these little rosettes made of ribbon unbelieveably easy to create!
how to: t
hread a large eye needle with a tiny ribbon. don’t knot it, just hold it in the needle with your fingers. then run the whipstitch through a larger ribbon with a wired edge. don’t worry about making a good even stitch…uneven whipstitching will make a lovely flower too!
once complete, scrunch it down into a rose. voila!
if only real roses were as easy to grow.
carol e. loessel’s start with scraps is one of those books that will become many a crafter’s best friend. not only will it inspire you use up that stash of scrap fabric, but it’ll do so in a way that doesn’t just create more scraps! sweet. many times projects that focus on using scraps will have you cut and piece your scraps together, and you end up creating more and more scraps. grrrr. arrrg.
this book teaches you how to make the most of your scraps by turning them into scrappy fabric that can be used in all of the gorgeous designs in the book. this creates only the minimum amount of waste, and gets those scraps out of the corners of your craft room and into the limelight!
there are 23 designs featured, from large quilts to table runners to coasters to pincushions. many of them are quilted but there are a few that either don’t require quilting or would be great for a beginner. there are scrappy parts inserted into traditional quilt designs, scrappy parts used as decorative accents to pieces, and designs that are made almost exclusively of scraps! wouldn’t the pincushion and scissor holder shown below be great to make and give as gifts?
heck yeah.
and what a swell way to use (a nice way of saying get rid of) all those small scraps that you can’t bear to toss.
a breakdown
of nerves
or
a breakdown
in communication
?
irrespective,
i am forever broken.
a variation of this soup runs through most of the alpine regions of france, including the provençal alps and the pyrenees. in these areas, the high concentration of vitamin c present in garlic is looked upon by shepherds—and doting mothers—as a means of warding off winter’s ills. most rustic recipes simply call for stirring egg yolks into the finished soup. this version, with its whole poached eggs, comes from the departmental capital of digne, long a stopping-off point for alpine tourists and well known for its thermal baths. the city lies on the famous road built by the romans through italy to northern france, a byway that later became la route napoléon.
ingredients:
directions:
in a soup pot over high heat, combine the water, garlic and sage. bring to a boil and boil until the garlic is soft, about 15 minutes. remove the pot from the heat and, using a slotted spoon, scoop out the sage and garlic. discard the sage and mash the garlic with a fork. return the garlic to the pot of water and season with salt and pepper.
return the water to a boil, then reduce the heat so the liquid gently simmers. one at a time, break the eggs into a small bowl and slip into the simmering liquid. cook until the whites are opaque and the yolks are soft and still liquid, about 2 minutes.
place 2 croutons in the bottom of each of 6 wide soup bowls. using a slotted spoon, quickly and carefully remove 1 egg at a time from the simmering soup and place 1 egg on the bread in each bowl. top each egg with 2 ladlefuls of the soup, then sprinkle with the parsley, dividing evenly. drizzle 1 tbs. of the oil into each bowl and serve immediately, before the eggs cook any further. serves 6.
note: to grill croutons, rub bread pieces with garlic, if desired, and brush well with olive oil. preheat a stovetop grill pan over medium-high heat, or prepare a fire in a grill. grill the bread pieces on one side until lightly browned, about 1 minute. rotate the pieces 45 degrees and continue grilling on the same side for about 1 minute more to create attractive grill marks. turn and brown without rotating on the other side, about 1 minute more.
serve this richly spiced vegetarian chili with toasted pita points or on a bed of steamed couscous or rice.
other squashes, such as hubbard or acorn, may be used in place of the butternut squash.
ingredients:
directions:
in a saucepan, combine the chilies and water and bring to a boil. remove from the heat. cover and let stand for 15 minutes. using tongs or a slotted spoon, transfer the chilies to a work surface; reserve the liquid. discard the stems and seeds from the chilies. in a food processor or blender, combine the chilies with the whole garlic cloves and 1/2 cup of the liquid. process until smooth. set aside.
heat a heavy pot over medium heat. coat the pot with nonstick cooking spray. add the onion, the sliced garlic cloves, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin and coriander and sauté until the onion and garlic have softened, about 5 minutes. stir in the tomatoes and their juices, butternut squash and the chili puree. cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the squash is just tender, about 25 minutes.
stir in the chickpeas with their liquid, the zucchini, dried apricots and prunes. simmer, uncovered, until all of the squashes are tender, about 15 minutes more. transfer to a warmed serving dish and serve hot.
serves 6.
dorset buttons are a very old style of button that’s handmade from embroidery floss or yarn and wrapped around a ring-shaped base.
cutest little things ever.
they look great anywhere…on a knit or crocheted sweater, on a bag, on a hat, or if you can’t part with them…stashed away in a special drawer.
you can also glue a pin-back on a dorset button and wear it as a fun accent.
best of all, they’re way easier to make than they look!
materials needed:
plastic drapery rings (shown here are size 1 3/8”)
yarn or floss
embroidery needle with a big eye and a dull tip
scissors
how to:
cut a very long piece of floss or yarn. dorset buttons are usually made with one continuous piece of floss, so you need enough to complete your whole button. i usually measure out the length of my arm three times, and that’s plenty. thread this piece on your needle.
