Something in the air?

Maybe it's because each day is getting a bit warmer and a bit brighter, but my motivation was sparked this week and I FINALLY updated my Etsy shop.  This was wayyy overdue - I have all of these soaps and lip balms nicely arranged on shelves, but it's obviously not being sold to anyone if I don't get it listed....  In any case, I'm also running a sale on bar soaps for the next week: Buy three, get one free!  Head over and check it out, if you're interested.  

Sarah's Soak Shoppe also has a Facebook page, which you can check out here.

Felt Christmas Tree Centerpiece

My other project from last weekend's crafting mayhem was a felt christmas tree centerpiece, based on this pattern.

I was initially searching for something that resembles the candy cane tree at my Dad's, but no such luck.  I'll have to look at it closely when I'm home for the holidays this year so I can recreate it.  In any case, this project fit perfectly with my hankering for felt as of late.

Unfortunately, hot glue guns appear to be my arch nemesis.  A few bits of glue stuck to your finger is par for the course, but a massive burn blister on my index finger is probably an indication that I have less coordination than previously thought.  At least my stitching didn't result in any bloodshed or other injury.

 I found some cute gingerbread man embellishments that ended up looking just too cute.

 I think I'll take this to work so I have some holiday spirit while doing paperwork!  Hmm, I should probably wait a few weeks to take it in so my coworkers don't think I'm too odd.  I admit though, I feel like I'm in the Christmas spirit extra early this year because of all of the snow outside!

Ruffled Camera Strap

Here's a project for you, Laura, with your new sewing machine!

I was in serious crafting mode this past weekend, and one of my projects was to beautify my camera strap.  After a trip to Joann's (oh fabric, how I love thee), I came home with these colors:

It was a pretty straightforward sewing project.  I made a tube out of my pink polka dot fabric, turned it right side out, and hand basted it to create my ruffles.  I usually machine stitch when I ruffle, but apparently my $1 thread was too pathetic for that, so hand stitching it was.

I sewed the ruffle to the black fabric, and then made another tube.  This makes my strap cover completely removable, so I can easily change it out as I find a new fabric to love.

I also added a little pocket to hold my lens cap, which will likely be of huge importance.  I've only lost it/dropped it/left it in my pocket a few dozen times...

The best part of this project:  It cost less than $5, which is my kinda price!

A tisket, a tasket... Handmade birch bark baskets!

Before I attempted my birch bark baskets, I already had some experience in basketry.  As cliche as it sounds, basket weaving is actually something I enjoy!  The hardest part about it is finding supplies locally, rather than having to order reed sight unseen from the internet.

Needless to say, working with my harvested birch bark has been such a treat!  Once it gets wet (which is required considering you have to clean the forest gunk off of it), it really functions just like construction paper.  Take away the weaving part, and you can actually end up with a basket pretty quickly!  I sewed the first one, but went to hot glue for the next two.  Might be a little less 'natural' but it avoided the risk of tearing at the stitches.

I love how you naturally get two colors to use: the lighter shade is the outside of the bark, while the dark brown is the inside.

They looked pretty good initially, but I really thought they needed a little something extra.  I headed off to Joann's and found myself some moss to use as an accent.  I think I've found another hobby, and a cheap one at that!

By the way, I hit 5000 page views yesterday!  Woohoo!

Harvesting my craft supplies

I apologize for the sporadic nature of my posts...  I think I am going to go for a Monday-Wednesday-Friday kind of deal, because frankly, I don't have enough going on for five posts a week!

Last weekend, the Eagle River Nature Center was hosting a workshop on making your own baskets from birch bark.  I found out about the event a bit late, so it was already full when I called to get a slot.  In my somewhat snarky nature, I immediately find myself thinking "well fine you stupid nature center, I'll figure out how to do it myself."

So off I went to do some internet research and figure out how to go about doing such a thing.

