My DIY Kinde Case- Because Sewing and Reading are Life

 Ooh, pretty, but was is it? It's my DIY Kindle cover. Why? Because I needed one.  Cool yes?

 I decided I wanted one that would stand up, and not just keep it from getting dinged up in my bag. I would have just bought one, but I wanted two things that weren't going to happen if I bought one. I wanted a pretty floral (hello Amy Butler Ginger Bliss, circa 2005) and I needed it that night. Well, perfectly girly and immediate just doesn't happen all too quickly, so, I had to get creative.




Basically, I traced neatly around my new Kindle onto two layers of that plastic grid my grandma was always trying to teach me how to cover in yarn to make nifty over large cross-stitch-esque designs. Yeah, that never happened, but it is nice and stiff.

Once I had two pieces that matched my kindle of said plastic grid, I cut one into two pieces lengthwise about 2/3 of the way across. (that way those two pieces bend when everything is put together).

Then I cut matching pieces of felt and hot glued them to either side of the plastic grid for softness.

Next I cut four short pieces of elastic and one long piece of elastic, and the strip of fabric for my case cover. I determined it's size by laying out my three case pieces on top of the fabric, with about a quarter inch between the one that went behind that back of the kindle, the narrow one, and then about an eighth of an inch between the narrow and the last one, (the narrow will go in the middle) on the wrong side and tracing around them lightly in pencil. Then, I moved the pieces as though mirrored from those positions, outward, so that I traced a second large rectangle outside the largest rectangle, a second midsize next to the midsize, and a second small on the end, because in the end, I wanted my opening to go in the middle. Once I had all these rectangles marked out, large large, small, medium, medium, small, I added a 1/4" seam allowance around the whole thing, and marked that in, then cut out the long rectangle. Then it was just a matter of lining up where I wanted my elastic to go: four  short pieces situated so they'd cross the corners of the RIGHT SIDE of the end with the first large rectangle - you'll want to fold under the edges on the end that will be visible and finish it nicely, but that's only the two on the fold between the two large rectangles. Stitch them in place at the ends. They need to be tight because these will hold your kindle in place, so cut them a touch short and pull them a bit taut when you put them in.
Then put the long piece all the way across the RIGHT SIDE  approx 1" from end between the two medium sized rectangles, and stitch it down, just at the ends. When you're done, this is what will hold it close.

Now, you'll want to press the far ends (one end of a large and one small rectangle) under. Then fold these two bits toward the center so they just meet and stitch along the top and bottom, like you're making a pillow sham.

Then, the whole thing gets flipped right side out, the rigid felt covered parts slide in. Stitch between the split ends of the front cover so the rigid cover pieces don't slide around, and then along the edge of the narrow one between it and the opening.  Woot! Almost done. Slip the Kindle in to see if the elastic holds it. If it's too loose, use a needle and thread to tighten up the elastic. If you pulled it during the insetting phase, you should be peachy.

Now, the unsightly opening. I covered mine with a strip of ribbon neatly hot glued in place. Why? Because it was quick.

Last things last. Take a strip of the plasticy stuff about an inch by three inches, cover it in the coordinating fabric, and hand stitch it along the top and just a bit down either short side about an inch and a half from the far end of the back of the cover, to hold the folded front as a stand.

And then you're done.
Woohoo! Enjoy some good reading, or stream some movies. Live is just more fun with a good cover.

My apologies if that was hard to follow, but the whole process was pretty intuitive. You'll be fine. Seriously. You will.
If you don't want to have to deal with folding your elastic under, you can add an extra half inch between the two large rectangles, cut between them, attach the elastic, then sew them back together before proceeding. It makes for neater elastic ends, but it's more complicated from a construction standpoint. But you know, it's totally within your skill set.

Geeky Girly Fabric Joy

My new fabric swatch, One Ring Cathedral Window - Hot Pink, from Spoonflower came in the mail today, and it's even prettier than I expected. I'm thrilled. I forsee myself getting some of this printed off to edge some pillow cases, and possibly shrinking it down a bit for some more geektastic Raggedy Rebels. I missing having the truly nerdy dolls in the shop.