you’ll need to capture the loose end of your floss underneath the stitching you’ll be doing in just a moment. so lay the end of your floss against your drapery ring, as shown.
now you’re going to cover this ring with blanket stitches. so, still holding that loose end in place, bring your needle up through the center of the ring.
pull that entire length of floss through, until you have just a small loop showing.
now stick your needle through that loop. pull the thread the rest of the way through, until it’s wrapped snugly around the ring. repeat this stitch over and over again, making sure that as you pull each stitch tight, it’s sitting right next to your previous stitch.
the photo below shows two important things: first, after you’ve covered about ¼” of your initial loose end in blanket stitches, you can cut the rest off and then keep stitching. second, you may notice that the ring is turned over…just a personal preference…some prefer to stitch from left to right once the loose end is covered.
keep blanket stitching until you’ve covered up the entire ring. if you’re doing it right, you should see a nice little seam developing along the edge of your ring as you work.
note that if you’re using a pearl cotton floss as shown here, it will take a while to cover up the whole ring. the process is much faster with crewel or yarn.
once your ring is completely covered, then it’s time to slide that little seam from the outside of the ring to the inside. just work your way around, moving a section at a time.
now you’re ready to make some spokes! this is the only tricky part of the process. you still have a long, long tail of floss attached to your ring. and now that you’ve rolled the seam to the inside of the ring, the end of your floss is now facing toward the inside of the ring as well.
wrap this tail of floss over the ring several times in order to form six equal spokes of floss. to begin, pull your floss across your ring as shown below, wrapping it around the back of the ring and back up to where you started.
now wrap the floss behind the ring again, but this time, you’ll wrap toward the front from a new location, 1/6 of the way around the ring from your first spoke. don’t panic when the spokes don’t line up. refer to this picture:
keep wrapping, placing each spoke at 1/6 intervals, until you have six spokes. these spokes should be wrapped very snugly around the ring and should meet in the very center of the ring on the front. (on the back, they’ll look all weird…don’t worry about that right now.)
now that you have spokes, they need to be anchored in place and the back of the ring needs to be aligned with the front. do this by making a few tight stitches around the center point of all these spokes.
here’s how. hold your ring so you’re facing the front side.
bring your needle up on one side of the center point. thin you stitch down at the opposite side of the center point and pull this tiny stitch tightly. as you pull, you’re also pulling the center point of all your spokes toward the exact center of your ring. like magic, the back will begin to align with the spokes in the front.
good deal! now for the easy part…covering those spokes with a series of backstitches. choose a spoke to begin stitching on. bring your needle up from the back of the ring to the front, and bring it up just to the left of this spoke. now take your needle back down through the ring, this time just to the right of the spoke. you’ll end up with a tiny little stitch that wraps over the top of the spoke.
move forward to the next spoke, and do the same stitch. the photo above shows the path of your needle. keep working in this manner, taking one backstitch around each spoke and moving around and around the wheel. within a few rows, you’ll see a little pattern emerging.
when you’ve filled in the whole center of the button with stitching, it’s time to tie off your thread. by this time, you’ll have stitched your way out to the edge of your button. just pass the needle under about ¼” of the yarn you blanket stitched around the ring initially, then cut the loose end close to the button.
hint: when making these with pearl cotton, it might be helpful to switch to a smaller needle for this last step. if you’re using a thicker yarn, your embroidery needle will slide easily under the blanket stitches…no problemo.
extra credit:
now that you’ve got the basic technique down, you can start playing with variations! for example:
do your backstitching in a different color than your ring and spokes.
wrap your wring with two different colors of floss at the same time for a mottled effect. sounds too complicated? try using variegated thread or yarn!
make some stitches around the ring in a contrasting color.
sew beads onto your finished button.
turn your button over so the backstitching looks more like basketweave.
what can you make from felt? heck, what can’t you make from felt?!? feltique shows you step by step how to master this versatile material. in one simple guide, you’ll have everything at your fingertips to create charming projects using a variety of felting techniques: wet felting, needle felting, fulling, and sewing commercial felt.
you’ll learn about wet felting—a process involving heat, moisture and agitation which requires only a little soap, hot water and elbow grease; needle felting—in which you turn wool fiber into needle felt by merely pricking it with a felting needle…it’s kinda like sculpting with wool; fulling—the process of knitting or crocheting a garment and then agitating it in hot water and soap, which creates a strong, durable wool fabric.
more than 45 unique projects offer quick and simple designs for beginners as well as fun and challenging endeavors for experts, and the techniques are great for creating everything from warm and fuzzy clothing to useful household items. for limitless inspiration in making all things felt and beautiful…from bauble earrings to baby rattles, from hats to handbags…this definitive guide is a keeper!
materials needed (for a set of three magnets):
three 24” lengths of different colors and sizes of ric rac
thread, the same color as ric rac
needle
three small beads or buttons
three round magnets
glue (e6000 adhesive is the best for this!)
how to:
thread your needle so you have a length of about 8” of thread. tie a large knot with both ends, leave a 2” tail.
