Author: Caryn

Repurposing treat jars

On By CarynIn Craft

Feeling a little silly. My spoiled pup has been itchy for awhile. I’ve tried skin sprays, ordered some probiotics, took all the artificially dyed treats away… what? I didn’t? Turns out our go to treat has red 40 in it. How did that miss the purge? We were buying it by the jar full. I must have assumed I read the ingredients label long ago. Nope. Sugar and red 40. All righty then, out they go. But the jars are so useful… I’ll make new labels with vinyl! (Told you this stuff is addicting.)

Filling the indents in the jars to make a smoother surface

I washed out the jars and soaked off as much of the old label as I could. There were still sticky bits, so I decided to recover the whole middle in white vinyl. The indents in the sides of the jar made the vinyl pucker, so I filled them in with silicone caulk, smoothed it, and let it set. The vinyl went on better, but not as perfectly as it does on hard surfaces (the plastic jars have some flex).

New dog treat jar label

I designed some new labels in Adobe Illustrator and cut them with my Cricut. The first design (above) was not an easy weed, and the tiny toe nail marks were too small to deal with! The second design (below) was very easy to weed, but larger than the white. Oops. I didn’t measure twice, cut once. But it does look like a little tiny dog ink stepped all over the jar, so I am going with it.

Paw print text design
Applied label
Escaped paw prints

It was an interesting experiment, and I have useable, non-sticky treat jars for the new, natural dog treats. The dog is spoilt.

Things that make you go … ah.

On By CarynIn Recipe

I was putting away the last two pieces of egg casserole and chose to share with you this blissful moment. A perfect fit. Opposite corners of the original pan, almost looks like it was baked in the storage container. Ah. #LittleThings

Last two pieces of egg casserole fit perfectly in a storage container

The recipe is here, if you need it. May your own cuts be blissful.

Blending natural colors

On By CarynIn Craft

I think I mentioned that I purchased three different colors of alpaca wool? Now comes the fun part (who am I kidding it has all been fun): blending! I used my fine carders to blend portions of Sugar Plum’s (white) and Donabella’s (fawn) fleece to make intermediate colors. The idea is to get a gradual change from one color to the next.

Natural alpaca fleece colors before blending
Color graded rolags

The color change is subtle; Donnabella’s fleece is only slightly darker than Sugar Plum’s, but there is a difference. Next I’ll try blending Donnabella’s with Aimee’s (dark brown).

Unexpected pea

On By CarynIn Garden
Pea plant growing from last season’s seed

I have contemplated starting the outside garden, but apparently it started itself. I found this thriving pea plant merrily blooming on the side fence. Yes, I have planted peas, but not this season. We’ll see how it does! (I really should plant some of the other dozens of seeds I have stock piled, but it has been dreary and there are still frosts in the forecast.)

Spinning clouds

On By CarynIn Craft
Spinning alpaca fiber from Sugar Plum

The alpaca fleece is dry and I am starting to card and spin it! My plan was to card it all, grade it by color, then spin, but my rolags (the rolls of carded fiber) are so fluffy that I don’t have room to store them like I did with the merino wool rolags. So I decided to spin as I go. If it were possible to spin clouds, I think this is how it would feel. The soft alpaca rolags are light and airy but are spinning up easily. I’m using my homemade top whorl spindle and planning for spinning everything as Z spun singles (as opposed to the opposite direction referred to as S). What am I planning for the finished yarn? A hat of course. I’ve read that alpaca doesn’t have the same elasticity as wool, so I think testing it on an item I am very comfortable making is a good start.