I Made Hair-Toys! And did girly things with hair..

Those few of you who may read this who know me in RL will be surprised at this. I've got hair most of the way down my back these days. I don't plan on cutting it any time soon either. All this really means is I need fun ways to keep it off my neck in this heat that aren't ponytails. I've been braiding my hair a lot...and playing with buns.

I have very thick hair. While not 100% accurate, my ponytail is nearing 6 inches (this is not accurate to the nnth degree because I used string to measure this) in circumference. It is also curly and on the finer end of textures. All of these things mean it is a bitch to do anything with. It's thick, so lots of hairstyles need it to be longer to look right. Curly means brushes just rip it out. It not being coarser means it will slip out of do's faster.

But, I can do hairstick stuffs.

Freshly Created Hair Sticks!!

I will say that there is very little original about how I made these. But it was a lot of fun! I took Chinese take out bamboo chopsticks and first cut them to the length I wanted, used a pencil sharpener to make a point on the rough cut end (and both ends in the case of the longest set), then took a new nail file (I had no sand paper) and filed them smooth. They rather look like knitting needles at this point. (And indeed people do use knitting needles for this purpose!) Then, I started to paint them. Here, I took pictures and stuff...

My Applogees, People.

I did not realize I had so many damned ads on this thing. I *thought* I had one small one on the side and one way at the bottom buried below everything. Both are supposed to be text only and blended in to not be obnoxious. I turned off a few security things for a minute and all of a sudden I had all of these new little boxes popping up on the blog control panel. Opened a preview and... yeah. I'm sorry.

I fixed it. I was adding a pattern link box and updating other stuff to make this thing better.. and those ads were just too much. I did add a music widget from Amazon but my quick check tells me it won't start blaring at you all of a sudden. And, I like music. I like clicking on music widgets. That one can stay.

Awesome Thing found in a Thift Store! And SPARKLIES!

I'm not sure what exactly it is but it is indeed awesome. It is a Thing from the Thrift Store!
This is what happened.

After the Great Burn of Last Month, I am really keen on not getting crispy again. I now have fresh new unholy strength sunblock (safe even from Hell's flames!), an actual tan..I'm really not sure how that happened.... and a desire to somehow protect my head skin and hair too. Did some reading. Turns out that one of the best things one can use to protect both your hair and your scalp from a burn is dark smooth silk. So, I need at least one silk scarf. But, Jesus on a pogo stick, those things are so not cheap. I mean, 40 dollars for a chunk of fabric with hems on? Argh! No thanks.

So on to the thrift store I go.. in search of silk shirts.. After a search I find what I seek. Two silk shirts of silky silk. Mmmmmmm. One is blue and one is a faded jade green. I will dye them with pretty dyes in tye dye or batik and fashion as I need. Haven't decided yet the final shape. But those are not what this post is about. They are only what drove me to the thrift store. I may post them later after I've sniped and dyed and made them into scarves.

This is what it is about!

Awesome thing is AWESOME!

I really wish I knew what it was supposed to be used for. Or, if it is like the blue and white Willow Pattern plates with meaning and stories behind it. Or maybe it's just a simple design. It is a lovely Indian lady in a Gagra choli or shalwar kameez (my google fu is unclear here) with a 3 leaved pot atop her head walking through a field. The pot is steaming or on fire..or?? 

On a side note, googling her dress gave me serious outfit envy. I really need to stitch up a white fat girl friendly version of one of these. First, must finish what I have already started.That is, I must finish my skirt retcon (adding batik fabric to a black mini) and finishing the top I have all charted out from craftster (the backless black one, but done reversible in black paisley and blue pseudo-batik and with a bit more coverage/ties instead of single fit) and do a bit of drawing.

Any way it is, it will look lovely on the brickwork wall in my apartment. I will probably shine it up a bit with brasso first.

And... I must share these!
Nail polish this summer is just full of the sparkles. Last week I picked up a deep sparkly green and a gold glitter. I like them together, with the green nice and dark and the golden glitter lightly brushed over the tips. It's very summer goddess. On a whim I went by the polishes on my way to craft supplies and had to get these:

Shiny. Oh, so very shiny.

That is a chrome, five colors of sparkle in one polish, purple glitter and silver glitter. The shiny, I'm blinded by the shiny and the sparklie. I need more hands so that I can wear all these faster.

Now, time to do my nails!

Random Foodie Post: Seared Tomatoes!!!

I made something awesome today for dinner. I, like many veggie aficionados,often buy a few too many veggies that can be consumed willingly in  say, the week before they rot. This time it was tomatoes. The store had a sale on vine ripe red tomatoes... and even though they are no where as good as farmer's market 'matoes I bought two pounds of them thinking something vague about giant tossed salads and Greek Pizza/ white pizza (For those who DON'T KNOW -sad for you!- a Greek pizza uses a white sauce or olive oil with herbs and feta cheese with sliced tomatoes... and white pizza is just Greek pizza without the feta. Yummy!). 

