Herb garden

We're at it again. Maybe we shouldn't. I mentioned it here a couple of times already, neither one of us has a green thumb. Whichever plant we tried, it died.

And every Springtime we give it another try.
Right now we have lavender and Marguerites or white daisies on the balcony.
And herbs on the kitchen windowsill.

I changed watering strategies. Instead of giving them water a couple of times a week, I now soak every plant in a bucket of water once a week (for now) - until there are no more bubbles emerging from the pot, just as I was told by the seller at the plant store. And I'm feeding my plants coffee grinds, saved throughout the week in a plastic container, something I picked up from a lifestyle magazine on French TV.
So far, so good.

So, lately, we've been enjoying fresh mint on our cucumbers (with just a bit of coarse salt added - divine!), basil on our tomatoes. And I do like a touch of rosemary on a roast. I just try not to think of all the bad stuff in the air and the construction works around the corner in particular, when I'm savoring my insalata caprese.
 
We still have some space left on our windowsill - I might add cilantro, if I can find any, and maybe some parsley as well.
What's growing in your herb garden. Any tips or tricks?

Yolk

We had a pasta salad the other night - nothing fancy but it makes a fast and easy dinner and everyone likes it here. I boiled a couple of eggs for the occasion and had one left. I put it in the fridge and as I did I remembered something I read a long time ago, in my jewelry making days: you can oxidize sterling silver using a hard-boiled egg. I love silver with an antiqued look, however, scared of all the chemicals used to get the result, I never came around doing it myself. And eggs were a big no as little H. still suffered from a severe egg allergy back then. But not anymore!
So off I went to find some jewelry that could use a little boost.

Turns out the technique works like a charm! It's easy, fast, cheap and more importantly absolutely safe (unless you're allergic to eggs that is). Here's how I did it goes:



1. Take a hard boiled egg and put it in a Ziploc bag. Close the bag.
2. Smash it (this is fun! - no need to peel the egg).
3. Open the bag and add your jewelry (yes, this may seem gross). Close the bag. And let it sit for awhile. The sulfur from the egg yolk will take care of the oxidizing process. Shake the bag from time to time - don't worry about getting the egg everywhere on your jewelry, this will be taken care of later. Check from time to time to see how the darkening is going.
4. When satisfied with the result take out the jewelry and discard the bag with the egg (make sure not to leave any precious jewelry behind before throwing it out!).  Gently wash your jewelry with a mild soap (dish washing liquid works fine) and rinse well. Dry with a soft towel.
5. Finish off by buffing the silver here and there with a silver cleaning cloth. And done!

I have no idea how long the antiqued look will last - I tend not to take off jewelry when taking a bath or shower - but given the simplicity of the process I don't mind repeating it once in a while. Writing down everything actually took me longer than taking care of the silver.

Do you have any Aha-uses sitting in your fridge or on your shelves? Feel free to add them in the comment section to this post!

Finding leather

Part of my stash. I can't wait to cut little H's boots from last year to pieces - i like the little belts on them. M's boots have met my scissors already...

Often I'm asked where I find the leather I'm using in my crafts. I consider myself lucky to be living in Paris for many reasons. One of them is that I have easy access to everything imaginable related to making and creating. I have a couple of addresses at the Marché Saint-Pierre where they sell leather in any size going from full skins to just pieces of  scraps. I've been told these skins and scraps are actually leftovers from big labels like Hermès, Chanel, ... I'm not sure if this is actually true, but I like the thought that I do carry a Hermès bag after all! The department store BHV also carries a nice selection in its hardware department, near the shoe repair supplies. Knowing that this information doesn't help a single bit if you don't live in the Paris area, I have come up with a couple of alternatives. The good thing about these is that they might turn out to be a lot cheaper as well because chances are you might own them already.

