Sweater MIttens and a Yummy Piece of Cake

 (Maripan, Treat Girl, & Joy)

The Soul Sisters were back in action for another crafty afternoon of mitten making...Sweater Mittens, that is.

We all arrived at Marzipan's house with bags of old sweaters, fleece in a rainbow of colors, and old wool suits.  We printed out the pattern from a tutorial on Make and Do Girl Blog and started to cut...

 (Joy and Treat Girl)

Pretty soon we had a pile of tops and bottoms and insides and outsides ready to assemble.

 Cake break... (recipe on Marzipan's blog)

Here is a complete pair of mitten liners...

 (Joy)

Getting a little silly as we sampled some Kombucha while wearing pot holder sized mittens...

Check out the cute little SCOBY babies used to make the tea...

(baby SCOBY)

So, we cut the sweaters, sipped the tea, sewed the mittens, ate the cake, and laughed and talked and screamed in between.  Another great afternoon with girlfriends...

Cutting Glass Bottles with Fire and String!

Remember the teaser I left you with on Thursday?  I read about this project on Pinterest and pinned it over a year ago:  Cut Bottles With Fire and String...I have to admit that the fire was the part that really hooked me!

We were a little bit hit or miss with this one, but at one point or another each of us broke into our "ugly cry laugh" so I think it was a success!  Want to try it?  I'll give you the directions (along with some tips and lessons learned) we followed and you can report back to let me know if it worked!

How to Cut Bottles with Fire and  String:

 Supplies:

Yarn
Glass bottles
Acetone nail polish remover
Matches or lighter
Scissors
Bucket of cold water

#1   Choose some yarn or poly-cotton string.

#2   Wrap the string around the area of the bottle you want to cut.  Wind the string around at least 5 times and tie into place.

#3   Slip the looped yarn from the bottle and place into a dish of acetone based polish remover. Let soak up the flammable goodness for a few minutes:

#4   Place the looped yarn back over the neck of the bottle and push into place.  (we found it worked better if the yarn was snug on the bottle)

#5   Put on safety glasses (we skipped this step and realized it while I was sitting on the ground with a flaming bottle in my hand).

#6   Rinse the acetone from your hands (an un-named member of our group lit her hands on fire!)

#7   Light the string on fire while holding the bottle at a 90 degree angle near the bucket of water.  Now turn the bottle slowly to let it heat evenly for about 60 seconds. (Shriek and laugh...I'm not sure if it was necessary, but there was a lot of shrieking and laughing during this part and I feel like it made all the difference.)

#8  Plunge the bottle into the water just before the yarn stops burning.  (Scream and cringe)  The top of the bottle will just pop right off!

Here is the video of my first attempt:

Now, here is an out-take video where things didn't quite work out:

Things we learned:

**Fire/crafts combo is really funny.

**DON'T attempt this with the cork in the bottle!  The pressure will build up and the whole thing will explode (this will seem very funny at the time, and you will laugh until snot runs out of your nose, but you also could get hurt.  Especially, if your hand is on fire from errant acetone and you forgot your safety goggles.  Just sayin')

**I might need to refine this to really use them because the edges are quite sharp with some hairline cracks around the edge.  Sand paper?  More precise flame time? I will soldier on!

**I came out of the whole thing unscathed by fire BUT I did cut myself with the scissors...go figure! 

** A circle of sharp glass was laying at the bottom of the bucket after my first attempt and my first thought was to make it into a bracelet...sharp pointy glass + major veins and arteries = dumb idea!

**I really missed my girlfriends**

Tutorial Tuesday - Button Bracelets

My girlfriend came over to refill my estrogen reserves last week, and brought with her a fantastic craft for us to do together while chatting, laughing, gossiping and catching up after her long vacation. One third of the way through summer vacation with three boys, she knew just what I needed. She brought over a bunch of stuff for us to sit down and make our own button bracelets. So fun! The greatest part was that each of our bracelets turned out differently!

Do you want to join us? Let's make some funky Button Bracelets!

Materials:

Buttons in various sizes (test to be sure your cord will fit into the holes)
Round leather or coated cotton cord (1 mm in diameter)

Instructions:

Arrange your buttons ahead of time to lay out your pattern



Begin with a length of cord about 18 inches long (you will adjust this to fit at the end, but cutting it too short will result in frustration and some swearing...trust me, I know). The more knots you intend to make the longer the cord.

Fold your cord in half and tie a knot in the looped end, like this:



Now, begin threading the cord through your button holes.

Criss-cross your cord for the 4 hole buttons like this:


The same is possible for the two holed buttons. Bring a cord up through each hole then back down the next hole like this:



You might also want to thread your button onto one piece of cord then knot, like this:


To finish off your bracelet, just pull the cord through the last button and tie in a square knot. See?



You can pull the last button through the loop at the other end to attach to your wrist.

Now, go crazy! Try to be random and mix it up, stack some, knot some, criss-cross some, there is no right or wrong way to do this! Get creative, girl!

You might end up with something like this:



Or simple shell and wood buttons look like this:



Or you could go nuts and work in some beads like this:



Now, gather some buttons, call up some girl friends, set the kids into the back yard to play, and have some fun!





PS (JoAnn's has some bags of fantastic HUGE buttons with HUGE holes for the little ones to get in on the act. It will be a HUGE relief to use these buttons for them.  A bloggy friend suggested dipping lengths of yarn in clear nail polish and twisting. Once dry, they will thread easily for the kiddos.)

Boutique Tassels - Tutorial

The Soul Sisters convened for my birthday at the beginning of the month. 4 out of 5 sisters celebrated the afternoon away at Marzipan's house (maybe our last gathering there before she moves!) We ate Devil's Food Cake with Oreo Icing



and learned how to make tassels. For reals, it was the best day ever.

