Digital Photo Preservation Project

My cousin Renae stayed over at the end of June, and she shared with me how she's been working on a project with her family photos. Since digital wasn't widely available until we were both well into college, all of our childhood photos are physical copies, or maybe even a 35mm negative. In her case, the physical photos were stored in "cling-film" albums, which are known to discolor and warp the photos over time. She decided to remove them from their albums and scan them into a digital format, so that she could restore them and preserve them. In addition, she can arrange them into a digital scrapbook, and she can print identical copies of that scrapbook for anyone who wants one.

I've bought similar books from Shutterfly.com, and even the walgreens/rite-aid/CVS photo department can print photo books for you. I thought it was a great idea, but I didn't exactly have the tools to get started. Ok, I have the tools, I didn't have the pictures.

Back when my folks got divorced, my biological mother skipped town with all the family photo albums. The carefully selected prints all disappeared when she did. Luckily, though, she left all of the "reject sleeves". You know, back in the days before digital, when you would take 15 idential shots hoping that one of them would turn out? Right! So you get your one perfect shot, and stick the other 14 back into the paper sleeve that they came in with the little pouch for the negatives. (My apologies to anyone born after 2000 who doesn't understand any of this.)

Well, ten years ago, my sister took those "reject sleeves" and sorted them into boxes, based on what they were labelled (not that those labels were accurate) and today I got into those boxes to see what they held.

My Childhood, in 7 Boxes.

Now, these may be rejects, but they're the only photos of my childhood that I have, so my standards are a little bit more relaxed on whether or not its a "Keeper". I went through all the bins, and I've narrowed it down to probably 200 photos. I took probably 350 photos on my recent trip to Mexico, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.

I spent an hour scanning in some photos, and I've already got about 50 of them done. Its going to be a long haul to get these all digital, but it is definitely worth it.

UPDATE 7/25/12:
Scanned in about half of the total photos and posted a few select favorites to facebook. Renae and I at least are loving the memories! We also really want to get our other cousins together to re-take one of our old photos, just like this family did.

PS: We were totally cute kids!

Summer Shirt Re-Fashion

I bought this shirt on-sale a year or so ago, and even though I loved it, I knew that the way the beads had been attached wouldn't last for very long. Hand-washed carefully for a season, it did really well. Then there was Mexico.

On the way home from our trip to Mexico, the TSA searched our checked luggage, and apparently they opened a bottle of tequila that we were bringing back in order to do a chemical assay (and make sure it was really, in fact, tequila). They didn't exactly close the bottle up tight before they re-packed my bag (aka: shoved everything into it randomly) and it leaked out ALL over everything in the bag. Oh, plus that delayed the bag so it didn't even get on our flight, but anyways....

The lovely beaded shirt got thrown into the washer, with everything else from the bag...oops. Unfortunately, it did not survive its adventure through the washing machine. "But its such a cute shirt!" I thought to myself, "and its so comfy to wear in the summer!"

So, I opted to remove all the beads and start fresh. Lucky for me, the beads were sewn onto a tulle-like mesh fabric, and THAT was then stitched onto the shirt, and just around the edges. Easy-as-pie to remove it and the beads were then cut off and donated to my sister for jewelry-making purposes. I had some black, cream, and baby-pink lace-weight in the house (Aunt Lydia's Crochet Cotton Size 10) and I decided on black for better contrast. The challenge became trying to make a lace piece that fit the odd shape left behind. 





 I ended up making 5 seperate pieces that were sewn together as appliques onto the shirt. (see above left image) The center hexagon and its partner squares all came from Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs and the longer pieces are just 2 rows of dc sts with a shell border around the outside edges. I'm very pleased with how this turned out, and it gave me a great excuse to finish up another lace bracelet to match!

Free DIY Firestarters

So, maybe technically these aren't a craft, but they are super-useful. Plus you see so many different "this is the best firestarter" tutorials, how do you make sense of it all???

Well, fellow pyromaniacs, I'm here to help.
I've assembled my 3 favorite variations on the DIY firestarter and tested them out.