Of course, I'll have to shrink it a lot to make it a doll size print. I can't  help but think that the One Ring Cathedral Window print, in all the different colors I have put it out in, would make a FABULOUS bow tie or neck tie fabric. Of course, I'm partial to bow ties, you know, because bow ties are cool.

Sustainability Book Review- Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter by Lloyd Kahn

Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter by Lloyd Kahn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Written as a collaborative work featuring the homes and space, written by the people who built them, Tiny Homes is a great source of inspiration for smaller more sustainable living. Many of the homes and spaces (studios, saunas, offices) were built using salvaged materials, opening up the readers options, not only in size, but also in economy.
Covering a great number of less-than-conventional but earth and pocketbook friendly construction methods, like straw bale, cobb, and palate, and including an article on the basic municipal planning and building approval process, Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter is a valuable resource for people dreaming tiny.
After reading this book, I look around my ridiculously oversized spaces filled with too much stuff and feel compelled to pare down the clutter and live with more of the things I use and less of the things that just take up space.
What makes this book special, beyond the valuable information, is the peak into the lives of the diverse people who have decided to live somewhere tiny and sometimes hand built for very different reasons and in very different places. I also like that tiny home builders featured throughout the book are easy to find and contact because the inclusion of website information from the contributors. All in all, it's a great resource filled with beautiful pictures sure to plant the seeds of a plan in readers' minds.

Little House in the Suburbs: Backyard Farming and Home Skills for Self-Sufficient Living by Deanna Caswell - A Review

Little House in the Suburbs: Backyard Farming and Home Skills for Self-Sufficient Living by Deanna Caswell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The only thing I didn't like about this book is the fact that it made me want goats and chickens as pets for my kids. Slyly, it avoided talking about the inherent problem with animal ownership: someone has to care for those animals, even when you're not there, and therefore travel is complicated. Obviously, this means I should not be a goat or hen owner.

This is supposed to be a book review, not a discussion on why I shouldn't own farm animals, inside the village limits, that my son would love to pieces all while helping us be somewhat more self sufficient.

Okay, back on track. I love that this book deals with not only growing things and self-sufficiency from a production standpoint, but also gives concrete examples of what one can do with the things one has grown. Caswell and Siskin make a point of having practical advice, and even go so far as to include possible garden layout suggestions that actively include pest deterrents. Companion plant list? Yes, please.

I know that in the past I've occasionally voiced irritation with informational books written in an overly anecdotal and conversational format, but here the "blogger" feel translates well.

I enjoyed the book, and most importantly, learned even more than I knew this morning, including exactly what is happening to my squash.

The Edible Front Yard by Ivette Soler: a Book Review

It's winter, and I'm already planning my spring planting. Aren't you?

This year I've decided that I want to go predominantly edible with my plantings, because not only can they be beautiful, they're functional. Let's face it, anything is more functional than grass. Sure, grass is great if you need something for your sheep or goats to munch on, but we don't have sheep and goats at my house (at this point in time) and I'm so tired of wasting time and money on the gas powered goat, I mean, lawn mower. It's silly. Water the grass (okay, I admit I'm not a grass waterer, but my neighbors are), mow the grass, water the grass, mow the grass. We want it to grow, we don't want it to grow. As a nation, we have an identity crisis going on in our own front yards.
No more, I say.

So, I've been spending the long nights reading up on some alternatives, and I want to share them with you, then maybe as planting time approaches we can share some of our plans with each other and check back in throughout the growing season. It will be good old fashioned hard work with delicious rewards.

You with me?

The Edible Front Yard: The Mow-Less, Grow-More Plan for a Beautiful, Bountiful Garden by Ivette Soler

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The Edible Front Yard by Ivette Soler is a good jumping off point for a person who is ready to start making the transition from growing a great big lawn of useless and resource wasting grass to having a functional garden space planted with the things one loves to eat while still maintaining the all important curb appeal. Her descriptions of various ornamental edibles that one might not consider growing, hello nasturtiums and orach, are truly useful in planning a garden. I appreciate that she includes a description of color, height, habit, days to maturity, drainage requirements, hardiness zones, and even what to do with the various edibles. That said, I wish she had included light requirements. It is not safe to assume that all plants need the same light, and while on a rare few Mediterranean herbs she says they require a lot of heat and sun, I know that my plant wish list, if drawn from this book, is going to require a substantial amount of light checking while in the planning phase. It just seems silly that with all of the details provided, that this one was omitted.
Still, it's a good book to have on hand when you're planning and drawing a blank outside the go-to garden veggies and looking for something both yummy and pretty.



