molds are easier for little hands.  Try not to make your crayon blobs larger than will comfortably fit in a child’s hand.

If you want to be even greener, you could try putting your filled mold in a car on a very hot day.  I know my car will get hot enough to melt crayons :)

Good, Cheap Yarn

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When I saw the Soho Smocked Dress from Modern Top-Down Knitting, it was love at first sight.  I had to knit that dress, but that much good quality yarn doesn't come cheap.  I began searching for good, affordable yarn, but I didn't have much luck.  That was until, quite by accident I came across Little Knits.

I ordered a full bag of Nashua Creative Focus Superwash, and paid just over $20 for the bag, that's about 75% off.  I suspect the yarn was overstock or something similar, because there was a limited color choice.  The yarn came in about a week after I placed my order - not bad for a trip from Seattle to Florida - through the cost of shipping was a bit high.

Overall I couldn't be happier with my purchase, and I would encourage anyone looking for good cheap yarn to give them a look.

The Big Move

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Fire Beard is going to law school.  We are all very excited.  He has been working toward this for several years.  But there is a catch…  The school he will be attending is not in our home town.  He will have to move to attend, but the kids and I will be staying here.  

As you can imagine, things have been rather chaotic around here of late.  I have been preoccupied by “The Big Move,” and my crafting has suffered as a result.  The move should be over as of this post however, and then we can begin settling back into something of a routine that includes crafting!  In fact, I have big plans concerning the kid’s play area, and my own crafting space (which will be enlarged with my husband away).  I may even have a few surprises coming up.

 

In the meantime, I will still be looking for a job (thank you economy), figuring out new ways to save money, reusing what I already have, living naturally, and hopefully telling you all about it.

Tutorial Tuesday: "Wooden" Coasters

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A few years ago I had my husband cut a few biscuits from some smaller logs he was felling so that I could use them for coasters.  I really love these coasters, but it is difficult to make them perfectly level.  They always seem to wobble on the table.  Finally, I had had enough, and I decided to make my own version from scraps of felt.  Now you can do it too.

Here is what you will need;

  • 1 8 1/2 * 11 inch sheet of medium beige felt (this is enough for a bit more than 1 coaster), or the equivalent in scraps.
  • 1 8 1/2 * 11 inch sheet of brown felt (this is enough to make several coasters), or scraps.
  • Glue - You will need a LOT, so I recommend the cheapest Tacky Glue you can find, but anything that will stick to felt and is fairly water proof once dry is fine.
  • A rotary cutter or scissors.
  • A ruler.

Step 1:

Cut your felt into 1/2" wide pieces.  They can be of variable length, but I would recommend that your light beige pieces be at least 5" long or longer.  Your brown pieces should be 5" long or shorter.

Step 2:

Begin Gluing (this gets messy, so make sure your work area is protected).  Starting with your shortest light beige piece, apply a bead of glue along the length of the piece.  Then tightly wrap the piece onto itself along the work surface.

Step 3:

Make the core of your coaster by wrapping additional glued pieces to your starter wrap.  Overlap the ends of the old piece and new piece to avoid unsightly gaps in the finished product.  Continue in this fashion until you have a small sturdy core that can stand on it's own.

Step 4:

With the core standing up, continue wrapping consecutively longer glued pieces around the core until the middle of the coaster is the desired size.  I made mine about 3 inches in diameter.

Step 5:

Now it's time to add the bark.  Starting with the longest pieces of brown felt, glue and wrap about 2 layers of brown felt.

Step 6:

Finish the bark with consecutively shorter pieces of brown felt.  However, you will be covering the seams instead of continuing to wrap after the last one.

Make sure you let your coaster dry, then enjoy.  Please let me know if you have any questions or make them. ~Gerwerken

New Beginnings

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Spring has sprung in my corner of northern Florida.  The few trees we have that loose their leaves are now covered in blossoms, little green shoots are pushing their way out of the soil, and the world is bathed in daily showers.  The entire scene gives a sense of rebirth and renewal, like the earth is gearing up for something new and wonderful.

This time of year makes me want to start anew, re-prioritize, and refocus.  One of the things I have decided to focus on this year is making more time for me and the things that I want to do.  As a full time stay at home mom of two, and part time crafter, I stay very busy.  It is all too easy to pour all my effort into my home and family and have nothing left over for me.

