C is for Re-Make!

Jun reminded me many times yesterday that "Today is C!" But, we chose to do S - Sledding! Gotta sled when there is sun and snow! So, today we did "C"! In case you missed an earlier post, this is part of our Advent activities. "C" is to make a candle. We did a double "C". We did a Crayon Candle. And DADDY DID ONE TOO! This made me very happy! Can you guess whose cut up crayons are whose? FYI - this is a silicone muffin pan that I used for a mold. They popped out very very well! Jun's is the upper left. She cut up many many colors of crayons. Ryu's is lower left. He mainly used oranges and pinks and cut them very finely. Mine is the lower right. I used traditional Christmas colors. Blue, Red, Green, White and Yellow. Then (see below) I cut up a candle I bought at the grocery store. Perhaps I could have used paraffin...but I didn't think of it.

At a friend's suggestion, I emptied a can of apricots, washed and dried it well, bent it to give it a spout, set it on a canning jar ring (a cookie cutter would probably do), in a couple of inches of water. I kept the heat to medium and waited for the white candle to melt.

Then I gently poured the white wax over the crayon bits. I guess you can see I re-used the wick in the white candle for two of the candles and used wax thread for the third.

When we got home from town, I popped them out of the muffin tin and here they are: Ryu's Mine, and Jun's. Ryu's color crayons were cut very finely, so there are many loose ones on the top. Mine and Jun's are a bit solider. However, the tops that you see here are actually the bottom, so...the pretty part of the candles won't melt in a hurry! Especially as I haven't allowed FIRE in the house yet.

So, that's our "C" Crayon Candle Re-make!


Can one "Deck the Halls" with Origami Angels? Next is "D."

Futon Cover - Remake

It really has nothing to do with green grass, but I was always a little dissatisfied with our top futon in Japan. It worked better after I made two singles into a queen size and got a cover for it/them. But, I wasn't too awfully sad that we couldn't bring it with us to the US.

Enter - the US. And thrifty, cheap me! We acquired a filled bedspread with ruffles, a really soft pink blanket and a wonderful top sheet (that I NEVER used in Japan because of the futon cover we used!) So, we have fought with sheets and blankets slipping here and there for the past six months.

I have had an idea for about five of the past six months, but didn't know what the weather would be like here in Oregon during...anytime at all! Now I am an expert on a "very warm year with a late summer and a late fall" in this part of the world.

So, I took my idea into hand and made it a reality. It is cold enough here in the summer to need to sleep in long pajamas and use a sheet and a blanket. Days are hot, nights are not. Think: desert! So, my idea will be PERFECT for spring, summer and fall - at least!

First I sewed around the outside of the bedspread and then CUT that ruffle right off. We are not ruffle people. Except for Jun. She LOVES them. Then I attempted to center the sheet on top of the blanket and sewed it up on three sides. Lastly we shoved the bedspread in and MADE IT FIT! We think we need to come up with an idea to secure the bedspread inside the cover, but...we have discarded about 10 ideas already, so...

Now we have a top bed covering that is made of a nice soft blanket in the winter. In the summer we will take the bedspread out and turn the cover over for a great sheet/blanket combination.

Right now Ryu has the bed made with this plus two more blankets. I am TOO HOT! But so happy that he made the bed that I've done nothing about it!

Thanks: I'm thankful for my parents and all that they are always doing to make our transition to life in the US as easy as possible! We REALLY appreciate them and can't WAIT to celebrate Ryu and Jun's first Thanksgiving in the US with them!!!

Recycle Gardening

I guess I have a bit of a rescuing personality. Dogs, people, and PLANTS! I have been known to pass by the garbage area outside of our apartment building and rescue discarded plants. Surely, I can bring them back and on to their full potential. The only problem with this is that I don't really have any green fingers, let alone thumbs!

Before I went to the US for Christmas, I watered my plants and forgot to ask Ryu to water them while I was gone. We talked daily on the phone, and I ALWAYS forgot to ask him to water the plants. I got home, and they had not seen a drop of water for three weeks. When I mentioned it to Ryu, he said that it HAD rained a lot while I was gone. That as it may be, the three tiny houseplants did not benefit from this moisture, nor did the other 90% of my plants on the covered balcony. However, the Yule Log - errr, Christmas Tree, has not looked this well since I got it over a year ago. I guess draught was good for IT!

But, back to the house plants. I tried not to scream when I saw the state they were in...especially Ryu's coffee tree. I use the word "tree" very loosely, as it is only about 20 or so cm tall. And...that is the one houseplant that has not been brought back to life. Leafless, I did it the kindness of recycling it!