1. Leather boots: Did you grow tired of  last year's boots? Are they beyond repair? Did your kids outgrow their favorite boots? Don't throw them out yet! Just cut off the shafts and you'll end up with two nice pieces of leather. 
2. Leather jackets: Having an outdated jacket you don't know what to do with? Cut it to pieces. If you don't own an old jacket try to find one at a thrift store. You'll have plenty of leather to work with. The same applies to leather skirts and pants. Get out those scissors!
3. Purses and bags: You might be done with that old purse or book bag but before you throw it out, check if there aren't any parts you could still use. I'm not only thinking of pieces of leather but also of possible straps,  belts and buckles which might come in handy.
4. Belts: by nature perfect as a strap, the buckle being a nice detail.
5. Sandals (and shoes): because of the straps and often also because of their decoration. They could be transformed in some nice accessories like a bracelet, a brooch, a hair clip, or could be used to add detail to a plain bag.

I'm sure you can add a couple more to the list. Now, if working with leather scares you but you do like the idea of recycling leather, then check out this site for quite some stunning bags and purses made from recycled leather jackets. You can find a selection of recycled leather bags on Etsy as well. I especially like this one here.

And now, go check out your closets!

Quick fix grocery bag :: a tutorial

We had grapes this weekend. So? They were really good. Seedless white grapes and they came in one of those plastic bags, with cuts all over to make it stretchy. Hours after we had the grapes, while in the kitchen, my eye fell upon the plastic bag again. It was just a glimpse, but enough for me to hear it scream: please, make me!
I didn't pay too much attention to it until yesterday morning. I was working on something else when all of a sudden I remembered the bag. It didn't take me too long to think it through. All that I needed was a shirt.

I found a shirt - an old favorite but hopelessly stained one (bleach* near the bottom hem). And after some cutting, sewing and some more cutting I ended up with this bag.
It's probably one of the fastest and easiest bags I ever made, but I do like it a lot!



In case you want to give this super fast and easy grocery bag a try as well, keep on reading as I wrote down some instructions for you.

What you need:

- an old T-shirt
- scissors
- matching thread
- a button
- a piece of ribbon
- sewing machine



Instructions:


1. Take an ironed adult size T-shirt, right side out. (You could use a kid's T-shirt for a smaller sized bag).

2. Fold it in half as shown in picture 2.

3. Cut off the sleeves as shown in picture 3 and put them aside as you'll need them later to make a little pouch.

4. Cut around the neck-line as shown in picture 4.

5. Sew the bottom of the shirt closed using a French seam. If you're not familiar with the French seam check out this post. (Basically, you sew the hem closed on the right side, turn the bag inside out and sew another seam, sandwiching the first seam inside). Next, sew boxed corners, as explained here, in step 1. You could iron everything flat now, if you like.

6. Place the bag in front of you on a flat surface. Starting from the bottom, fold over the bag as shown in picture 6, about 2 1/2 inch, that is.

7. Now, starting about 3 inches from the side, with your scissors make 1/2 an inch to 3/4 of an inch cuts through all layers, leaving about 1 1/8 inch between every cut. Continue like this all the way to the other side and stop about 3 inches from the side seam.

8. Next, fold it over some more (an additional 2 to 2 1/2 inch) and repeat the cutting, but now right in between two cuts from the previous line, as shown in picture 8.

9. Go on like this a couple more times, depending on the size of your bag - I did 5 rows in total.

10. Optional - Pouch:



Take one sleeve and cut to size, such that the folded bag fits inside the sleeve (make sure to add seam allowance). The hem of the sleeve will be the top of the pouch (if its a tunnel, i.e. tubular all the way around so you could pass a ribbon through)- if not, sew a tunnel). Sew the cut-off sleeve closed at the other end using a French seam again - you can box the corners if you like. At the top: make two small incisions (front only) at the center of the hem. With a safety pin slide the ribbon through the tunnel, and pull the ribbon ends through the button. Make knots in both ribbon ends. To close the pouch just pull the button all the way up and vice versa to open.


As with all of my tutorials, please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form without permission. Thanks for understanding!


* the bleach stains ended up the in hem and one of the boxed corners!!

Getting re-organized...

... little by little.

