DIY Industrial Inspired Necklace

In light of the husband and I putting together our joint craft room / office space in one of our spare bedrooms this past week, i decided it was time to get to work on the crafts, utilizing my new organized space, which i love. We went to our local Ikea & each bought a table and a matching shelf unit, giving him space for his computer stuff & me room for my sewing machine & hundreds of random loose fabrics, notions, etc. As i went through my pieces i realized that i have way too much unused stuff waiting to be turned into something great, so i decided to make this super quick & super easy necklace.

DIY Industrial Inspired Necklace

If anyone else out there is a relatively avid crafter then you have probably been to your local Michaels' store & seen the fantastic collection of charms called Industrial Chic. This line features industry-inspired pieces, mixing a hint of vintage with urban. While $5 charms don't seem like a giant amount to pay for something, when you need 20 charms or so, you're paying quite a bit for these unique little pieces. What i have found when perusing the charms is that they are replicas of many things already found in my house. Now, as a teen i grew up in my grandfather's house, & he had an entire room dedicated to tools & wood carving & all kinds of stuff, so there was a plethora of screws & nails & little metal pieces that could be made into charms, & i've been making this type of jewelry on a smaller scale since then.

Now, i was able to collect things around the house & from my former work to use in this particular piece. One warning, though: Many pieces found around the house & at jobs are not for sensitive skin! Please make sure you have no allergies or bad reactions to the kinds of metals you may be handling before attempting this project.

So, without further ado:
You will need
Random found pieces (buttons, small hinges, nuts, washers, keychain rings, bits of chain etc)
Cord (Cotton, hemp, leather, anything that can be knotted)

My collection of pieces. i also incorporated pieces of old broken jewelry, & a ring i found at work a long time ago, & an old earring whose partner has been lost forever. A great way to reinvent & recycle old jewelry!

I used cotton cord because.... it's what i had! You can also use a chain, but i made this necklace specifically for people who don't make jewelry regularly-- who don't have the necessary tools to cut jewelry chain. You could even use ribbon for a more feminine touch.



How to!

1. Gather your pieces
2. Cut a length of cord about twice as long as you wish the necklace to be

3. Attach each piece by sliding it onto the cord, tying a knot to hold it in place. Make sure you secure it, leaving enough cord to fit a little over halfway around your neck, at least.

Knotting creates small spaces between the "charms," but to create a more cluttered look, you can slide the pieces on between the knots, making them closer together. Knotting will also shorten your cord enough to make it long enough, once finished, to fit around your neck comfortably.

4. Once finished with your pieces, you should be able to knot the necklace around your neck. i knotted mine where the extra cord meets the charms, to create another piece of texture. Cord knots are typically adjustable, so you should have no problem taking it on & off. Have fun!

DIY Ruffle Shirt

Ruffles. Don't they just add a touch of girliness (if you will) to a garment? The answer is, of course, yes. And as far as garments go, they are one of the easiest embellishments you can do yourself. This tutorial will instruct you how to add ruffles to a plain Tshirt. You can use the same color shirt, or do what i did & use a contrasting color to keep things interesting. i am using a fitted tee i found at a thrift store for $1.10, & a too old & too big Tshirt from elementary school that i actually kept. (Yes, the light gray tee is an XL, & it's from 8th grade. i wore super baggy clothes when i was 13. Don't judge.)


To make my ruffle Tshirt
You will need:
Needle, thread, scissors
2 shirts. One that fits & one that is too big.

Let us begin!
1. First, cut the sleeves off of the big shirt. Keep the hems of the sleeves intact. Also cut off the bottom hem, about 3 inches of it, all the way around.

2. Cut the sleeves open and the bottom of the shirt open. You will have 3 strips of fabric. 2 sleeves, 1 bottom hem. Cut each piece down, keeping the length, but making it thinner. One slightly bigger than the next. For example, cut the first sleeve down to 2 inches. Make the next sleeve 3 inches. Make the bottom hem 4 inches.

3. Ruffle each piece. To do this, start at one end and fold over the fabric. Pin the fold in place at the top of the fabric (not the hemmed side).


4. Make these folds all along each strip of fabric and pin each fold in place.



5. Hand or machine sew the folds in place. Keep the pins in as you sew (but be careful!) & remove them as you sew & secure each fold.