cut a 25” length of ric rac. take your needle and pull up through the first ric rac point an down through the second ric rac point.
keep going up and down through the points. push the ric rac down to the knot as you go, making little folds.
when you reach the end, push the ric rac down and tie a knot with the knotted 2” tail and the needle end. arrange the ric rac around the ring to finish your starburst. you might need to trim the fray off the ends of the ric rac.
glue your bead front and center. glue magnet to the center of the back. make two more to complete your set. once dry, they’re ready for use!
far too often
i’ve let sleeping dogs lie
but this runaway mutt
this slumbering hound
tempts me so
hockey mask
bullet proof vest
fireproof gloves
steel tipped boots
check.
with an air horn in one hand
and a sharp pointy stick
in the other
i patiently wait
and wonder
what the hell this dog
has been dreaming about
for the last 38 years
can’t wait til fall comes. i’ve always been much more of a fall and winter gall than spring and summer, but this soup is good any time of year! you can even serve it chilled in the summer.
with its flavorful orange-yellow flesh, butternut squash is especially good for pureeing to make soups.
take care when cutting the squash as the skin is quite hard. use a sharp chef’s knife and, if needed, tap the knife with a kitchen mallet once the knife is securely wedged in the squash.
ingredients:
directions:
preheat an oven to 375ºf.
cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove and discard the seeds. brush the squash inside and out with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. place the squash, cut side down, on a baking sheet. using a sharp knife, prick the skin in several places. add enough water to the baking sheet to just cover the bottom. roast the squash until a sharp knife penetrates the flesh easily, about 1 hour. when the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh into a food processor. working in batches if needed, puree until very smooth.
transfer the squash puree to a large saucepan and add the 3 cups broth. bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. add the chestnut puree and 1/2 cup of the cream and stir to combine. if the soup is too thick, add more broth. season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
in a small bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup cream and the brandy until frothy. season with salt and pepper.
ladle the soup into warmed bowls and garnish each serving with a drizzle of the cream. serve immediately.
serves 6 to 8.
sorrel has a sharp, acidic flavor, so it should come as no surprise that its name derives from the archaic french sur, meaning “sour.” the leaves resemble those of spinach and arugula and, like the latter, are often classified as herbs. the plant thrives in the coolness of early spring, when its young leaves have their most delicate taste and tender texture.
ingredients:
for the torn croutons:
for the soup:
directions:
to make the croutons, preheat an oven to 400°f. tear the bread into 1/2-inch pieces and place on a baking sheet. drizzle the butter over the bread, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat evenly. bake until golden and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. remove from the oven and let cool. store in an airtight container at room temperature until ready to use. (the croutons can be made up to 1 day in advance.)
to make the soup, in a soup pot over medium heat, melt the butter. add the onions and sauté, stirring, until soft, about 10 minutes. add the sorrel and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 2 minutes. increase the heat to high, add the potatoes, broth and water and bring to a boil. reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the potatoes are soft, 15 to 20 minutes. remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
using a blender and working in batches, puree the soup on high speed until smooth, 3 to 4 minutes per batch. strain the puree through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan. stir in the cream, mixing well. season with salt and pepper.
place the saucepan over medium heat and reheat the soup to serving temperature. ladle into warmed bowls, garnish with the croutons and serve immediately.
serves 6.
just try opening felt me a smile by toyoko sugiwaka and not smile. it’s loaded with pages of adorable felted animals, toys, ornaments, home decor accents, and more. i really dig the cover project of the hanging bird tent. this book covers both the technique of wet felting as well as needle felting, and provides step-by-step photos and templates to complete each project. lots of beginner tips too!
how cute are these cuddly pair of bears? and how great are the easy peasy directions?!?
the masked cat cushion and the whispering rabbits ring holder are both great wet felting projects.
the nirvana rabbit is a cute wet felted toy you can sew up, and the dog in sheep’s clothing project is comprised of a crocheted dog and a wet felted sheep outfit.
dang cute i say, dang cute.
these lovely beauties are one of the most inexpensive chandeliers you’ll ever see! these spheres are made with two large plastic colanders glued together with colored lightes in them. the light should be twist tied to the top colander so it takes all the weight and there will be no threat of the bottom falling off.
materials needed:
1 each of 35 strand green, purple and amber lights
6 plastic colanders
twist ties
strong string
tool cutters
contact cement
3 ceiling hooks
extension cord
how to:
cut the bottom out of three of the colanders with utility cutters
use twist ties to attach the lights to the colander
twist tie the lights on in four equal parts at the top of the colander
poke a string through the holes and tie big knots in the ends, so they don’t fall through.
add a second same length string across the other way
put contact cement on the four handles of the colanders
wait about 40 minutes and press the colanders together.
hang them up onto secure ceiling hooks and connect them together, use a long extension cord and plug them in.
that is some hot trash right there. want to make them really nasty? replace one bulb from each sphere with one of the red tipped bulbs so that the lights go on and off.
materials needed:
old photo
embroidery thread
patience
yeah, it IS kinda like a spirograph but with thread.
for those of you not old enough to remember a spirograph, you’re missing out. go ebay yourself one.