Version 1: The Egg Carton Log 

Cost: Absolutely Free. These were things you were going to throw away anyways. 

Assembly: Take an old cardboard egg carton. Put dryer lint in it.
Usage: Make sure some lint sticks out. Set it on fire.
What I like about these: They burn well, and for a good several minutes depending upon how dense you fill them. Plus, they are ridiculously easy to make. It seriously doesn't take me any more time than putting these things in the trash/recycling would. Also, my supply is pretty much self-sustaining. With the amount of laundry at our house, and the quantity of eggs we eat, I make one of these puppies almost as quickly as I can burn them, and I still manage to keep a few extra in stock.
What I don't like about these: They take up too much space if you're packing them to go on a camping or hiking trip. One or two isn't bad, but more than that and you're wasting space. You could always stack your cartons and assemble them on-site, but that's not always easy.
The Verdict: These are awesome to start your at-home fire pit, but not the greatest for camping.

Version 2: Grandma's Lint Starters
Cost: Free. You just have to melt down some used-up candles (see info below)
Assembly: Drizzle melted candle wax onto a handful of lint (over foil). Scrunch it up good.
Usage: Set the not-waxed part of the lint on fire
What I like about these: Grandma uses these for a reason: they work! I've also seen her put the lint into an egg carton before drizzling the wax, and then she'll use 2-4 egg spots as a single fire-starter. Either way, the wax slows the burn down so that these puppies last. Great for starting wet wood on fire, or if you're short on kindling and need to start by setting a larger log ablaze. Also, they are great for day-after campfires, when you're trying to start a new fire off the embers of the last. The lint will catch easily off those embers, and you won't need another match.
What I don't like about these: They're ugly. U-G-L-Y. Not only that, they use up a ton of candle wax to really soak it into the lint right. Meaning, I can get maybe 3-4 in a batch out of a larger used-candle. Also, I don't go melting down candles once a week. You have to wait until you have a few candles to throw away before you can say "today I'm going to make firestarters".
The Verdict: Keep a couple of these on hand for starting wet wood or larger logs without kindling.



Version 3: Cotton-Wax Discs
Cost: Almost Free, the cotton-rounds are 1-2 pennies each
Assembly: Check here for the full tutorial (and see my wax melting method below)

Usage: Tear the round so that the cotton is exposed, light the cotton bits on fire
What I like about these: They are small and compact, which makes them perfect for camping and backpacking. Also, I got about a dozen out of a half-used votive candle, which means I can spend an hour and get a HUGE batch of these. One alone will burn for a good 2-5 minutes. If you're starting a fire with damp wood, you'll need more than one, but thats ok because you just made like a hundred of these things.
What I don't like about these: Again, I don't use up tons of candles, so I don't have oodles to melt down. (Though these guys don't take much at all). Plus the melting down takes its own time. But that's about all the negatives I can find for these. Seriously.
The Verdict: My new favorite fire-starters. I'm still going to make the Egg Carton logs (only because I find that almost easier than throwing away the lint) and I'll use those for backyard bonfires. But these little cotton rounds are my new favorite camping accessory.

Melting Wax for Firestarters:
I'm not one to trash a pan just for wax, so here's what I did without ruining any of my cookware.
Put a kettle on to boil. And preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Take a glass baking dish and place your candles in it. If your candles are already in glass containers, you're all set. If they're not, place them in a tin can before placing them in the baking dish.
Once the water in the kettle gets hot (but not necessarily boiling) gently pour it into the baking dish around the candle-holders. Leave enough room so that the water can slosh a bit without splashing you or the candles.
Carefully place the dish in the oven, and turn the oven off.
Allow the candles 5-20 minutes to start melting. Once they look like they're pretty much turning liquid, you can remove the baking dish from the oven, and the hot water will continue to heat them. I dipped my cotton rounds directly into the candle holders with a pair of small tongs.
Please be careful when handling hot water and hot wax!