I've mentioned it a couple of times already: we're trying to get re-organized a little. Our small apartment is stuffed and looks cluttered all the time. The two past weekends we've been re-arranging closets and have tried to get rid of some of our "stuff". All this in an effort to figure out which kind of wardrobe we need, as it's clear we need one. I need one. Right now I have the tiniest closet thinkable. Whatever I take out looks wrinkled. Why bother ironing... A bigger closet, however, also means I'll have to give up my little craft and sewing corner in our bedroom. Not that I ever get to sew or craft in there as piles of laundry and other things have taken over the place.

Anyway, with this in mind, I was totally happy last Friday, when I finally found this box at - what has become one of my favorite stores here in Paris - MERCI. I spotted the box the very first time I visited the store, but somehow didn't buy it, which I later really regretted. I went back at least three times, and every single time they were sold out - they usually sell out the very same day they get them in. But last Friday was my lucky day! I walked in there because I was (still am) on the outlook for another kind of box, which I need for my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary (more about that in a later post - if I ever find it, that is). And there it was, totally unexpected, the green box I so desperately wanted! They actually had a whole stack of them, just brought in the very same morning!

I've always had a soft spot for this kind of old-fashioned cardboard-with-metal boxes, file holders, albums, .... It's in that typical pale kind of green (greener than the stapler - which is actually more like blue - but still pale), with a metal handle at the top, two small locks and lots of cute little drawers on the inside. Though very compact, it can hold most of my sewing supplies - at least I hope so, as I'm not entirely done yet. But it sure will help in getting my little corner cleared out.

M. already mentioned she'd like to have one of those too. I'll keep that in the back of my head for Christmas. I've been told they've ordered them in several other colors for the holidays, and I'll make damn sure I get one of those too!!

So, please, don't tell anyone...

Another Tutorial :: 3-way laundry bag

You can't believe how happy I am with the response I got so far on two of my latest tutorials. The headband tutorial has been a big hit - literally, as it drew a lot of blog readers to my blog and many links have been created to that particular tutorial. It even got translated!! And the French seam drawstring bag has been quite successful too. Thank you everyone for stopping by and liking these projects and for linking and referring! It's nice to know that I put something together which seemed useful in one way or the other to so many of you!

That said: I have another tutorial ready for you today! It's a spin-off of the drawstring bag but not quite: a laundry bag. M. is needing one as she'll be going on "classe verte" soon. We just got the list with all the stuff she needs. A fabric laundry bag is one of them, among many other items (the French are really good at putting lists together...really! I mean it!). I couldn't find our usual laundry bag when we left to the mountains two weeks ago and it still hasn't shown up . No idea where it went... But, hey, I can make one, I thought. A fancier one even!

So here's a tutorial for a laundry bag: one bag - three different looks and uses.



I won't be going through the steps for making the bag - the bag as such basically boils down to the other drawstring bags I made - I just refer to the french seam drawstring bag tutorial for that part.

The fancy thing about this laundry bag is in the details: the clothes hanger pocket in the back. I don't like, when we're on vacation, how our laundry bag always sits on the floor somewhere or tucked away in a closet resulting in everyone just throwing everything on top of it or next to it. So I wanted the new bag to have a "clever suspension system with easy access". So that's why I designed the clothes hanger pocket in the back. That way you can hang the bag either on a hook in the bathroom, in the closet, on a door knob... By putting the clothes hanger pocket not entirely at the top of the bag but slightly lower, the opening becomes easily accessible for tucking away things. And additionally: once the bag's full, you take out the clothes hanger in the back and pull over the pocket so nothing can fall out of the laundry bag. One bag - three uses.

Ready? I hope you're still following.

For this project you'll need:

- a rectangular piece of fabric corresponding to the desired size of your laundry bag (I used a piece of oatmeal natural linen (of course!) of about 65cm x 150cm (to be folded in two, so 65 x 75cm when folded in two) - the bag turned out slightly big, so you might want to make it a bit smaller)
- a smaller piece of fabric for the pocket, roughly twice as big as the clothes hanger you want to use
- a clothes hanger - I used a metal wire one, like the ones you get at the dry-cleaner's; they're standard and flat so they fit easily in a suitcase if you're intending to use the bag for traveling.
- twill tape: 4 smaller pieces of 7-8cm each and one bigger piece, about twice the width of the bag plus a bit extra for knotting
- sewing machine
- ironing board
As you may have noticed I transferred a picture again onto the bag. This is of course totally optional. If you plan on decorating the bag in one way or the other, do so before you start sewing!