View all my reviews

Repurposing the Ubiquitous Altoids Tin

 Remember when I demonstrated how to fold an vast amount of bias tape quickly? Well, if you've started making lots of it and have it coming out your ears like some woman I know, you might be wondering just how to keep it from becoming a tangled mess.

The obvious answer is "wrap it around something. But what?

A piece of cardboard, like commercial bias tape is packaged, leaves those obnoxious creases in your special bias tape. This is why I don't use a flat piece of cardboard.

A cardboard tube such as is I the center of a roll of paper towels (or toilet paper) works much better, but it's garbage day, and the recycling has already been picked up, so I needed something better. Enter the ubiquitous Altoids tin. I can never seem to toss them in the recycling bin, they're just so handy! So, there's usually an empty one floating around my house.

I simply inserted one end into the tin, closed it, and wound the bias tape around it, then secured with a pin.

Easy Peasy

I like that it isn't going to crease my hard-earned bias tape, and I like that I can stack them in my sewing closet a little better than rolls around tubes. Alright, I admit I also like it because it's an excuse to expanding my Altoids tin collection.

Happy sewing!

Folding 5 yards of bias tape, in 10 minutes.

Try It Tuesday

So you've taken the fabric you picked to make your own homemade bias tape and turned it into a parallelogram of doom. You've marked it, folded and pinned it so that the first marked strip pins to the second and so on. You've pinned it, lost hope and stitched it anyway, all the while grateful you decided to try it with a fat quarter instead of larger yardage. You took your twisty wonky mess to your sewing machine, stitched skeptically, then used your good shears to cut out one bit continuous string of fabric, on bias.
That's a triumphant place to be, but also a daunting one. If you're like me and cut those strips at 2", suddenly you have just over 5 yards of bias tape, and therefore a LOT of edges to turn under and press.
Yeah, major time suck.
Well, I don't believe in time suck, so here's what you do to quickly turn that strip of bias tape into something functional.
Get TWO long needles and a ruler. Decide just how wide you want your bias tape to be when both edges are turned. I went with an inch.
Take your pins and put them, about 2" apart so they go through your ironong board cover and back up, then through and up again, so that the space created in the middle of each needle, over the ironing board, is your desired distance, in this case, 1". do it with both needles, 2" apart. It sounds complicated, but it really isn't.
Now hand turn the edges at one end of your bias strip and feed it through the needles. Pull it out about six inches, slowly, and press this section. It's "the hard part."
Now, your can take the ironed end of your folded bias tape and just pull the rest through, under your iron.

You'll want to move your iron around a little so you don't scorch your ironing board.
If the bias tape starts feeding unevenly, just stand up your iron, manually readjust the fold a few inches away from the needles, and start up again. I find I have to readjust about ever 2 or three feet, but it's not a big deal, and still so much faster than painstakingly folding down one edge, and vastly superior to spending money on one of those "bias tape maker" contraptions. It's a free modifiable bias tape maker that you didn't even know you already owned. Pretty cool, huh?

Let Them Play Dolls

In the spirit of the Halloween season, I spent the evening in the Sewing Cellar working on a Marie Antoinette Zombie doll.

They cut off her head, but now she's back, and she isn't looking for cake.

I'm pretty pleased with how she turned out. This was my first attempt at a cut & sew fabric design from both perspectives. I'd never designed one, and I'd never tried to sew one before either. She came together almost exactly the way I had envisioned, and all in less than the time it took my daughter to watch the latest in awful vampire dramas on television. :-)  The hardest part was turning the sewn doll body. I always struggle with turning, and this was no exception.