Pretty Little Sunhat

So, I recently did a few projects with lace, and became completely obsessed with it. I love the way it looks when I finish a piece, like something you would easily find with a high price tag at a boutique. No, I still haven't started that veil, and yes, the projects take about 10 times longer than their worsted weight counterparts. That said, I love the fact that a ball of crochet thread (along with the accompanying project) fits in my everyday purse instead of a separate yarn bag. That said, I managed to lose the 1.5mm crochet hook frequently. So I now carry a hook case with me as well, instead of just tucking it into the skein.

Anyways, this beautiful little Sunhat Pattern is one that I found through Ravelry. It was very accurate as far as sizing went. I used a larger hook, so I omitted one round of the center hat circle. It is sized for 1.5-3 year olds, but since it was a gift for Scarlett's first birthday I wanted to keep as close to that sizing as possible.

Yarn: Aunt Lydia's Classic Cotton Crochet  Thread (size 10) in Orchid Pink
Hook: 1.5mm metal lace hook
Pattern Link: Sunhat PDF
Modifications: I omitted one row of the center circle, and I don't recall which one. I also finished it off early, since I made the shell pattern rows longer than required. I don't think I deliberately planned any of that, I think my fingers were killing me and I just gave up. I worked on it for about 4 hours straight while on a flight layover in Atlanta. Besided, the little flowers on the edge look so cute the way they are!

The Verdict: I love it! Can't wait for Jennifer to get some nice pix of Scarlett wearing it!

And here it is!!! So CUTE!!!

A Pirate's Life for Me!

Cavalier-Style Pirate Hat

These are projects I made before I started my blog, but since they are some of my favorite pieces, I felt like it was time to share them.

I'm a huge nerd, and I fell in love with Renaissance Faires a few years back. I wanted to put together an awesome costume, but I wanted to do it on a budget. Believe it or not, if you have some sewing skill, you can do it. Especially if you want to be a pirate.

Goodwill/Salvation army became my best friend. Oversized men's pants can be belted and gathered at the waist to make poofy pants. Peasant skirts can get layered and picked-up in places to make a very gypsy-look. Honestly, if you keep an open mind, anything can become a pirate costume. Oh, and don't expect to do it all in one trip/store. Frequenting the re-sale shops will eventually get you what you're looking for.

Anyways, I have found that the most important piece of any pirate costume is the epic awesome pirate hat. Unfortunately, it can also be an insanely expensive piece. I was willing to shell out up to $100 if I found the exact right hat, but I wasn't seeing anything that I absolutely loved.

Now, I know I'm cheap, and I know that finding anything at a ren faire for under $100 is asking alot, but I have so many costumes that I only wear 2-3 times a year, I can't spend a fortune on them. So I sought out to make my own. Really, I wanted to just find a hat-blank for $20 and build from there, but the cheapest I found (in felted wool) was for about $45.

Hmmm, Felted Wool? I can work with wool, and I can felt it. I thought about it, and went out hunting for a knit/crochet pattern. I ended up at KnitLikeAPirate.com. I found her patten for the tricorn hat, and I thought it was the perfect way to make my own hat-blank.

Purple Pirate Hat

For my cavalier hat, I worked 1 strand of red wool with 1 strand of black for the first few rounds. For the purple pirate hat, I did 2 strands of purple eyelash along with the 2 strands of black.

I blocked and starched them, but unfortunately they didn't seem to keep their shape very well, so I opted to get some black wire from the florist dept at Joann's, and I hid it around the edge. The purple eyelash hid it on that hat, but I added antique-gold trim on the cavalier hat to better hide it on that one. The buttons on the side were a random assortment of things from my jewelry box, as well as buttons, earrings, chain, and you name it. The feathers also came from Joann's.

When all is said and done, including the wool, the wire, the buttons, the eyelash, and all the feathers, each hat cost about $40. Still less than the cost of a hat-blank from the faire. Plus, each hat is exactly the right colors and style for the wearer. I love it when I get compliments on the hat, or when people ask where we bought them! Even better, because of the wire, these hats fold flat and can be packed in a suitcase easily. They pop right back into shape when unpacked!