1. Tape the hanger onto some paper and trace the outlines of the clothes hanger omitting any indents in the hanger, just draw a straight line instead ... Cut out.





2. Pin the pattern onto your double folded smaller piece of fabric - trace the pattern including a 2cm seam allowance all the way around. Cut out fabric.



3. Pin the fabric right sides together. Sew together about 1cm from the edge leaving a small opening at the top for turning.



4. Trim corners and make small cuts perpendicularly to the seam on the curvy parts. Turn inside out, shape and iron flat. Top stitch the top closed a couple of millimeters from the edge. Also, top stitch the bottom.



5. Twill tape binders to secure clothes hanger: Cut four pieces of twill tape of the same length each (7-8cm). And position two of them on the clthes hanger pocket piece at the same distance from the sides near the bottom edge - We'll do the same with the other two pieces on the back part of the bag. (Don't do like what I did: wait till the very end to add these to the clothes hanger pocket...). Sew them into place with a small zig-zag stitch.



6. Position the clothes hanger shaped piece onto what will be the back of your bag - about 15cm from the top (such that after folding in the fabric for making the drawstring tunnel, the top of the pocket will be about 9cm from the top edge). Also, position the two remaining pieces of twill tape perfectly across from the ones on the clothes hanger shaped piece. Sew them on, the same way as you did with the other ones. Now, sew on the clothes hanger shaped piece onto the back, leaving the middle top part open and also leaving open the entire length of the clothes hanger at the bottom. So, you only sew the sides!! This will allow you to slide in and out the clothes hanger. Use a small zig-zag stitch at both ends on each side as that's where the strain will be when the bag gets heavy.



4. Now, continue making the bag as explained in the French seam drawstring bag tutorial, which you can find here. The only difference here being that you have two side seams to sew, instead of one side and bottom seam - everything else remains the same. Though I'd like to make one remark, something that has been pointed out by one of the readers (thanks, Linuxwitch!): in order to obtain a really clean French seam, press the first seam selvages open, then press the right sides together before stitching the second seam. I kind of forgot when I was doing the drawstring bag - too much in a hurry as I had to make three of those! - but you'll see this will result in an even better finished seam!

Finally, to make the bag hang nicer, I tucked the corners a couple of inches in and secured them to the bottom of the bag with a couple of stitches.

And that's it!! Slide in the clothes hanger, tie two little knots and you're ready!!

As usual, if things are not entirely clear or if you see room for improvement, just let me know.

Good luck!!

Please note, this tutorials is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form without permission. Thanks for understanding!

Inspire Me Thursday :: Key

“Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential”

Winston Churchill



hex keys - "indispensable" for assembling furniture from a "Nordic furniture giant". We have countless...

Check out this link which takes the hex key to the next level...

For more hex key shots click here.

March 2009 Calendar!

I can hardly believe it, but we have only a couple more days to go before it's March! Spring! Maybe, hopefully... We are so much in need of a little bit of sunshine. The days are getting longer already, which is really nice.
Anyway, here is the download-able March calendar. The February one, I made completely from scratch, and it took me quite a while to get it right (well, sort of right). Things got a lot easier this time as I ran into the Flickrtoys calendar templates (desktop and monthly calendar sheet). So much easier!! So, feel free to download this calendar here or go over to Flickrtoys to make one of your own, using your favorite pictures. You'll see there's plenty more you can do with your favorite photographs. Maybe, something fun to do on those still long winter evenings...
And before you'll know it Spring will be there!

The light studio

I've referred to it several times now (here and here and here and finally here): my homemade light studio. I'm still all excited about it! Making pictures of small and not so small objects has become a lot easier for me. I still need to work on getting the camera settings right, but being able to work in a controlled environment has made a huge difference already. I can highly recommend it to everyone!