Want to join us? Okay, we'll need to gather some supplies:

Boutique Tassles

Various trims, ribbons, and do-dads
A small terra cotta pot or knick knack with a base
Glue gun



I found these ceramic fleur-de-lis things at the Dollar Tree for our day of tassel making, but my first tassel was made with a mini-terra cotta pot as you'll see in most of the photos.

We take our tassels seriously...just look at the concentration. I believe this is the only birthday party ever where a craft table was whipped out from hiding and each guest traveled with their own glue gun.



I'm not even going to try to make this complicated. Listen, just do this:

hot glue random trims and fringes around an object.

There. That's all there is to it! Seriously. See?

Begin with your longest stuff and end with the shortest stuff:



Now, there are a bunch of variations. Like, glue the same trim around your object upside down:



Now, flip it over and it looks a little thicker:



Try looping some ribbons here and there:



Add some beaded trim, some pom-pom trim, anything you want. You can even make some ribbons dangle from the bottom. Just layer and layer, keep it interesting with lots of textures and shapes. Use your imagination! When using the terra cotta pot, you can layer all the way to the top.



Once I reached the top I glued a little bird ornament up there (it is actually the bottom of the pot since we turned it upside down). I, then, turned some feathery trim upside down and glued it around the tippy top. Look, it made a nest for my birdie!

The bird came with a string to hang it, easy peesy!



Now, look at some of the tassels we made with the ceramic figures!



We followed the same concept and glued trim just around the base. We layered, and layered...



Note: Trim is expensive! Start to collect your trims over time. Look in the clearance aisles in your craft and fabric stores, wait for things to go on sale, use your coupons!

Now, don't forget Tutorial Tuesday tomorrow. Grab a button and link up your own tutorials. "Teach me stuff" and you could win a prize. Oh, and it's a great prize this week...

You can find even more great ideas over at Kimba's place, click the button:

S. S. Recap

The Sistas gathered together this morning to pool our resources and make our cute patchwork aprons. There was lots of

Eating


Sharing


Cutting


Sewing

Teasing (I for one laughed when Joy walked in and announced "I'm making a skirt." and proceeded to lay down a skirt from her closet onto her fabric and cut, sans pattern. It was going so wrong at first...


But she pulled it out in the end! Bravo!


Posing


Jamie Oliver's Crispy and Delicious Asparagus and Potato Tart

I realized later that I used too many potatoes in my recipe, it didn't set up quite right!

Ingredients:

1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
Sea salt
1 pound asparagus spears, woody ends removed
8 ounces filo pastry
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup freshly grated Grueyere cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Cheddar
3 large organic or free-range eggs
1 (8-ounce) container heavy cream
1/4 whole fresh nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Put your potatoes into a pan of salted boiling water and cook for 15 minutes. Meanwhile blanch your asparagus in a separate pan of salted boiling water for 4 minutes, and drain in a colander.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Get an ovenproof dish - I've used many different shapes and sizes. Layer the sheets of filo pastry in the dish, brushing them with melted butter as you go and letting about 1-inch hang over the edge. You want to get the pastry about 5 layers thick. Put a clean, damp kitchen towel over the top and put aside.

When the potatoes are done, mash them with the cheeses. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs and cream and stir into your cheesy mashed potato. Grate in the nutmeg, season well with pepper and mix together. Spread the mashed potato over the filo pastry, then bring up the sides of the filo and scrunch them together to form a rim. Take your blanched asparagus and line them up across the filling, making sure you cover it all. Brush all over with the remaining melted butter and pop into the preheated oven for around 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Serve just as you would a quiche for a quick lunch or supper, with a salad.

Coffee Charm Tutorial

Every time I get together with my girls to load up on estrogen for the month, we have coffee together (with Pumpkin Spice creamer, yum!). We talk and laugh, and work on projects together all morning. Inevitably, someone asks "Is this my coffee?" and the confusion begins as we retrace our steps and try to remember where we last saw our own cup.

One of us jokingly mentioned that we should start using wine charms for our cups from now on to cut down on the confusion...and an idea was born. That is how it usually works with me, an innocent comment can stick in my head, growing, for weeks. Pretty soon, I need to get it out and do something!

So, here you are - Coffee Charms for you and your girls...

Supplies:

Shrinky Dink Sheets
Sharpie marker
Acrylic paints
Wine Charm hoops
Hole Punch
Toaster oven

I sketched a picture of a coffee cup onto a sheet of paper to use as a template. You can find inspiration in your computer's clip art. I used a coffee cup shape measuring 5 1/2 x 4 inches.
Placing the shrinky dink sheet over the picture, smooth side up, trace the shape with a sharpie. I like the rough look of the edges when I go over the shape several times. You could trace it carefully with a solid line for a neater look.


Cut out the shapes you've traced. Then, using a hole punch, punch a hole in the middle of the handle.

Using acrylic paints thinned with water, brush a few quick strokes over the rough side of the coffee cup. For a neater look, fill in the cup carefully with a uniform coat of paint.


Let dry then pop into the toaster oven on a piece of parchment paper. I baked at 300 degrees for about 10 seconds.


You will see the plastic bend and curl as it shrinks. When it flattens back out, it is ready to come out of the oven.


See how much the charm shrinks? You will end up with a coffee cup measuring about 1 1/2 inches or so.

To neaten up the edges and finish your charm, go over the edges with the Sharpie then add your wine charm hoop (or a hoop earring, like I used).

The possibilities are limitless, I think I'll make some hot chocolate charms for my boys.