Obviously, the first step was to find myself some birch bark.  Now, as Karl and I are both stewards of the forest (and not about to break the law either), we had to find some already dead birch trees.  Cutting the bark off of a live tree will lead to it's premature death, as well as making it an eyesore for other travelers through the woods.  We headed over the park at the end of our street, and set off on the trails looking for some fallen down birch trees.  It would appear that birch is a rather hardy tree, because almost every dead tree was something other than birch.  We found a few small ones, but the narrow trunk made for very thin bark that was nearly impossible to peel off.  Eventually, we found two pretty large trees and I was able to peel bark until my little heart was content.  Once I got started, it actually wasn't too difficult - all I used was a utility knife to score the bark, and a putty knife to loosen any stubborn areas.

Here's a sampling of what I brought home.  The pieces ended up in varying sizes, because it seemed that the bark would split where it decided, regardless of where you had planned.  Check back on Wednesday to see my creations!

Our wind tunnel (aka the front door)

Karl and I somehow manage to always end up living in old houses.  Even moving to Alaska, we ended up in a house built in 1954 (which is pretty old for up here).  Old houses have their fair share of drafts, and a less than perfectly maintained rental house has a few more.  I really have no idea what to expect for heating bills this winter, so I wanted to get ahead of the game as much as possible.  Our front and back doors had considerable gaps below the door, and you could feel the cold air blowing in even just standing nearby.  I decided to make some draft guards to stop as much of the wintry winds as possible.

Even better, I was able to use things I already had on hand!  I had some leftover canvas from my homemade shopping bag project (or rejected project - so no worth it when you end up getting them free half the time) that was just perfect.

I ended up with two pieces of fabric that were just the width of the door, and about two feet long.  Probably more fabric than I needed, but I just split what I had sitting in my box.  I folded each piece in half and stitched up one of the long sides and one of the short sides.  

Then I turned it inside out, and sewed two rows of stitching down the middle (this is the part that goes underneath the door).  For the draft guard for the front door, I stuffed both sides with some leftover stuffing. 

For the back door, I used stuffing for the part on the inside of the house, and crushed packing peanuts for the outside.  I used the packing peanuts for two reasons: 1. I didn't have enough stuffing to do both sides, and 2. there's very little overhang over the backdoor, and I figured stuffing would end up a soggy, disgusting mess when it rained.

Super easy project, and will hopefully save us a few bucks on heating this winter!

What a lovely bathroom!

Jeez, I didn't realize how many days had gone by until I came to my blog and realized I hadn't read anyone else's for almost a week!  Having Karl working the same schedule as I am certainly requires some adjustments to my usual routine.  I'm used to having almost every evening to myself because Karl would be stuck at work until midnight or later.  Looks like the big compromise will be Karl's video game time... The prior rule was that he was not permitted to play any video games if I was home and awake.  Considering we rarely saw each other because our work schedules conflicted, it wasn't that much to ask.  Now that we're both home in the evenings and on weekends, neither one of us has that special "me time."  I'm sure we'll figure it out, but for right now it seems like we're on another planet!  I think I've seen Karl more in the last few months than I have in the last 6.5 years.

On to the next room in our tour!

The bathroom was actually the first room to be almost 100% complete.  I finished it up this weekend by making my shower curtain.  I fell in love with this fabric a few weeks ago and knew I had to use it for the bathroom.  I used four yards of fabric and stitched buttonholes across the top for the hooks.  Easy peasy!

Yes, guilty as charged.  I do not iron when I sew unless it is completely and totally unavoidable.

Isn't it fun?  Now my bathroom will be spring all year round!

I didn't have anywhere to hang my water conservation sign in the kitchen, so I decided to move it over to the bathroom.  Do you see the color coordination between the sign and the toilet seat cover?  Totally unplanned, yet completely perfect!  Anyway, the concept of water conservation is almost a joke here, since the city of Anchorage seems to think it's a good idea to charge everyone the same amount for water regardless of how many people are living in the house and how much water you use.  Doesn't sound like a good way to motivate anyone to reduce their water consumption...

