Sara In Akko

I remember the excitement of new school supplies. The fresh notebooks, the perfect folders and does anyone have a soft spot for Lisa Frank TrapperKeepers?

My oldest began first grade today, proud as pie of her new backpack (nobody in a school of a few hundred girls has one like hers), super stocked about her pencil case and the only caveat is that all her notebooks, folders, pencils must be standard blah blah blah.

She goes to a school that has asked parents to buy brown paper notebooks, clear covers, yellow #2 pencils and white erasers. No distracting stickers, please! I've never encountered a list that killed the joy of school supplies so thoroughly.

I stuck to the letter of the law when buying her supplies, somehow knowing in the back of my mind that she will come home today and ask why she was the only girl in the entire school with blank and joyless supplies.  No way my motherly cohorts will resist the temptation of colorful store-bought vigor for back to school. I feel it in my bones that no other mother fears pissing off the teacher in the way that I do, but I also know that I have a few tricks up my sleeve.

Of all of the many directions given for supply purchases, the ringed binder did not come with a list of instructions, here's your instructions crazy rigid school supply list!

Tutorial for the best damn homemade fabric covered binder in this school.

Materials:
1 cheap ringed binder
1 fat quarter
felt scrap
fabric flower pattern
random trimming scraps
needle and thread


Measure out the size of your binder when it lays folded and begin folding the edges of your fabric over the top, just as you would if covering a book with a paper-bag. I used packing tape to hold the edges before securing with embroidery thread.

I'm not sure what it is that compels me to make my kid's costume instead of buying them. It just goes against my DIY nature. Also, I'm fairly sure I never had a store bought costume in my lifetime.

So here's the princess dress made entirely out of T-shirts.

My personal key ring has just undergone some major work-related changes


My key ring used to be simple (really simple) but now  it looks like that big old set of janitor keys hanging around some dude's belt. Despite the fact that they are heavy and jingle and slow me down when I'm on the go, I actually do need a surprising amount of these keys on a constant basis now and am forced to find a way to hold them along with all the other junk I tote around at work.



The tutorials online abound for this sort of project but as I only have this hardware on hand the project looks something like this:

Find heavy scrap of fabric, sew tube inside out and turn to right side, top stitch into a hand-sized loop. Attach to key ring and top stitch to reinforce. Easily find your less hideous keyring in style.


The close observer may also notice that this is the same scrap of fabric which I used to make my pinch close coin purse that holds my daily travel fare. So now it's a matching set. Find the tutorial of the coin purse remake here.

Next office preparedness craft is a true essential for your desk or purse, not to be missed.

We're not big on physical gifts to adults for birthdays or holidays in my husband's family. Maybe a family dinner but that's usually where we draw the line.

However, my mother-in-law does like to bring me potted orchids that I somehow manage to turn around and kill within weeks.


But there is more to this phenomenon than the orchid entering my care and then suddenly dying. There is first a hopeful stage where a new plant is gifted to me. I vow that it will not die on my watch and then I feeble try to assess which mineral water will best sustain the life of my new pant. I dutifully grimace at my plant and will it to live with all the good intentions I can muster. I have heard  that talking to your plants can help them grow and I have taken to gently whispering to the these fledgling flowers "Grow damn you!" But all to no avail. Within a few short weeks I find the petals wilting from the yellowing plant and I know I have failed again.

Sometimes I am lucky, and my mother-in-law rescues the orchid and magically nurses it back to health. I'm not sure what she does to resurrect these delicate buds but I am almost positive it involves love, patience and some sort of flower doping. Really, this is the only possibility for the success of all orchids once out from under my watchful eye. My mother-in-law cheats nature by pumping the orchids full of some super-botanical flower drugs. These things are probably so hyped up they could pedal in the Tour De France.

But I digress. Another birthday has come and gone and I am left with the seemingly not so large burden of caring for another floral thing. When it entered the house I checked to make sure it wasn't last year's orchid making a reappearance from beyond the grave. It was not. I asked my mother-in-law to set up the plant in the optimal place, in her expert opinion, to receive appropriate sun and humidity. Check. I review the care instructions of watering once a week with mineral water for set amount of time from the pan below. Yes. I then run to the internet and check the facts that I already know to be true. OK... so what now?

Now I sit staring at this ticking time-bomb, waiting for the day when I will have to relinquish custody back to the family flower caretaker.