6. Now you should have 3 ruffled strips of fabric, 2 the same length (the sleeves ) & one that is slightly wider & longer (the bottom hem).

Arrange each ruffled piece along the Tshirt. It can be in any design, but i did an off center, cascading design for mine. i arranged the smaller pieces on top & the larger piece on the bottom for a slightly dramatic look.

7. Pin the pieces in place & again, sew the pieces on, removing the pins as you go.

Ruffle shirt!

How to Ripen Green Tomatoes

Last week I tore out the remaining plants in our garden considering the cold was setting in and my plants were dying. Everything except for my cucumber and bean plants were still producing well into October and I honestly was surprised that they did so well for what little work we actually put into the garden over the past year. Anyway, my zucchini and pepper plants were dead, and the vegetables on them were dead too, but my tomato plants were still producing relatively healthy looking tomatoes, and LOTS of them. I knew the plants wouldn’t survive much longer in the cold, and while I could have dug them up and put them in our garage, I’m rather lazy. So I pulled them out all together, and gathered up all of the tomatoes that still seemed good.

Yes, about 90% of them were green. But I didn’t let that stop me. Ripening tomatoes is actually easy and a good idea when you have an abundance, as most gardeners have at the end of the growing season. While there are many methods of ripening tomatoes, I’m using my tried and true method taught to me by a family friend. And I’m sharing it with you.

The lazy way to ripen tomatoes.
Materials:
Green tomatoes
Cardboard box
Newspaper



1. Wash and sort tomatoes. Throw out any diseased or super dark/hard ones.




2. Dry the tomatoes & wrap each in newspaper.



3. Line the box with newspaper, and then line with wrapped tomatoes, no more than 2 stacks high.
4. Leave the box in a dark place, cool place. A bonus is to add an apple to the box, since apples give off a gas that helps the ripening process.
5. Check tomatoes every few days. I usually just unwrap a few to inspect them when I go down in the basement to do laundry. It usually takes a couple of weeks for the tomatoes to become ripe enough to use.

If you only have a few tomatoes to ripen, I use the paper bag method. Stick tomatoes in a paper bag with an apple and leave on the kitchen windowsill, but you have to check the bag every day.

Soon you'll have lots of these!

How to Blanch Tomatoes

Blanching tomatoes is an easy process but often necessary in using fresh tomatoes in recipes for sauces and salsas, and also any canned tomatoes that are to be cooked prior to canning. Blanching is an effective technique for preparing vegetables for freezing or canning, but the main purpose i use blanching for when it comes to tomatoes is to remove the skins.

Removing skins before using tomatoes in a sauce or salsa is not necessary, but it does produce a higher quality product since in many cases the skins will not disintegrate and will then become chewy little unpleasant pieces in your sauce or salsa. It is very easy and while slightly time-consuming, it is worth it overall.

Now, how to blanch tomatoes.

You will need:
Tomatoes
A large pot
A bowl with ice water
A slotted spoon

For freezing purposes, you may want:
A cutting board
A knife
Freezer bags


1. Fill the large pot with water, set it on the stove and bring the water to a boil

2. Fill the bowl with ice water and keep it near the stove

3. Wash the tomatoes





4. Once the water is boiling, drop the tomatoes, a few at a time (6 or 8 is a good number), into the pot



5. For sauces, you may keep the tomatoes in the boiling water for about 3 minutes. For salsa or other uses in which you'd prefer slightly firmer fruit, keep the tomatoes in the boiling water for one minute or less.


6. Once the time is up, move the tomatoes using the slotted spoon into the ice water. Again, for firmer tomatoes, keep them in the ice water for a minute or two. For soft tomatoes, leave them in the ice water for 3 minutes.






7. After the time is up, the tomatoes may have split their skins, making them easy to peel right off. If the skins haven't split, start at the top of the fruit and peel away, the skin should still come away easily.

Since making my tomato sauce takes 4 hours to make & blanching only takes a few minutes, i like to take my large batches of summer tomatoes and blanch them, chop them up and freeze them, to use in my sauce later, when i have more time. If you want to freeze your blanched tomatoes, chop them up after removing the skins and stick them in a freezer bag. When you're ready to use them, take the tomatoes out of the freezer the day before and let them thaw in the fridge. This process makes pureeing them in a blender ten times easier, creates more liquid making more liquid for your sauce.