So, why am I spending some of my, “me time,” blogging?  Because I enjoy it.  Every time I make something or do something, and I am asked how I did it, I think, “I should write a tutorial about this.”  I like to share my knowledge.  I hope that it will help others.  It makes me happy.

Happy Holidays

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No, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth, or died, or stopped blogging altogether. I don't even have a good excuse for my long absence.  I simply fell out of the habit of blogging, and even having good material to share didn't motivate me to do so.  Why the sudden return then you may ask?   It is all about the timing.

So far December has been a bit of a roller coaster for my family, filled with ups and downs.  Right now we are having a bit of a down turn.  It started when my son came down with a high fever, which turned into strep throat and a bad sinus infection.  My MiL came down with pink eye while helping me keep the kids seperated.  I got both the sinus infection and pink eye, then DD came down with the sinus infection.  The bad news is that I look like I have been punched in the face due to the combo of red eye and dark circles from lack of sleeep.  Also, this is my first ever bout of pink eye, and it is more unconfortable than I expected.  On the plus side the kids are far more doscile than normal, and Ihave gotten some knitting done while sitting with them.

Up-cycled Play Pants

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After my mosquito fear mongering a few days ago I decided to make a few pairs of play pants for my son (otherwise know as a human mosquito magnet).

I make these pants from up-cycled men's dress shirts I find at thrift shops.   A men's size large is usually big enough for a full length pair of kid's size 2T or 3T pants.  The material is light weight, still fairly durable, highly washable, and cheap.  Best of all, my kid's think they are comfy, and the elastic waistband is easy for them to take on and off for potty breaks.

FO - Dashing Mitts

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Pattern:  Dashing by Cheryl Niamath, size small Yarn:  Cascade 220 in Black Needles: US 7, 4.5 mm Made For: Fire Beard Notes: As I stated in Ravelry, I was not convinced that these mitts would fit when I started this pattern.  Fire Beard is in no way small, but according to the pattern, he needed the smaller size mitts.  I eventually decided to trust the designer and cast on for the smaller size, which ended up giving Fire Beard a very snug fit that he really likes.

Despite the fact that these mitts use less than one skein of worsted wool, these took me FOREVER to knit.  I just didn't find the pattern that interesting, and I kept putting the mitts down in favor of more interesting projects.  As a result, a project that should have taken me a few nights took months.

Dengue, West Nile, and EEE on the Rise

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Fellow Floridians, and travelers to tropical and sub-tropical climates, mosquito borne illnesses are on the rise in both animals and humans.  In the past few days the 2nd Floridan of the year died of Eastern Equine Encephalitis.  This person was from a county very close to my own, near the Florida Georiga border. These illnesses are very dangerous.  Please take precautions when mosquitoes are about to help prevent the spread of these diseases.  Follow this link to learn more about mosquito borne illnesses and prevention.

What is a Sloper or Block?

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When a dressmaker wants to make a fancy pattern using the flat pattern method they usually begin with a sloper or block.  A sloper is a basic pattern without seam allowances, made to fit the measurements of the person who will be wearing the fancy pattern.  Once a sloper is perfectly fitted it can be used to create a lot of different clothes by changing the details, like the length, or neckline, and adding fancy stuff life ruffles.

Why would a knitter care?

Knitting schematics are basically flat patterns.  If a knitter has a perfectly fitted sloper, and knows the measurements of that sloper, then the knitter should be able to adjust the measurements of the knitting pattern to match the measurements of the sloper, and get a perfectly fitted garment.  Interested yet?

I am currently adjusting a pattern to fit me based on  a sloper, and I plan to tell more about it once I get a bit further into the pattern, so stay tuned.

Fun, and a little Sun

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With heat exhaustion, and being carried away by rouge bands of mosquitoes becomming real possibilities, I had had to get creative at play time.

The first solution; and large high powered fan pointed directly at the play area.  Benefits; a constant stiff breeze makes the temperature feel like it has dropped about 10 degrees, and the mosquitoes seem to be blasted away by the breeze (on the other hand the dragonflies like it, and look like they are playing a game of chicken with the fan to see who can get the closest).  Drawbacks; high powered fans can mangle little fingers, so I can't relax for a second out there, and our daily thunderstorms mean dragging the thing inside and outside every time we use it.

The second solution; and indoor chalk playground.  Benefits; central air, and no mosquitoes, need I say more?  Drawbacks; chalk has to be scrubbed off the floor, and my kids draw all over the floor.

Do you have a creative way to keep cool and have fun?  Tell me about it.  Leave a comment .