A few years ago, in my Rescue Gardening mode, I searched the web to find out how to keep my Christmas poinsettias and cyclamen going for another year. One site said, more or less, "Just recycle those plants!" Wow! That was a whole new way to look at the imminent death of a house plant. Recycle it! Ashes to ashes and dust to dust and another plant will take its place...more or less.

This was quite a freeing message, and I have been free of Rescue Gardening ever since. I bid a sad "good-bye" to those plants that are FINISHED, but no longer try to pump life back into them. I am a Recycle Gardener, and I LOVE it!

Futon Re-make

This is absolutely the stupidest thing that I have done that I care to remember or tell anyone about. I re-made our futons.

When we got married, we were futon sleepers. MIL bought us two single futon sets (top and bottom), and we got some thin mattresses to go under. After a few years, my bones got pretty tired of sleeping on futons. The futons she bought were, apparently, good ones, but were so heavy, I hated to hang them out in the sun - which should be done regularly with futons - especially the bottom part - for any readers not familiar with futons.

So, I campaigned for a bed. A friend recommended a mattress rather than a bed, as we only have two 6-mat rooms. This way we could always prop the mattress up against the wall, and use the bedroom for other purposes. We did get the mattress, but the only time we prop it up against the wall is to vacuum, but, we are plenty comfortable, and walking around the bed at night, I have often been thankful that I haven't cracked my shin on a bed frame.

However, two single top futons on a double mattress (hereafter called bed) really don't work. I also hated comforters/duvets/futons that weren't really big enough for the bed, so I determined that we needed a queen sized futon. Therefore, I ordered a very expensive queen sized futon cover and proceeded to re-make our futons.

Did I happen to mention that these are down futons? With feathers? Well, I borrowed a friend's sewing machine and started in. Ryu remembers I did it in a day. And that he sneezed for a week. But, I think it took me longer.

First, (as if anyone else in this world would be so silly as to do this, but anyway,) I decided where to cut each futon (didn't want one half to be larger than the other. Why that matters with a futon cover hiding the whole thing, don't ask me!) to be equal in size. I also needed to make the futon longer, to fit the duvet cover.

Next, I sewed two parallel seams on either side of the cutting lines, hypothetically trapping those feathers from flying all around. I suppose it helped a lot, but, feathers are feathers! Then I cut.

Then, I sewed the uncut sides together down the middle, and a portion from one of the futons across the top to lengthen the futon. Finally, I used bias tape to cover the cut-feathers-are-trying-to-escape-edges, and added a lot of places to hook the duvet cover on to the futon (however, futons slip in their covers - what can I say?).

And put the cover on. I really really really don't recommend anyone else being so cheap or brave or foolish to ever try this. But, just so you know, someone has done it first!

Do you have any similar stories to share???

Soap Re-Make

I am not the best recycler. I don't cut open our milk boxes and wash and dry them and take them to the grocery store. Until recently we didn't EVEN have any milk boxes around, and still the count is too low to make it worth giving up the storage space in my tiny kitchen. I did, however, make a wonderful stool for Jun out of milk cartons. I'll post about that if you are interested.

But, today's re-make is about soap. For some reason, throwing away those slivers of soap left from bar soap - yes, we like the bars rather than the liquid, it seems, just seemed too wasteful to me. So, years ago, I searched the web for ideas. Coming up with nothing that was simple and easy, I just winged it. (wong it?)

First, I take a small soap shaped plastic container and line it with two sheets of plastic wrap.

Then I cover my chopping board with a few layers of wrap as well. Then I get all the various soap scraps. Different colors, shapes, kinds, textures, and chop them into small pieces. If I have a newish and interesting bar of soap gotten as a gift, I will sometimes chop some of that up too.

I put all the pieces in a small heavy bottomed sauce pan and put a tablespoon or so of water in with it. Then, I turn the heat on very very low and stir and stab and stick the soap. Some of it melts into the water and, after a bit, the water/soap starts to bubble. Then it is done.

Quickly, pour, spoon, put the soap mixture into the plastic container and push down on the mixture to get as many of the air bubbles out as possible. Flatten it off on top, and place near an open window (or not) to cool off. When it is cool, I take the soap, with the wrap out of the plastic container to let it completely cool off, and then take the wrap off and let it sit for a day or two to "dry out". Then, you have a unique bar of soap, never seen before on planet Earth. Pretty cool! Huh!

The bars I have made this past month are all bumpy, so when you wash your hands or body, it feels like you are getting a mini-massage! So nice! Give it a try if you get bored! It's fun!

Wow, that is one out-of-focus bar of soap, but, you get the idea!