The days are getting darker here so much more quickly than I'm used to!  The shorter days always seem to come as a surprise, but we're losing almost 6 minutes a day right now.  Adds up pretty quickly over a week!  I'm especially grateful of the window in my new office, because I know I'll get to take advantage of whatever daylight is out there.  Karl has to work in a basement though with no windows - good thing he says he's used to it!

Two Spoiled Dogs

 When we left the cabin a few days ago, it was just starting to rain again.  This made our boat ride home absolutely FREEZING.  Had to bust out the winter coat in August – what a tragedy!  Willow, on the other hand, still has her summer coat and shivered the entire way back.  We covered her up with Karl’s extra jacket, but it only helped a little bit. 

I decided to make her a little jacket until we see if she is able to grow enough fur to keep warm, especially in 30 below temperatures this winter. 

It’s a little difficult to use a dog as a model, but I think it turned out pretty well.  I love how the front looks like a preppy sweater wrapped around her neck – goes perfectly with the argyle print!

With fleece on sale this week at Joann’s, I decided to make new doggie beds for both Willow and Luke.  Willow’s was kind of gross, and only came with us so she could sit on it in the backseat of the car.  Luke’s poor bed can hardly even be called a bed, as it has no cushion at all. 

I wanted to buy foam cushioning for the inside, but it was going to cost an arm and a leg.  Instead, I went with a queen size mattress pad, which I was able to cut into pieces and layer to make a nice fluffy bed.  I sewed a zipper on one end so the cover is removable and washable.  Easy project, and made me feel a little more at home with my sewing machine back in action!

Looks like they both like their beds!

Homemade Fireweed Jelly, Anyone??

In keeping with my goal of living simply and sustainably, I decided to have a go at making fireweed jelly.  Fireweed grows rampant in Alaska, and I was already in canning mode.  Fireweed is aptly named because it grows wonderfully in areas ravaged by forest fires and is often one of the first plants to pop to life.

The first step in making fireweed jelly is collecting your fireweed - we only had to go as far as the backyard!  Once we gathered a pile of stems, we went to work pulling off each individual bloom.

You don't want any green (stems or leaves) because your jelly may end up bitter.  This was like a never ending game of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not.  I'll go with He Loves Me, because Karl was a trooper and helped with the whole thing!

Once you've gathered eight cups of blossoms, rinse them really well and boil them with 5 cups of water and 1/4 cup of lemon juice until the blooms lose their color.  The water will turn a lovely purple!

Strain through a paper towel and cool to lukewarm.  Once you're ready to cook your jelly, combine the fireweed water with two boxes of Sure-Jell pectin and bring to a boil.  Then add 5 cups of sugar and bring to a boil again for one minute.  Spoon into your jelly jars with 1/4 inch headspace and process in your boiling water bath for ten minutes.

Fireweed jelly tastes a bit like cranberries to me, and is wonderfully sweet, fragrant, and smooth.  This batch made eight 8 oz jars, with a bit left over to toss in the fridge for tomorrow!  I am looking forward to toast for breakfast!

Recipe courtesy of alaskaoutdoorjournal.com.  My recipe included a bit of extra water to make up for what was lost with the paper towels.

Lily of the Valley Soap

This soap turned out great!

Too bad I can't say the same about the first batch...  My soap mold clamps together on the sides, but is a little bit loose.  I've never had a problem with it, until now...  I had just poured the soap (could tell the swirl was going to be AWESOME) and picked up the mold to carry it into the laundry room to sit over night.

And then the side fell off.

And then there was 4 pounds of liquid sloppy soap all over the side of the fridge and the kitchen floor. 

Oh, and let's not forget that it's not fully saponified at this point, so I have some awesome lye burns all over my hands now from cleaning it up.  Granted, I could have waited until it became a bit more soap-like and way easier to clean up, but I was terrified Willow would come in and try to eat it.  Yes, she can definitely be that dumb.

Well let's look on the bright side - My kitchen floor is SO clean right now.

Minty Fresh

I kind of feel like I'm living in a giant tube of toothpaste right about now.

I cut all of my peppermint in the front yard, and now it's hanging in my living room to dry before the big move.  I've never really timed how look it took to dry the peppermint, but I imagine 3 weeks should be more than sufficient.