So, this is what it looks like:

See the mess in and around it? That was in the excitement of the first time I put it into use. I grabbed everything within reach and photographed it...

On the internet you can find many different ways to make one of these - all more or less inexpensive.

A first method makes use of a simple cardboard box, where you make cut-outs on the sides and at the top, which you then cover with paper. A very good description of this method can be found here and here.

A second method - and this is the one I eventually chose for - makes use of foam boards. The reason I ended up making this one is because you can take it apart when done and store it away (not that I ever do this - mine has been sitting around in our living room (even) when not in use...). I found the link to the very clear and step-by-step instructions through One Pretty Thing.
The only alteration I've made is that I've made a cut-out in the top as described in the above box-method and next taped white tissue paper over it. I did this as I intended to use a light source coming from above.
This light studio will take you a little longer to assemble and involves precise cutting and measuring. Hence, don't try to make this one if you're not well-rested or with small children running around! But again, the main advantage of this one is that you can store it away, which comes in handy when you live in a (small) apartment as I do.
I might do a few more changes, like making a slit in the back over the entire length to be able to slide through the back-drop, which would be nice when using fabric as a background. Also, I've been considering to cut additional (interchangeable) side-boards with cut-outs like in the top one. This would allow me to use different light sources (from the top or the sides, or both) depending on what I want to photograph. Since this box is made like a puzzle, this is totally feasible. I'll keep you posted!

I'd like to mention a third method also, which makes use of simple household items like a laundry bin, which I'm sure everyone has sitting around, and which is described here. I stumbled on this one through Bricolagelife's blog after I finished mine already. This method is by far the simplest, as there is no cutting or precise measuring involved.

There are probably more ways to make one of these. Feel free to let me know! I'd be happy to add them.

My MOO cards arrived...

... and I just love them! I ordered postcard prints of some of my very own beach pictures and I was very pleased with how they came out. I got a little excited, even. Nice print quality on glossy, heavy weight postcard paper. Same quality as the postcards you buy, if not better. I can highly recommend MOO for your picture projects. It was the first time I ordered through them and I will definitely do it again.
And now comes the best part: they sent me a promotional code to share with my friends. If you've never ordered with MOO you'll get 20% off on any one MOO product. But hurry up! The code expires on January 31st.
This is the code you should use: Q29RN8.

With Valentine's day just around the corner, this might be exactly what you need! Good luck!

Vinegar for me, please!

Don't we all hate it, cleaning, I mean?! The ever returning cycle of rubbing, scrubbing and wiping sinks, faucets, counter tops, windows, mirrors, stove tops ... The stubbornness of lime scale, grime and soap scum. Have you ever read the labels on the back of the cleaning products you use? Have you ever thought about the impact they might have on your health and the environment? Even though a lot of them nowadays claim they're safe, I still have my doubts. And the smell! The artificial smell of citrus, lavender, ocean breeze (??), ... of most of them. The incredible amounts of foam they generate and which you, yet again, need to wipe down. Don't you just hate it? Well, I did. And that's why I now use, yes, VINEGAR! Not really the most exciting topic for a post, I admit, but it works wonders for me. I have been using vinegar for months now and cleaning has never been easier and more satisfying. All you need is a bottle of white vinegar, a sponge, a couple of microfiber cloths, and a hand-held window squeegee*. Just try! Wet your sponge, squeeze on some vinegar and wipe. Next, take your cloth and wipe again. Done! As simple as that. Windows, you ask? Same here, but use your squeegee and finish off with the cloth. Done! No streaks. Fast and easy, and really cheap! Vinegar takes care of all the problems stated above. Some other advantages: it's mildly disinfectant because of it's (low) alcohol content and it deodorizes. I know the latter may sound weird, but after the vinegar smell vanishes, every other smell is gone too. And when you're ready, you just throw the cloths in the laundry and they're ready for their next use.
This is my two cents for the environment! Give it a try!

* The only exception is the toilet, for which I still use wipes and a brush, for the simple reason that I don't want to mix up sponges, if you know what I mean ...