Is my inability to keep these orchids alive some sort of in-law issue lurking just bellow the surface? Is it possible that of all the species I have dutifully cultivated over the years, orchids are just my Achilles heel? Is "someone" poisoning these plants to later step in and save the day?

February 2, 2011 Thank you little orchid plant

Dear Orchid Plant,

Although we have only known each other a short while, I am thankful for everyday you continue to flower and grace my home with splendor. I hope we continue to grow together. Your resilience despite my ineptitude is a triumph of natural beauty and I hope we share a long and healthy future together.

When visiting the States a few months back I was drawn to quite a few retail items that should clearly be craft-it yourself projects in the making. One perfect example, these silly yet ingenious earmuff headband wraps found at Target (sorry about the shoddy camera phone picture).

My husband literally had to pull me out of the accessories aisle to stop me from buying them for a ridiculous $20, if I recall correctly. And then came the magic words..."Why don't you just make them?"

Wait, did my husband really just green-light a whole new project to *sit dormant around the house until my creative juices lulled me back toward the memory of how badly I wanted this thing again? Why yes. I do believe he did.

*Expected completion time for any given project can be months or hours depending on how long my adrenaline and interest carry me. I hear some people find this quirky and endearing.


So here's a free pattern for the Crocheted Earmuff Headband
*Warning this is my first pattern so bare with me and let me know if you find mistakes also, if you've ever crocheted anything, you probably can eyeball this project and crochet it by instinct fairly easily.



Materials
Bulky or Extra Bulky Weight Yarn (way less than one ball will do)
5.5 MM "I" or even "J" crochet hook  (Check your gauge hooks on preference)
Craft needle 

Notes: You can either work continually in rounds or Slip-stitch your final stitch to your first in the row and Chain 3 to count as first Double Crochet stepping up in your next row (my example steps up each row). Also, I used a fairly bulky acrylic which gave a finished size of about 4 inches or 10 cm diameter, they're one size fits most unless you'd like them bigger or smaller.

Earmuff (make 2)
Starting: Either Chain 3 and return to first loop to start or create Magic Circle.
Round 1: Double Crochet 10 into loop (10 stitches total)
Round 2: 2 DC in each stitch (20 total)
Round 3: *2 DC in first stitch 1 DC in next, repeat from* (30 total)
Round 4: *2 DC in first stitch 1 DC in next 2 stitches, repeat* (40 total)
Round 5: *1 DC in first 2 stitches, 1 Decrease in next, repeat* (30 total)
Slip-stitch to finish and weave in ends.

Headband (make 1)
Chain 36 (or check length you need from ear to ear, chain to that length)
Row 1: Double Crochet in each stitch, work in round (both sides of stitch) for 2 rows of 36 DC.
Continue around until reaching desired thickness. Slipstitch to finish ends.

*For my some one round is enough but you can continue with another "Round" of 36 DC on each side until you reach desired thickness of band. I chose this method so I have clear front and back to the headband to hold better to the top of the head as the edges curve in a bit.

Ties (make 2)
Make a simple 3 or 5 strand braid of about 8 inches to attach to bottom of of each earmuff, you can finish with a simple knot or a pompom if you're feeling extra cheeky.



Assembling All the Pieces: Check the crown of your head measurement one more time for final placement for each round earmuff piece and then stitch securely. Find bottom center stitch of each earmuff and secure braid. Have fun dancing around your house wearing your new creation because if you live where I do this is too extreme for the sweater weather we are experiencing and if you live somewhere with real winter like the Weather Channel  describes I can't imagine you would dream of going outside. Stay in and make another pair for your spouse, or a miniature pair for your cats, or some for the kids. Whichever creative drive strikes you.

Don't let the pictures, or my husband's commentary, fool you. This was either the most ingenious use of DIY resourcefulness or a total fast food impostor recipe abomination. I lean towards best at-home lunch ever!

Although I live in a city bursting full of kosher schwarma shops that line the main street, there are precious few places that sell falafel.  Why is that you ask? I honestly have no idea.

If you live somewhere with a great discrepancy between available schwarma to falafel or just want to know the easiest way to make your own (healthier) falafel and also fix up your pita like a genuine street food experience in your home, this tutorial is for you.


 Super Amazing Falafel DIY Impostor Recipe

Step 1). The easiest way to get genuine falafel is to purchase a ready made powder which you can purchase here or if you're adventuresome you could grind your own chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and mix in spices like these found here. Both options will produce falafel and it all depends on your personal preference. Although I have ready mix waiting in my home (usually due to the family Etsy shop) I like doing things the long and tedious way (grinding beans and adding fresh spice).