Now that my ghoulish gal turned out so well, I may be on to making more cut and sew dolls. It was a lot less labor intensive than my usual process, and since I had the design printed on Kona Cotton, she's just as durable as my typical Raggedy Rebels.

Now that I spent this evening playing, tomorrow it's back to the serious work of sewing on Halloween and Teslacon costumes.

What are you working on these days? 

Quick Costume: A Guide for the Halloween Impaired

1. Old globe + masking tape + old jacket- you are Atlas. 


2. Draw on a 3rd Eye with Makeup. Done.


3. Fluff your hair up, wear too many sequins, smear on some orange face paint, and talk with an overblown "Joisey" accent all night.


4. Zipper glued to your face (use washable glue stick for the quickness) leave it open over part of your face and smear red lipstick (or fake blood if you've got it) over the open area. Creepy "human suit" accomplished.


5. Wear all of your purses and backpacks at once. You are a pack mule.


6. Put on your fancy schmancy-est clothes and a sneer. Wear a "Hello my name is" sticker which says "The 1%."  I promise, America remembers.


7. Way too much makeup. You are now Tammy Fae Baker.


8. Bedsheet Toga. Double props if you tell people you're dressed as the Emperor Winston Churchill.  (Obscure Doctor Who reference, don't worry, it works if you say you're a Roman too.)


9. Take off your wedding ring and go as a Spinster.


10. Navy, Baby Blue, Red, and White clothes, same colors in face paint. Paint your whole face and wear a label that says "Hope."


11. Dust baby powder and glitter on your skin, go as a creepy Sparkly Vampire.


12. Draw on gills- you're a fish out of water.


13. Draw tally marks all over your arms and face. Put eyeliner on a lanyard. Act like you have absolutely no idea what anyone's talking about when they ask what your costume is. (Again with the obscure Doctor Who reference.)

Sustaining Growth

Sometimes your garden gets too much sun.
Sometimes you spend months nurturing your flowers, and vegetables, sometimes you spend years nurturing your perennials or succulents only to watch them wither under the unrelenting sun of a long heat wave and extended drought.
I personally have been struggling with keeping my garden well watered, full well knowing that the burning rays of the sun were, at this point, doing more harm than good as the mercury lingers in the triple digits and the rainfall is many inches behind.
Yes, I've let my grass go. I don't care, the heat can have it and when it's over I'll consider planting my yard with useful vegetation. Seriously, why do we spend the majority of our yards on growth we can't even eat?

In any case, I have been particularly worried about my mother's plants. Situated on a south exposure porch of her home, they get about sixteen hours of sun each day, this time of year. Yes, I said sixteen. Every day they've been looking a little more exhausted this week. I was planning to recommend moving them today, but it turns out, my mother is brilliant.

When I arrived on her porch today, bearing one humble zucchini in return for mooching off of her home's vastly more efficient internal cooling system, I saw that she had taken a splash of ingenuity and mixed it with a pinch of resourcefulness and created a perfect little shade for her container plants.

One bungee cord plus one umbrella equals much happier plants.

Could your plants benefit from some bright shade today?

Sent from the TARDIS Intergalactic Temporal Mobile Service

Rolled Garlic Pesto Cheese Bread

One of my very favorite things to bake has been featured over at Modern Rosies

Modern Rosies: Lunch Pail: Rolled Garlic Pesto Cheese Bread:

Go check it out, it is as fabulous as it sounds. Then spend some more time on the Modern Rosies site, because it's quite possibly he best DIY site out there.

