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Today is our 5th Anniversary so I made this bracelet for my partner with a wooden button since wood is the traditional gift. The main idea started with the button and grew from there. I sewed the button on face-down so I had more surface area to burn the word “Treasure”. The band is knitted in seed stitch with 4-ply cotton yarn on 3.25 mm needles.
I didn’t use a wood burning kit, just a fork and a candle! A metal skewer or nut pick would have been perfect, but I used what we had.
Now, we’re off to play in Glasgow for the day!
Okay, maybe not magic, but certainly an exciting transformation! I found an embarrassing number of old snacks at the back of the cupboard and thought chex mix would be the perfect way to use them up.
In Scotland, we can only get the wheat type of “chex” (they’re variously called “malties” or “malted wheaties”) and bagel chips are out too. When following the original Chex Party Mix recipe, I found it too buttery so this is how I go about making mine:
Pre-heat oven to 250F or 100C. Melt just over a third of a 500g butter block in a pan on the stove (I just chopped off what looked like less than the original recipe). Add the following amounts of flavouring (twice the amount listed in the original recipe):
4 Tb Worcestershire sauce
1 & 1/2 ts garlic powder
1 ts onion powder
The recipe calls for seasoned salt but since the pretzels and nuts I use are already salted, I put in a few cranks of flavoured pepper.
I had around 6 cups of dried, mixed snacks (different types of nuts, stale-ish pretzels, broken corn chips, pumpkin seeds, wheat chex cereal and added in some bran flakes as well).
Once the sauce was all mixed, I slowly poured and hand-mixed it into the dried mixture for even coverage.
Place on a tray and bake for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
I made some earlier in the week with the standard recipe and found my trays too full to do any meaningful mixing. So this time, I tossed the contents of the tray back into the mixing bowl, mixed and then returned it to the tray. I got a much more even crisp and flavour this way. The pumpkin seeds are my favourite addition to the mix- they add a different sort of crunch and taste contrast. What is your favourite thing to include in chex/snack mix?
Edited to Add: Just as I finished posting this, a betty crocker recipe appeared in my contact’s flickr stream with this “italian” style chex mix recipe- the vinegar looks like a great addition!
I have two cute charity shop finds from the past week when I went in search of a dressy blouse. No blouse ever ‘materialised’ (sorry, I had to!), but I found a nice trench coat and an angora blend sweater! The photos are a bit washed out, but the fabrics are not!
My current trench coat is looking worn and dingy and will be upgraded at some point in the future. (I’m thinking about replacing the collar and adding some complementary fabric to the cuffs and piping). Until then, I have this fantastic springy green one to do the job! Once I brought it home, I saw the “dry clean only” tag but since it is only a poly-cotton blend, I decided that it must be able to handle water. I put it on a low temp delicate load designed for sweaters, hung it dry and it was fine! As I placed it on the hanger, I figured out why it says to dry clean: the corners of the jacket bottom are folded, tucked up hems and are not tacked in place. Not a big deal, I just tucked them back up and they held their shape. The photo doesn’t show the cute cherry lining!
Next, I found an angora and nylon blend GAP wrap sweater. It is very cosy and warm and I love the cap sleeves- they’re more versatile for the three similar seasons we get in Scotland. When I first tried it on, I tied it in the back and couldn’t understand why the ties were so long…I envisioned taking it home and shortening them. A few moments later, I tied it in the front in what can only be described as a ‘duh’ moment!
Several weeks ago I found bok choy (or pok choy as I see more often in the UK) in the supermarket for my second batch of kimchi! If you remember my first attempt at kimchi, you’ll remember that it was too weak. I couldn’t find the same recipe this time and just tasted as I went along.
The second batch was too pale but tasted fine so I promptly gobbled it up (after sharing it with 4 or 5 willing tasters)! I just hadn’t put in enough paste. The week that Kimchi 2 was ready, so were the rows of bok choy in partner’s parental allotment! It was amusing to make this third batch when my little sister was visiting because she literally runs away from it. Admittedly, I too ran as a child when our mom chowed down. We thought it smelled (although my mom usually ate the oyster flavoured kim chi and I never ate sea food) but I saw the light when my mom made a friend of mine try some. She had a jar of vegetarian kimchi and I figured I should be a good friend and try it too. I changed my mind about it then but, being a teenager at the time, didn’t admit it until much later in life!
*Kimchi Three was “just right”. I soaked 4 large cabbages, some carrot strips, and spring onions in the salted water.
*Then, I made two times more flavouring paste than I thought I needed, which turned out to be the perfect amount.