You can use the blanching process for many other vegetables to freeze fresh veggies for later use. Again, i do this with everything in my garden, from green beans to zucchini, and we are still eating our freshly frozen vegetables that we grew during the summer. You can freeze fresh veggies you buy at the store when they're in season too, saving yourself some money!

Made from Scratch Tomato Sauce

Happy November!!

For many people, i'm sure the month of November is all about FOOD, which is true for me, too. Growing my own food, cooking from scratch and trying new recipes are all things i love to do. One things i have found from living this kind of lifestyle is that food is all about self-sufficiency, and it's not hard at all! Making & especially growing your own food is one of the healthiest things you can do for your body & your family. When you make your own food, you know exactly what's going into it, you can add as many fruits & vegetables as you want (i'd hope it's more rather than less) & it's easier to control portion sizes. Being healthy & eating right helps you to look & feel fabulous, something clothes & accessories can only do for so long.

This past year i have had the privilege of having my very own garden, making jam, salsa & tomato sauce from scratch, canning & freezing. i know most people think canning is only something grandmas do (or did) but really, it's fun & beneficial. But i'll have more on those things later. This entry is all about tomatoes!!

In our garden this year we had 4 roma tomato plants which were more than sufficient for my husband & i. In fact, we had to give away a bunch of them, & also took several dozen to my mother-in-law's to make some batches of salsa. i don't have canning supplies at my own home, or an appropriate stove (gas is best), so i am left with the option to freeze all of my leftover food, which works well enough. Freezing is relatively easy & all you need is the space & some containers, like freezer bags or plastic containers.

One of my favorite things to do with tomatoes is to make tomato sauce from scratch, which may seem daunting but really, it's easy if you have the time to cook it (4 hours, no that does not include hovering over a pan for 4 hours, just 30 minutes of prep & 4 hours for it to simmer on the stovetop) & affordable. While jarred grocery store tomato sauce is also inexpensive, it doesn't nearly have as many veggies & instead it does have all those preservatives & god knows what in the ingredient list. Plus you won't have the satisfaction of pouring this delicious nutritious sauce over your steaming hot whole wheat pasta & enjoying it with some garlic bread & merlot. It also freezes well so you can make double & save some for later.

After searching for a good sauce that used plenty of vegetables, i made this recipe up one night when i was bored.

So let's make some sauce!

You will need:

Blender or food processor

Large pot

8-10 fresh tomatoes

1 carrot

1 bell pepper

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

1/3 cup red wine (choose your favorite)

1 small bunch fresh basil, about 1/3 cup chopped

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1 teaspoon fresh oregano (you can use dried for any of the herbs, of course, just cut the amount in half or so)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

salt & pepper to taste

1. Blanch the tomatoes to remove the skins. Find out how to blanch tomatoes here.

1.Chop those tomatoes! Small enough to easily puree in a blender or food processor.

2.Chop up the veggies & toss them in the pot with the butter & olive oil, stir to coat & cook for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the pureed tomatoes & seasoning, stir well.

4. Bring the pot to a boil & then turn it down to a simmer, cover it, & let it simmer for 2-2.5 hours.

5. After the 2 hours, check the consistency & taste your sauce! If it seems bland or needs a little kick, don't be afraid to add more seasoning. i often add seasoning throughout the cooking process.

6. Bring it back to a boil & let it simmer again for at least another hour. If you still want it thicker, you can simmer it for a half hour or so with the lid off to cook it down a bit.

7. This process by itself creates a chunky sauce. i like to let it cool & then put it back in my blender & puree until relatively smooth. This hides all the veggie chunks!

I find this recipe makes a good amount of sauce if you're having a spaghetti meal for 6 people. But if you're stuck with leftovers, i like to freeze my sauce. Let it cool as much as possible & pour it into either freezer bags or freezer safe plastic or glass containers. To thaw, i take the sauce out of the freezer & thaw it in the fridge the day before using it, & then heat it on the stove just like jarred sauce. The smell of homemade tomato sauce in the middle of winter might just warm you up a bit. Not to mention it's a great way to use up the fresh tomatoes when the store has a sale or when your garden is overflowing with them, like mine was in the summer.

This sauce can be combined with many things to create a different flavor. Stir in mushrooms & ground beef & you have a rich & meaty sauce. Add cumin, chili powder & cayenne pepper to make enchilada sauce. Add extra basil to make your own pizza sauce. It's versatile & healthy!

Happy cooking!