DIY Holiday Cards

Somewhere in my basket of holiday cards that I can't bear to throw away (what if it's the last thing Aunt Tilda ever sends me?) I have so many duplicates that sometimes it makes me snort giggle.  Further, I used to buy holiday cards in bulk, so I'd have to remember which box I used for which part of the family, and be sure not to repeat next year for the same people. If I sent inappropriate reindeer cards to my mom's side last year, better not send anyone the leftovers, or they'll think I'm off my rocker, twice.
Of course, the boring "Happy Holidays" message doesn't do a good job of reconnecting with the people who are important enough to me to send a card in the first place, so then I end up thinking, I might as well write the dreaded "Christmas Letter."  Now, if you're like me, you're shuddering for two different reasons right now. The idea of writing a Christmas Letter is in and of itself daunting. It's time consuming. You have to include enough information about the last year to bring people up to date, but you have to gauge your language, not come off whiny or boastful. That's harder than it seems, hence the shuddering. The other reason you might be  shuddering?  If everyone sends you a letter, then you have to *read* and *retain* the information, rather than run away in horror.
Best solution? Make your own holiday cards. Cards with personality, cards that say what you want to say, without having to hand write it or fill a whole page.  Cards with your own artwork of family photos. They're personal, they're fabulous.
Last year I told you how I had begun making my own simple cards, and the nightmare that was trying to print them myself. Well, it turned out that having Shutterfly print them for me was a great idea. I also had them print up some notecards  and greeting cards for other occasions too, all of which have come in handy over the last twelve months.  (Seriously start thinking ahead now for birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and even graduations, you won't be sorry that you did.)

Last year, this is the card I went with.

I *still* love the bright colors, and I got a lot of compliments on it. It stood out and let's face it, kids are cute.

I also did a few with this fun Ho Ho Ho design-

It's entirely possible I was just looking for an excuse to include their Halloween pictures from last year. By entirely possible, I mean that was my entire point.

For this year, I'm leaning toward the Happy Everything card, though they have a fabulous Snowflake Star one. I love the Happy Everything one because it doesn't have to be any holiday specific, really, and since so many of my friends and family don't really do Christmas, I won't get any "uh, you do remember I'm an atheist" emails in late December.  It's also a bright-colors winner as well, and I'm so easily seduced by color.

Of course, I never got around to making that calendar for my grandparents last year, but I'm nearly done with that cookbook I'm working on. I really love the photo books, and I'm excited to finish compiling all the family recipes and pictures of the family member most responsible for them, and by finish, I mean, finally get my aunt to part with a certain frosting recipe.  Want a sneak peak of just one recipe?

Yum.

So, while I'm busily telling you why I like to make things myself, I'd like to extend the opportunity for THREE of you to try out their services too.

What's that? A giveaway? Sweet.

I have three promotion codes for 25 cards each!  If you'd like to win one, comment below with:

Mandatory:
Which Shutterfly card you like the best. Be sure to leave your email address in a non-spam-bot-friendly form with your comment if your email address isn't readily viewable in your blogger profile.

Optional:
Where you spread news of this giveaway. (twitter, facebook, G+, pinterest, your blog/lj/myspace/public billboard wherever. Just leave a link so I can check on it if you win.) You can do any of these once a day, just don't irritate your followers. It's not fun if you're irritating your followers.

Winners will be chosen Tuesday November 1st by number randomizer and notified by email. After winner responds, I'll email them their code. If you don't respond, I straight up have to find someone else who is going to respond, since codes languishing in in-boxes is just s.a.d. Alternate winners will be picked based on my mood and how much whimsy is in the air. Yes, it's a weird giveaway timeframe, but I'll be taking pictures all next weekend looking for something slightly cooler to put on my Happy Everything card.  I'm thinking Zombies, since I think Halloween pictures look great on a Christmas Card.


Disclaimer: Yep, I'm getting a promo code for offering this giveaway too.  No, I'm not getting paid, and frankly, I wouldn't be writing this at all if I didn't like the product I've gotten from Shutterfly in the past.  I started out as a happy customer, not a grabby blogger. Have a nice day.

Homemade Caramels Recipe.

Yummy Yummy Caramels

(For those of you who are looking for a recipe for Homemade Carmels, this is for you too.

I pronounce it Carmel as well, but apparently, there's another A in there. Who knew?)

Backstory- I went to the Apple Orchard recently and remembered how unbelievably delicious homemade caramels are, and how much I love them.  So, I decided to find a good and easy recipe for making them myself, because the successful accomplishment of somewhat difficult recipes makes me eel powerful.  Anything that requires me to keep track of temperature qualifies as somewhat difficult to me, even though it's actually quite easy, you just have to pay attention.


In my search I found a lot of recipes that seemed to fit the bill, and ultimately decided on the one over at Giverslog.  However, my dyslexia kicked in and I misread it, so ultimately, I ended up doing something different, and it turned out delightful, so I'm going to share that with you.