And today, I opened the fridge to figure out what to make for dinner I saw the last of these poor things. Still OK but with that slight skin dimple of impending doom. I had to use them but I was fresh out of dough, and another salad would turn me into a bunny.

Now, all praises to the mighty internet gods because it came to my rescue. And that of my poor wilty tomatoes.
Meet Skillet Seared Tomatoes. Ah.. the answer to my prayers.

But I did not have all the things. Some of these things are a bit outside the family's shopping comfort level because they go bad before we can use them. So, I subbed. And, our salt has the iodine in. Everything else was the same.. their directions were followed to a T.
So..these are thier ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 large ripe plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 medium clove garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 3/4 cup shredded Gruyere, Comte, fontina or mozzarella cheese

Remove:

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 medium clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar, (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Instead use:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 large ripe tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• teaspoonish of oregano
• 2 teaspoons of garlic and parsley seasoning (it is dried garlic and parsley, NO SALT!!)
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• regular pepper, to taste.
• 3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar

And I ended up with these.

Pan seared tomatoes. So tasty!!

We had them with barbecued beef sandwiches. Very fresh and tasty. Were I to make them again I'd add more garlic (it cooked up a bit too sweet in the oil)... and a bit more sugar since these were not heirloom style tomatoes. The sharpness of the cheddar played very nicely with the sweet garlic and zing of the tomato though. I'd also probably leave them on high heat a bit longer to brown them a bit more.

My Nook Gets a Case!

I has an awesome BF!

He got me a Nook for my birthday. I hacked it into a tablet... then made it a little Nook Sack.


(And then started to write this post.. got horribly distracted.. and then felt guilty. And, then put it off because I felt guilty.And put it off some more. But... it was eating at my soul, this post. It was so close to being finished, so close to being done. All I had to do was go back and edit a bit.. and then hit Publish.


Argh. I just couldn't deal with the nagging feeling of guilt that comes from a completed post unpublished. So here you have it, a crocheted NookSack, the really easy easy way. And, since this item has been in my rather hard-wearing use since early May I can now say that the thing holds up great. It hasn't warped out of shape, the thick stitches really pad the piece and my Nook looks great. I do plan for a hard case if we ever did any serious traveling.. but this crocheted thing is great for pursing the Nook. Also, as my man so delicately put it, "It looks like a little girls purse that her mommy made for her so no one will be tempted to steal it." Ain't he sweet.)

The Crocheted NookSack.

My haxxor skills. FEAR THEM! All kidding aside, this was easy as installing a program on a Windows device. (Now I have CM7 on it but whatever.)

I used crochet to make a squishy thicker fabric...and because it's faster for me. All it is is a worked in the round single piece with a fastened down (at each end) flap in purple as a lid.

The way the colors lined up pleased me.

Supplies:
5.00 mm hook
4.25 mm hook
yarn needle
1 skein Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Co., Inc Peaches & Creme Ombres. I used winterberry.
At least 40 yards of a pleasantly complementary color. I used purple.


This thing is SUPER EASY! All sts are American half double crochet.

First, using the 5mm hook, chain 27. (Note: This will make a fairly snug pocket. As it is cotton it will stretch as you use it.) Chain two and turn and work back to end of chain. Now you will work the same chain sts to create a pocket. First, work a second half double st into the last chain st. Then, work a third half double into that same st. You will have three total in that last st.

Now work back along that chain, putting a half double in each chain again. (This is why we used a bigger needle for the base chain... it needed to be a bit loose!) It will look like this:

..kinda like a little boat..

Work another half double st into the end chain st (again) to have three total.. again. Now, work a single chain and begin the next round, spiraling up the piece of work. I worked around 15 rows till Nook top is reached. Chain once and attach to row after nook top is reached.

Work back and forth along slightly higher pocket side in second color. I did 6 rows. Using yarn needle very carefully stitch each flap edge to the pocket's edge.

I was going to stitch an Irish rose and leaves onto the front of the cover... but then I started to worry about the extra fabric pressing into the screen when it was in my bag. So no rose.I already had the rose made so no I'm working on giving it a new home.

And there you have it. World's easiest crocheted NookSack.

I Went Hiking! A Pictorial Post.

Francis Slocum PA State Park, pile of boulders.

Francis Slocum PA State Park, marked trail.

Francis Slocum PA State Park at rock shelter. 

Francis Slocum PA State Park, A view from the foot of a hill on the trail.

Francis Slocum PA State Park, the shelter site.