*In no particular order, I added together crushed and finely diced ginger (and some tiny strips), freshly minced garlic, hot pepper paste (or, “Rod Paprika paste” as the label helpfully displays), some dried chili flakes for extra heat, a dash of vinegar, a dash of oil, and sesame seeds. I mixed it all together to get a concoction closer to paste than liquid.
*After sterilizing the jars (using the low tech way with an electric kettle and boiling water), I basically smashed and rubbed the paste into each piece of vegetable before placing it in the jar. Pack everything in very tightly and make sure that the top vegetables are covered in liquid/sauce/paste so they do not dry out or mold.
With such large cabbages, I was able to make two jars – I plan on giving the smaller one to my neighbour who thinks she has tried and enjoyed it in the past.
*If you don’t want to have orange hands for the next few hours/days, then wear gloves!
*For Kimchi 2, I let it sit for 4 days on the counter but did about 5 or 6 for this batch before placing it in the fridge. It is summer here, but the temperature was mild at the time- around the mid 60sF.
Partner’s Aunt returned from a cruise with a lovely gift from Norway- a handmade hat! It was hand knitted, according to the tag, with crochet edging and a sewn lining. It has a head toggle, ear flaps and it’s a rainbow! Obviously, I love it! I only had to wait two weeks of Summer to try it out- as we frolicked around Arran together!
Here’s a photo of ‘us’ at Machrie Moor (my dad made the camera strap you see!).
Playing in Lamlash, where we saw a ton of aquatic hermit crabs!
Our guests left this morning and I’ll be slowly catching up with everything here soon.
Although hair-dos do not really have anything to do with crafting or refashioning, I am posting these here for future reference since we browsed old photos for hours searching for some of our past styles. I feel that even with the same old outfit, a new hair-do can make me feel like I’m wearing something brand-new for a fancy occasion and more likely to use what I have in the interest of frugality and controlled consumption.
I was planning on wearing this dress I refashioned for a wedding last summer but in the end I wore a different one. A week or so before the wedding I noticed a large smudgy stain on the stomach area- obviously a remnant of some delicious dish. I soaked it in borax and washed it to discover that the stain had shrunk but was as dark as ever. Having run out of borax, I decided to soak it again in Soda Ash, or Washing soda. A “strong” solution as advised on the pack eventually removed it! I soaked it for around 5 hours just to be sure. I already had all the matching jewelery for this dress but Partner suggested I wear a dress my sister offered for the borrowing. I am glad I did because now I’ve injected some variety into my dress-wear and am more likely to think of the dress with fresh eyes next time.
A few posts ago I wrote about how wearing the same size led us to compete for shirts but it also means that the dress she brought on her holiday fit me perfectly! You can see me in the red dress ceilidhing in the photo above. With white shoes and a shawl, there wasn’t much accessorizing to do so I kept with the floral theme and wore a silver Charles Rennie MacIntosh inspired bracelet with rectangles and rose buds and two rose bobby pins.
My little sister really is awesome and did our hair for us before the wedding. Here are the hair styles I hope to replicate in the future:
One of my teammates got married yesterday, on the 4th of July, and I wanted to make something special for the fantastic couple.
I made the table runner slowly over two weeks unsure about my skills. All the fabric was chosen from my stash and I opted for the pre-made bias binding since I was getting too tired to make some and also nervous about messing it all up at the final stage. The colour of the binding I had on hand tied in very well with the darker strips and as I finished sewing the last edge I excitedly realised it was a keeper!
* I originally had batting/ wadding inside to make it sort of puffy but it made the bottom side pucker so I took the batting out and cut several inches off, keeping it to two layers of fabric.
* As I finished sewing the top and bottom layers, I squared it off and thought about how useful a cutting board and rotary blade would be.
To complement the table runner, I re-potted the best looking aloe we had been growing and placed it in a bright blue pot. I searched the DIY stores for a week but did not find the right size or colour and was relieved when Partner’s mom handed me a perfect blue pot she had picked up only days before our conversation. Adding a clear glass candle holder and four candles in greens and blues, we completed the gift.
When I was still unsure whether or not the table runner would be successful, I asked the bride about types of stores they would be likely to shop if I needed to go the emergency route and buy a gift certificate. I said I had been working on making something but didn’t know if it would work out. Her response was an enthusiastic “Oh, make us something!” which was reassuring.
It wasn’t until I finished the runner with pride, however, and saw how well the plant and candles completed the theme with a caring simplicity, that I knew that I am getting better at expanding my crafting while still tuning the gift to the recipient.
