photo Inspiration

Youngest Daughter :)

Pictures of yarn are so pretty. Retro look:

I love the color and pattern.

Summer

Youngest Daughter :)

Just in case you're suffering from the winter blues, here are some pretty summer pictures to cheer you up. Unless, of course, they make you miss summer even more ... that'd be bad. You better stick to letting them cheer you up. :)


Umbrellas make me happy. They remind me of stifling summer days, cooled by a sudden thunderstorm.

These two flower pictures were taken by my talented sis ... with my help. Sort of. I held the flash. She did the rest. :) I'm sure our neighbors thought we were crazy. We were prowling around our backyard at night with super bright flashes going off now and then. :)



Monarchs make me happy.

Book Bag :)

Youngest Daughter :)

I found this really cool tutorial! If you click on the link and scroll down there's a video:

http://www.curbly.com/chrisjob/posts/4164-curbly-video-podcast-how-to-make-a-handbag-out-of-a-recycled-book

I'm not much of a purse person, but after making this one I think I'll start liking them. :)
I pretty much followed the tutorial except for a few things:
1. I added pockets. It's amazing how much more you can fit into a tiny purse when it has pockets!!!
2. Instead of a pre made handle I used this cool stuff that looks like an old zipper ... just to add to the zaniness. :)



We found the book at the Salvation Army for about a dollar or so. Good stuff! And of course I chose green fabric. Go figure.

The hardest part was definately gluing it all together. The very, very last step. Uggg! But I managed, so I guess you will too if you try this project! :)

Food Coloring Photos

Youngest Daughter :)

Somehow food coloring in water looks so magical...

Flower Bulbs

From Youngest Daughter :)

During New Years, we planted some flower bulbs in pots. Most of the shoots are super small still, but this one really took off!

A few days ago I poked a toothpick into the dirt and made the top of it level with the top of the plant. See the toothpick in the picture? Well, in one day, yes ONE day, the tulip grew that much taller than the toothpick!!!

I am amazed.

Lathe

From the Son

A friend of the family asked me to make some honey sticks. I make them out of pine wood on a machine called a Lathe. Here is a picture of the process.

The one on top is finished, the one on the bottom still needs some work.

A guy I know taught me how to make pens out of wood. I don't have the equipment yet, but I want to get it soon because I had a lot of fun making the pen. This picture is of the pen disassembled.

Here is the finished product. The wood I used is called Curly Maple.

Frost

From Youngest Daughter :)

Today my sis and I went outside and "pictured" the frost. I love how her pictures turned out. And they're straight off the camera! Mine are not. I Photoshopped them. Shhhh. Don't tell. :)

Oldest Daughter's pictures:

My (Youngest Daughter's) pictures:

I love how frost and snow look beautiful from a distance. And no matter how close you get, they're still beautiful.

Don't ask me why I like that last picture. But I do. So I'll post it. :)

Out and In the Window

From the Youngest Daughter :)

You know you live in Minnesota when...
the snowdrifts come up to your window. My sister's dog now has another exit option ... climb on my bed, jump out the window onto a drift, and there she is, in our backyard! How ridiculous ... :)
Coming in...

The Three Bloggers Get New Socks!

From the Mom

I've knit for years, but this is the first year I've attempted socks. Start with the cuff ...

It's knit on five needles the size of toothpicks. Did I mention this is not a fast project?

Knit about a zillion rows until you are at the heel. Change to two needles and knit this cool new pattern: knit one, slip one!

Next up is the "turn the heel" ...

Once the heel is turned you pick up those extra stiches, use five needles again, and knit the Gusset! Who knew that socks had different parts??

Keep knitting out to the toe length that you want. And here we are:
Three and a Half Bloggers with New Socks!


All ready to go Out on the Town

Hollow Light Bulb

From the Youngest Daughter

Every time a light bulb burns out, you probably throw it away without even thinking about what you could do with it.
So now are you curious what you can do with them? I found a fun tutorial on Instructables.com for hollowing out a light bulb! I did it and took pictures to show you the process.

1. You'll need newspapers to cover your work area, gloves (I just used garden gloves!), safety goggles, needle-nose pliers, screwdriver, and a handy tool called a tack remover. You don't REALLY need this tool, but it sure works nice! Oh yeah, and I suppose you just might need a burnt out light bulb too. :)


2. Take the needle-nose pliers and pull off the metal tip at the end of the light bulb. It will probably take some wiggling and bending and twisting, but it should work.

3. If you're using a tack remover, poke one of the sharp tips into the hole where the metal piece used to be. Twist it around, push, poke, and generally bust the black piece with just plain force. If you don't have one of those tools you could use a screwdriver, chisel, or pretty much anything strong and sharp.

This part is not for the faint of heart. There will be an awful sound, kinda like nails on a chalkboard. So if you're squeamish, this might not be the project for you ... unless you use earplugs. :)

4. Once all the black stuff is off, you'll be able to see into the light bulb. Unfortunately there is still another glass part that needs breaking. Shove your tool inside and don't be afraid to do some pounding. Just don't pound to hard or you'll break the rest of the bulb too! :-S

5. After you break part of the glass, you can dump out the little stuff and use a pliers to pull out the big pieces. Be sure to pound and rub off all the glass inside! There will probably be a lot of glass shards flying around, hence the goggles and newspaper.

This is what the bulb probably looks like by now. Inside, the white stuff is actually a chemical powder. Once you start shaking glass fragments around in it, the powder will begin to rub off.

6. Roll up a paper towel and shove it into the bulb. Wiggle it around and get out as much powder as you can. This chemical is pretty much harmless according to Instructables.com, but it's still a chemical. Be sure to throw away the paper towel and wipe up anything that doesn't land on the newspaper.

7. Rinse out the bulb, and there you go! A hollow bulb! :-D

7. But don't get too proud of yourself, cuz you ain't done yet!

Hot glue a washer onto the bottom of the bulb so it can stand up. Now you can be proud of yourself!

Oh, but wait. What do you do with it now, you might ask.

Well, it makes a super cool vase! Or a tiny terrarium. Or whatever you want, really. I just set mine on my bookshelf as art. Next to my amazing giant green clothes pin, of course. :)

Felted Acorn

From the Youngest Daughter

I got the urge to do a project at a very strange time. Bedtime in fact. :)
I found a scrap of wool yarn, not even sure if it would be enough for my project. I crocheted a tiny ball, using up every bit of yarn. I would finish it later.
Later was in fact two days later. My sis had heated up some water for tea.
"Is that hot?" I asked. She nodded. I dumped some hot water into a dish, threw in my crocheted ball and began kneading it with a tong. After it cooled a little I picked it up, splashed hot water on it, added soap and began rolling it in my hands. Soon it began shrinking. I rinsed it off and let it dry. It was a perfect hard little ball.


Next I filled an acorn cap with glue and stuck the ball in. I have the feeling I'm gonna make a LOT more of these. :)