Yield: about 60, depending on how you slice them.
Time:  about 90 minutes prep and cook time. 4 hours to cool, extra time to cut and wrap.
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter cut into one oz chunks
1 cup light corn syrup
1 14-oz. can evaporated milk
2 1/2 cups packed brown sugar 
1 tsp. vanilla


Equipment:Working candy thermometer
Small Sauce Pan
heavy, 3-qt. sauce pan
heat resistant spatula or good mixing spoon
parchment paper
 9×9 pan (or 9x 13" pan if you want them thinner/easier to cut/ to have more) 
wax paper (optional)

Small bowl of cold water (optional)
pastry brush (you might not need this, but have it out anyway)


Steps from here to Yummo


1. Put about two inches of water into the small sauce pan and clip your candy thermometer to the side, being sure to not let it touch the bottom of the pan.  Boil the water.  Take note of what the thermometer reads when your water boils. If you're at/near sea level, it should read 212 F (100 C). If it doesn't, adjust your goal temperature by the same amount. As a matter of fact, write this down so you're not second guessing yourself later. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP


2. You're done with the small pan of water. Empty it and let it cool to be put away again. Remove your thermometer, dry it off, and clip it to the side of your 3-qt sauce pan, being sure not to let it touch the bottom of the pan.  


3. Line your 9x9 pan with parchment paper, being sure to fold it in the corners so it comes up the sides of the pan.


4. Melt butter over medium low heat in 3 qt sauce pan.


5. In the center of the melted butter, and taking care not to get any on the sides, pour brown sugar into center of melted butter, taking care not to get any on the sides of the pan as apparently sugar left clinging to the edge of the pan can make the whole batch crystalize. If there is some on the side, push it down with a damp pastry brush.  Stir  slowly  until butter and sugar are well combined, by which I mean, stir a lot.


6. Add evaporated milk and corn syrup. Mix, mix, mix.


7. Raise temperature to medium for a minute, then raise temperature slowly while mixing frequently, until mixture is boiling. Did I mention mixing? Do that, a lot. Do not raise temperature too quickly. By the time it's boiling, it should be pretty homogeneous, rather than a greasy separated mess. If it's a mess, you needed to be stirring more prior to this point. 


8. Reduce heat to medium again, maintaining a good steady boiling action.  Stir. Seriously, keep stirring this puppy. Stop stirring and it might get greasy and distasteful. Seriously, keep it moving, keep it homogeneous.


9. Watch the thermometer. I find that it gains heat slowly at first, then very rapidly at the end, so pay attention.  To make caramels, you're aiming for about 244 F- which is early in the firm ball stage.   If you don't trust your thermometer (like I don't trust mine) grab that bowl of cold water and drop a little of the hot mixture into it.  The water will rapidly cool it and if you pull it out of the water and it squishes into a somewhat firm ball, that's what you're aiming for.


10. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Stir in thoroughly.


11. Pour into prepared/lined pan.

(I was lazy about the whole folding bit. Seriously, cleaner edges are your friend)

12. Allow to cool. All the way. This takes painfully long.  Maybe go to the gym or something, it takes hours.


13. Remove from pan by lifting it out via the parchment paper.  Slice into candies of your preferred size. I like to use good sharp pizza cutter for this.

14. Wrap those candies in wax paper.  You know, except the ones you gobble up while slicing and wrapping.




Note- you can take the mixture off at earlier stages for different purposes.  If you take it off during the thread stage, it'd make a nice dip. It'd be good for dipping apples and other treats in during the soft ball stage.

Handy Candy Temperature Chart

(according to my Pyrex candy thermometer)

Syrup:.....................230 - 235

Fudge/Soft Ball:....... 236-240

Firm Ball:................. 240-250

Hard Ball: ................250-266

Soft Crack:.............. 270-290

Hard Crack:............ 300 - 310

Big Questions

Since he's more and more interested in using the potty chair all of the sudden, I have a deep and important question for all you DIYers out there.
Do you think we should go ahead and buy some pull up training pants, or should I make them myself?

Opine.