Month: February 2022

Flower Bag

On By CarynIn Craft, Life Hack

Last minute Valentine’s hack! To tie up some goodies in a bag, when you don’t have a pre-made bag, but you do have some fabric and some ribbon. This is like a hobo bag, but fancy, as the resulting tied fabric looks like a flower. I used a square of chiffon fabric and sealed the edges by passing them by the flame of a candle to melt them. If your sewing machine is up and running you could also hem the fabric, but the slightly melted edge works for this flower form. You could also use a pre-hemmed square of fabric. To tie the bag shut, I used about two feet of ribbon. I put the chocolates in the middle, gathered the ends together, then tucked the corners back under. I have made a short video on how to here.

Chiffon fabric tied into a flower shaped goodie bag

Letting it rise

On By CarynIn Bread

In my perusal of bread recipes and tips I saw one person mention that a heating pad set on low is a baker’s best friend in the winter months (can I find that article again to link here? Of course not, dang it.) So I have been setting up my dough to rise in a bowl wrapped snuggly in a heating pad. It doesn’t take much heat to make it happy! I had been starting the oven, letting it cool to under 80 degrees, then keeping the light on, but that seems to be too much heat. A heating pad on gentle low (which frankly registers zero heat when I use it on my back as it was designed to do) makes the yeast happy and productive. Yay!

Heating pad wrapped around the base of a bowl with dough ready to rise

Unexpected buckeye

On By CarynIn Wildlife
Common Buckeye

I took this photo before the recent ice storm, then forgot about blogging about it. I was quite surprised to see any kind of butterfly in February even in Texas. I think it was fooled by the 70 degree weather we experienced before we froze, as it was very sluggish. Missy the dog didn’t even see it at first, and keeping her from stepping on it was a trick. She did eventually spot it, and photobombed my shot, so I carefully transferred it outside the fence.

Missy noticing the butterfly

I missed the memo

On By CarynIn Craft

I set out to clean my house and the first thing I decided to do was re-stain and refinish the love seats. ‘Cause that makes sense, right? Then I ran out of stain half-way through one cushion and had to run to the leather store. (I am only allowed to go in if I am on a tight deadline and have a specific list, otherwise I order online. That is a very expensive rabbit hole.)

Partially stained leather couch cushion

I did get back in time to finish staining, put on a protective finish coat, and have enough time for it to dry before the family came home. (Poor dogs had to be locked up for awhile, but it was nap time anyway.)

Refinished love seat

The seat looks so much better. Maybe everyone will be in awe of the loveliness and not see the dust bunnies frolicking on the floor? Or the cob webs gracing the ceilings? I really did miss the “how to clean” memo, but I should have “I can fix that” emblazoned on a t-shirt.

It smiled at me

On By CarynIn Uncategorized

I add a bit of Elderberry syrup to my morning orange juice (just a little of both, to get some more Vitamin C). When the dark purple syrup hits the orange, it makes very interesting patterns, which are different every morning. It feels like the patterns could be read, much like tea leaves, but unlike tea leaves, the liquid swirls and changes rapidly. There isn’t much time to let the brain make up images. Except one day, when my OJ smiled at me. Surely that would be a positive sign? Unfortunately that day was quite traumatic, and the next day was worse. So maybe it wasn’t a smile, but a leer. Beware the grinning breakfast drink.

Elderberry syrup in orange juice