Author: Caryn

Feather find

On By CarynIn Wildlife

I found an interesting feather getting out of my car at home. It was a dark gray with iridescent bronze sheen, and white edges. A new-to-me feather. I took a picture and put it into the iNaturalist app. The AI identification was no use: “bird”. The community of real people, however, came back with the answer: roadrunner. Neat!

Photo description: found feather

We do have at least one pair of roadrunners that live in the area, so the identification makes sense. And it is molting season for most of the wild birds and my chickens, so the feather was most likely naturally shed, rather than the result of an attack.

Sparkly

On By CarynIn Craft

I like using combs to hold my hair back from my face. I tried finding some that had a little bling for chorus performances, but was only finding the kind for weddings and formal updos, where the tines stick into the hair, but need pins or other methods to stay put. So I sparkled up my own pair using Loctite super glue and flat backed AB rhinestones. (AB stands for aura borealis, a coating put on beads to give them a color shifting shine.)

Photo description: plastic hair comb with rhinestones glued to the spine

I used a little too much superglue for regular applications of rhinestones, but it turned out OK for the combs because it filled in the spaces between the jewels so hairs don’t get caught in the sparkle.

Throwback Thursday: wire basket

On By CarynIn Craft, throwback

In July 2015 I was making custom wire baskets for a shelving unit in the house. I would draw out the size needed in chalk on the patio, flatten out 1/2” welded wire hardware cloth, and cut it with metal snips.

Photo description: basket pattern drawn on the patio in pink chalk
Photo description: hardware cloth cut into shape

When I cut the hardware cloth, I left one side of the corner seam with a vertical wire, and the other side with horizontal wires free for a half inch. When I folded the sides up, I used needle nose pliers to loop the horizontal ends around the vertical wire.

Photo description: close up of corner cut showing the free horizontal ends and the solid vertical edge
Photo description: close up of how the wire ends wrap around to secure the sides of the basket
Photo description: finished basket with hanger wire used to stabilize the upper edge of the basket
Photo description: nine wire baskets of various sizes

I experimented with ways to keep the hardware cloth from scraping the wood shelf. I sewed fabric to corners as one solution, and ran hanger wire on the bottom like sled runners on other baskets.

Cork restore

On By CarynIn Craft, Life Hack

Something happened to the cork sole of my shoes. I’m not sure if it was damaged by something scraping across, or if the cork was already weak in that area, but it definitely affected the integrity of the shoe. I scraped out the soft cork until I reached solid composite cork at the damaged area.

Photo description: cork particles scraped from the heel of a cork shoe, the inside heel of the shoe shows the damage

I mixed up some two part epoxy, then mixed the cork particles with the epoxy and filled in the hole with the mixture, smoothing it with a piece of wax paper.

Photo description: fixing the hole with two part epoxy

I let it sit overnight then sanded the area. The result seems to be structurally sound, but time will tell. The patched area is darker, but I could treat the whole corked area with a sealant to help even out the color. I might do that in the future if the patch holds. Since it is on the inside of the heel, I’m not as concerned about it.

Photo description: heel repair complete and smooth, but the color is slightly off

A different round braid method

On By CarynIn Craft

I came across an influencer video doing a round braid on hair and had to give it a go. When I tried it, it was a fail, but I figured out why. They didn’t show the twist of the side strands, which is the magic that makes the braid work and not just make two three-strand braids at the same time (which could be useful for other applications later). So to remember what I did, I recorded a video using thick yarn, so it was easier to see the twist action. I like this method because it is similar to a three strand braid, which I’ve been doing since I was 8 years old.

Photo description: round braid section made with six strands of chunky variegated yarn

This would be interesting to do with six different colors of yarn too. Hm.