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.

Rock it

On By CarynIn Garden

The idea started when I noticed that the grape hyacinth bulbs were poking up out of the ground. Not in a growing way, but that the soil was washing away. We have leftover native stone from the back porch project, so I hauled some rock to the front yard to redefine the flower bed and make a soil stop to keep the dirt from washing away.

Photo description: an almost before picture. I just started digging out the exposed hyacinth bulbs and realized I should take a picture. The old bed was outlined with brick.
Photo description: end of day one. The brick is gone and the new line of the flower bed has been set with stone.
Photo description: end of day two. The entire front bed has been lined with flagstone. This is the opposite view looking back toward the driveway.
Photo description: angry frog. This leopard frog was not happy that I took the lid off his home.

I’ve ordered some additional grape hyacinth and will replant the bulbs I removed and the new bulbs in the next stage, along with cleaning up the original bed area.

She’s in my bed

On By CarynIn Cats, dog

Izzy the cat has decided that Missy the dog’s bed is the place to be.

Photo description: calico cat curled up in a round pastel rainbow pet bed, small black dog sitting beside the bed looking sad and confused