Step 2). If you happen to keep a deep fryer around the house, you can toss in the tiny balls of mush chickpea mix till browned. If you are like me and terrified by the thought of cooking with vats of oil, it's time for the oven. This is where my husband and I disagree because I find no reason falafel needs to be a burning hot ball of grease whereas he absolutely believes this is exactly what falafel should be.


Step 3). Cut your pita in half, throw it in the over for just a minute to help it open up a bit if it is giving you trouble.

Step 4). Cut up your essential pita stuffers. At a genuine falafel street vendor you'd find a wide variety of salads and pickles but luckily I enjoy a simple palate of pickles, onions, Yemeni spice and humous (oddly enough, also ground chickpeas... there is a bit of redundancy in available ingredients throughout the Middle East).  


If it's fresh and a vegetable it also belongs in a pita. Middle Eastern fast food is not really as detrimental to your health as the American variety (minus the flaming balls of fried grease).


This is some serious humous. In Hebrew it's just called "spicey" and is found at our local grocer.

Viola! Everything a genuine falafel should be; a mix of texture, extreme spice and stomach soothing fresh veggies. Not too healthy but not a heart attack in a bun. I highly recommend giving this a try at home.

  
This project has been a very long time in the making. Originally it was one of the gifts of a fourth birthday extravaganza that was scaled way down after a week long family emergency that kept the set from being completed. I even sat in the hospital with an injured toddler stitching felt food by nightlight but just couldn't make this deadline.

Months and months later, I think that my own birthday is the right time to give the littles in my house their play set. Lucky for them, the extra time of hiding in the craft room has expanded the set to include all sorts of neat extras.

Have a look!

I'm beginning to see the beauty of the many crafty blogers who scan the Anthropologie catalog for things to remake. First, the style is often simplistic and lovely. But then, there is the part that these simple snazzy accessories can cost a good chunk of your hard earned cash. Where's the fun in that?

So here is my latest inspiration, ripped from the (online) catalog. It's a purse, it's a garden, it's a work of wearable art. It's also $268... umm no, for many reasons not in this lifetime.



Let's see if I can't make this for under $5.



Start with my favorite (not quite) a dollar store clutch hardware (ripped from the infamous cigarette purse).

I happen to have a few spare yards of black chintz from an old project so I'll be making the basic clutch out of that.

While I would like to keep in the spirit of the garden that abounds, I actually don't love the pinked edges or these tones 100%. So I made an insane amount of fabric flowers from scrap chiffon.

The rest is in the art of assembly and color play.

Looks like I just saved my family $263. I'll be putting that in my birthday fund.

Actual time for this craft, 1 week of idle sick-time on the couch or possibly 1 hour for the bag and a few hours to cut and assemble all those flowers.

Bonus purse!



I was not in like with the colors of the first attempt, so I tried a few different combinations. You should too, it's fun.

The first coin purse I remade at the beginning of this week wasn't really ugly to start with. It was plain and lacked personality, but as far as things go to hold your change not terrible.

Today's remake is from fairly awful beginnings in its former life as a cigarette pouch. I was unaware such a thing existed. But when I picked it up to see if I couldn't tear it apart for the hardware, I was told by an enthusiastic shopkeep that this was the best thing to hold my smokes in, there's even a side pouch for the lighter. Rockin!



But I'm no smoker. This thing had to be re-crafted into something beautiful to be rescued from it's dull dollar store life,  to be given a new start in it's non-toxic life for the new year. But this time with a visual tutorial, hurrah!



Re-crafting an Ugly Metal Framed Coin Purse to Become Something Beautiful

Materials:
Scraps of fabric large enough to get two cuts of your purse shape. One fabric for outside and one for lining (if you're into lining your purse).
One ugly "Cigarette Purse" or any other cheap metal clasp purse you fancy deconstructing.
Basics: Needle, thread, pencil paper, fabric glue and pliers

Time estimate for 1 complete coin purse: not more than 1 hour (and I hand stitch).

Step 2). Sketch out a rough shape that you like. I enjoy life without actual patterns, if it makes you nervous to think of all that design freedom, Google some images you'll find tons of coin purse shapes.


Step 5). There is an exceptional tutorial at the Purl Bee that will teach you how to finish the clasp of your purse (and also tempt you to buy $50 worth of a coin purse kit with Liberty of London fabric). Go to the tutorial, it is concise and fairly self-explanatory.