It is wonderfully fragrant and still so bright and green.  Tastes good, too!  I tried to get Willow to eat some in hopes of freshening her breath, but I guess it seemed a little too much like lettuce for her discriminating palate.

What will I do with all of this dried peppermint?  Definitely keep it for another batch of minty soap, and maybe make up some new sachets in the future.

Almost makes washing dishes fun!

I spent some time this weekend practicing my crochet skills so I can whip up a bunch of dish cloths on our 80 hour drive.  Prior to this weekend, I didn't really know how to crochet.  I knew I better figure it out before we were on the road and it wasn't really feasible to look up how to videos on youtube.

This is what I came up with:

      

      








Neither of these were made using a pattern.  I just wanted to throw some stitches together and see what I ended up with.  They look pretty good to me!

I have ten more colors to use, so I should be completely set on dish cloths!  I think I might try to make one or two larger ones to use to dry dishes.  I am definitely looking forward to road trip activities - Just crossing my fingers that I will still be entertained a day or two in!

Can I send you a letter?

I wanted a special way to collect all of the contact information for my friends I'm leaving behind in Pennsylvania.  Getting a boring old address book and writing everyone's address and phone number in it just wasn't going to cut it.  Instead, I made these cute little cards that I could pass out and have everyone fill out.

Having everyone hand write their own info was really important to me, too.  I wanted to be able to look at each card and see a little bit of my friend in it.    The cards are the perfect size to put in a photo album, and this was my selection:

I'm usually of the mindset that the whole "live, laugh, love" phrase is overused, but I thought it was appropriate for my project.  The cards look so great inside, too.  It's so bright and cheerful, and will hopefully always remind me of how important all of the people inside have been to me.

I can totally see myself pulling this out when I get a little homesick, just to remind myself that all I need to do is pick up the phone, write a letter, or send an email.  I'm so glad that I thought of this before I moved, so I am actually able to put it together!

Spearmint Soap

I had some leftover dried spearmint and peppermint leaves from my garden last summer, and I knew that I should use them up before we moved.  I decided to go with spearmint soap, since everyone seemed to like the peppermint soap I made at Christmas so much.

Well, I totally hit it out of the park on this one!  This may possibly be the most refreshing bar of soap in the history of the world.  I kind of want to keep the entire batch for myself!  It also turned out such a lovely shade of green due to the french green clay in the recipe. 

My peppermint bush is back stronger than ever in the front yard.  You can see how large the leaves are in the picture above.  Seriously, it's starting to look more like an oak tree than a peppermint plant.  I think I'm going to let it grow for the next couple weeks, then cut it all down, dry it, and bring it with me with the rest of my botanicals.

Ooooo, pretty!

I cut my Hibiscus Passion bar soap, and it looks awesome!

You just never know what you're going to get when you make a swirled soap.  It is absolutely devastating to cut a log of soap and realize that the colored part is less like a swirl and more like a blob.  Totally worth it though when you get some really great details!  This fragrance also has a lot more depth than I realized initially - maybe a hint of cinnamon in with the floral?  It has also been quite a hit with the gentlemen folk, which really surprised me.

This is also the first bar soap to get the new labels - looking good!  Love Photoshop.  Give it a few weeks to cure, and 8 bars will be available for sale on Etsy!  The other half will be going to my good ol' dad.

I've also been going through all of my craft supplies so I can figure out what is coming with me and what needs to get used/sold/given away in the next two months.  If anyone has any empty jars and wants me to pour candles, bring 'em over!  I have about 20 pounds of wax and it is SO not going to Alaska.  I'm hoping to take almost everything, but I need to find a good way to get it organized so it is easy to locate while I'm living out of boxes, and easy to store once we're in our cabin.

I also learned that the board has approved my application for social work licensure in Alaska, pending ASWB ever sending proof of my exam date.  I paid them to transfer the score over a month ago, so hopefully they get on the ball pretty soon.  It would be nice to know that I have the option to apply for a professional job!