Self Water Planter

I know your thinking not another plant related post, but its kewl I swear. This is a great way to recycle plastic milk jugs. Here is the link.

Recycled Mailers

Ok I don't know about the rest of ya'll , but I am trying to pinch pennies anyway I can. I mean with gas creeping to 4.00 a gallon here in Texas I need all the help I can get. I was looking for ways to recycled things around the house and I can across this site. Holy hell these are so easy to make. Here are some I made out of an old gamer magazine.

I used both a glue stick and rubber cement on mine. All in all I have to say the rubber cement works better. I glued 2 mag pages together and on some of them I noticed that the glue didn't hold them together. The next time I make them I'm using just rubber cement. The mailer can be a bit smelly from he rubber cement, but it will go away in a day or two.

Even thought this was rather labor intensive I will definitely do this again. I mean just think of all the junk mail you can recycling by doing this....humm I wonder if you can use plastic bags to make mailers........ Not to mention by doing this you can customize the size of your packages. I hate having to use a giant mailer for one tiny little thing. There is already a giant pile of mags and junk mail waiting to be neato mailers. I love breathing new life into things.

Millions of Peaches

Today's adventure began with a 10Lb box of peaches. I gave several away to my grandma and my aunt. So the question what to do with the rest......... So I went looking around for a recipe and I found this onehttp://texascooking.com/recipes//peachpreserves.htm

So I cut up all my peaches and put them in a pot with my fruit pectin.



After I boiled the hell out of it. I added all the sugar and boiled the hell out of it again.

It was all worth it in the end.

Just a warning to anyone who uses this recipe it is ULTRA sweet. I would recommend cutting the sugar down by like 2 cups. The next time I try this recipe that is my plan anyway.

As promised here are some pictures of my plants and one of the random cats that hangs out.

This is my front door plant. It just started blooming about 2 days ago.

These are my plumerias. They should be blooming by the end of next month. I'm a plant nut there I said it.

Yeah I finally have 2 tomatoes on my hanging Topsy Turvy plant. I hope these are the first of many, but we shall see.

The Market Bag Pattern

Yes boys and girls the market bag crochet pattern is finally here. I am doing this pattern from memory so please bare with me if there are any mistakes. Remember this pattern is for personal use only and the products made from it cannot be sold online, however they can be sold at craft fairs.

Materials:

7 oz for acrylic yarn ( you probably wont use it all but better to be safe)

G hook

Yarn needle

12 inch ruler

Abbreviations

SLST slip stitch

R round

ST stitch

STS stitches

The Pattern

Chain 50

R1) SC in 2nd chain from hook and continue to the end of the chain, Do Not Turn, SC in the back loop of your base chain to the top, SLST in the first st and Chain 1

R 2-5) SC in each st all the way around and SLST into the first st and Chain 1.

R 6) This section will be the start of the mesh part of the bag. Chain 5, skip 3 SC and SC in the next ST. Repeat around. Your last SC should be right next to your first SC. I know this looks funny but don't worry about it. Chain 3

R 7-??) SC in the chain 5 space from the previous row. Chain 5 and SC in the next chain 5 space. Repeat this around. At this point you really don't have to worry about counting rounds anymore. Continue repeating the chain 5 and SC around until the mesh part of the bag measures 12 inches long.

R ??) Work 4 SC into the chain 5 space, repeat around. SLST into first SC.

Repeat R?? 5 more times. On last row SLST in last ST and finish off.

Straps

You can control how long or short, thick or thin you want the straps to be. I used a 12 inch long strap that was 7 SC wide. Once you have decided on your thickness and length you can begin.

SLST in the 14th SC from the side of the bag (LEAVE A LONG TAIL) and chain 1. TURN SC your desired strap width number, once number is reached turn. Repeat SC across to the other side. Repeat until your strap is your desired length. Finish off and leave a long tail for sewing. Using your yarn needle sew the strap on the other side of your bag. I triple stitched each SC into the other side of the bag for more security. Sew in you beginning tail in the same manner.

Repeat on the opposite side of the bag for your second handle.

If you find in error in my pattern please let me know. I winged it from memory so I didn't test it before posting it. Enjoy @-@

Zine

You might be asking yourself what the hell is a Zine. Well Wikipedia had this: A zine (an abbreviation of the word fanzine; pronounced [ziːn], "zeen") is most commonly a small circulation, non-commercial publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier on a variety of colored paper stock, including neon yellow, neon pink, neon green and neon white.

In my words its a wicked kewl little book that is self published. You can find a zine out there just for you. Vegan,cooking, and crafting are just a few of the subjects that can be found.

I recently found CROQ. It is a craft, diy, & indie business zine that has been around since 2005. It is based out of Portland and has tons to offer. I have read up to issue #5 ( keep in mind I found them last week and they where arrived on Friday) and let me tell you I freaking love them. They offer vegan recipes, diy project that range from sewing to crocheting, articles about business and general issues, and neato ideas about how to market yourself in the indie world.

If you are interested in buying yourself a copy you can find them in 2 different places on Etsy ( http://croq.etsy.com/ ) and on there web page ( http://www.blogger.com/www.croqzine.com )

Coke Bottle Irrigation System

As some people know I love plants and gardening. However, since I had to move from my giant yard in the country I can't really garden. It is soo depressing. So when I saw this topsy turvy planter I was all YESSSSSSSS I can grown stuff. I planted a small tomato plant in it to see if it really works. So far its not looking to bad.





I was cruising around today when I found this super kewl site. It tells you how to make your own drip bottle for your flower. I love flowers and gardening so this was right up my alley. The site is http://www.yougrowgirl.com/garden/dripsystem.php . I am so going to try this.




This is my spider plant. As you can see the neighbors cat loves it.



I will have more plant pictures in a few weeks. I am waiting for everything to start blooming.

Creative juices

Last night while watching Indiana Jones I decided to hook up a sun visor. I choose 100% cotton yarn for the job and got down to business. Before the movie was over I had a kickass new visor. I am thinking of doing a whole visor collect in all sizes and colors. Who knows maybe some famous person will be all HELL YES this is what I have been waiting for all my life. LOL yeah right I can only hope.

Awhile back I have ordered this super cute owl necklace and today it arrived. EKKKKKKKKKKKKKK OMG I love it. It is some funky and kawaii I mean who wouldn't love it. I am totally going to have to get more of these guys. I found my great owl on etsy. It flew all the way from Buenos Aires to get to me. If you are interested in getting your own check out MacroMe http://macrome.etsy.com/

The Beginning

Ok its true I'm a first time blogger, but hey you have to start somewhere right. I created this blog to share all the cute neato things I find and to share my crafts with whoever wants them. I will try to have a wide variety of crafty things. By variety I talking sewing, crocheting, painted, gardening, art, and knitting. From time to time I will feature neato items I find on etsy. So be on the look out.



Today I think I will pick a web site to talk about. If you are a huge DIY fan like I am then I'm sure many of you know about Instructables http://www.instructables.com . For those that don't then holy hell I just made your day. There is Tons and TONSSSSSS of great stuff. Anything your heart desires you can pretty much find here.



Here is a video I found for a wallet made out of a FedEx envelope.