Around here we house worms in style!

My oldest little mister has developed a love of slimy things. From first loves of tractors, tires and boats...now on to worms and slugs. What will it be next?

While I don't love either worms or slugs, I despise the latter, so I will *try* to embrace the first. For awhile now Super T has spent every minute he can outside digging for worms. His daddy bought him a "worm home" from the sporting goods store that is small enough to hold a handful along with bedding. It works well when they want to stock up for fishing.

Since the worm love seems to be sticking around, I thought I might as well get something out of the deal too. I've got some horrible soil in part of my garden that could really use new life. I found these plans for a worm compost bin on Ana White's project plan site. My son will be thrilled to have a big new "worm home" for his wormies and I can use the rich soil produced in my garden. Win-win!

A weekend visit to parents +
a woodworking father who never throws away scraps +
plenty of time on my hands =
project time (after rummaging for dad's scrap wood)!

My dad also has good connections. He obtained all this scrap madrone from a guy he knows who has a wood mill and was giving it away for free. It is good, solid stuff. This is only half of the pile he came home with.

Since Dad is in the middle of haying season and was sitting on a tractor most of the day, I was on my own. I was thrilled when I discovered these pre-cut pieces are interlocking, which meant very little sawing and power tool work for me to do on my own.

I created 8 panels to make the sides of my two bins. Pre-drilled, glued and nailed them together.

The plans called for stackable bins, which could be easily removed, emptied, and rotated as the worms work through the soil and vegetation we add. I must admit I didn't follow the plans precisely. I only followed the design loosely due to trying to make the scraps I found work best with as little altering as possible.

Attach mesh wire to the bottom, which allows the worms to work in both boxes. The rich soil will end up in the bottom box (hence the stackable design that allows for easy rotation) as the worms work their way toward the top where the fresh vegetation gets added. This step was actually a pain in the butt...mesh wire does not cooperate well.

Here is stand for the bins. Since this will be sitting outside, I'm not caring much if it is "pretty" since it rains 9 months out of the year here and will end up weathered anyway, but I do want my bins to sit up off the ground. I added the boarder pieces so the box won't slide around (little hands have a way of moving things that should not be moved at my place).

Here's the top. The long ends act as handles. I added a board on the underneath side as you see in the picture that nests in the top of the bin to keep the lid on. I love that it ended up a little bit Asian inspired looking (when looking at it right side up of course).

My son is in a big helper stage. Always wants in on the mix. He was more than happy to help apply a finish of vegetable oil inside and out. This will act as a food safe finish that will help keep moisture inside, while providing a bit of resistance to weathering.
Adding shredded newspaper for bedding and worm food...
Adding a layer of dirt, some kitchen scraps (veggie only, no meats/dairy to keep stink and scavengers away)...
Adding more dirt and Super T's wormies he dug out of my dad's garden...
The big reveal...worm condo!
COST OF MY PROJECT: FREE! Everything used was left over from other projects or free to begin with.

***After doing some more reading on worm compost bins, I'm thinking the only addition I will make is to drill some ventilation holes at the top edge of each bin.

I bow down to the metal stampers...

One of the reasons I like to create is because I can often create something I want cheaper than I can buy pre-made. Not to mention the self-satisfaction when I've made something with my own two hands and it turns out looking great.

I thought I'd save myself some moo-la for gift giving by stamping some sterling silver necklaces instead of buying them. Sounds like a brilliant idea, yes? Um...no. It's hard! MUCH harder than it looks! Letters all wibbly wonky, some stamped deeper than others...seriously difficult!

You can't seem me but I'm rolling on the floor laughing at myself on this one. My experience humbled me right down to bowing at the feet of those that stamp metal and create jewelry to sell.

I'll sum it up by saying I lost a bunch of money on this adventure due to ruining silver disk after silver disk with my efforts (yes, I DID practice first on sheet metal). I returned what I didn't ruin, threw my hands up in frustration at myself, and turned to my trusty ol' computer to put in an online order from the professionals who actually know what they are doing. Again, bowing down to you...

That being said, while I didn't manage to make any disks with actual words on them like I originally planned, I did come out of the project with two initial necklaces made that were decent enough to give as gifts.

These are my parts and pieces...

Finished necklace for my best friend with the initials of her three kids...

One for my sister with her first name initial...

While they didn't turn out just as I wanted, I do like the simplicity of the pieces. They also offer the option for adding charms later on as desired. So, I guess all wasn't lost on this one after all!

SUPER-T TO THE RESCUE!

What do little boys dream about?
Tree houses, dirt, diggers, bugs...and super heros! I'm pretty sure those are on the list.

I'm a bargain shopper and after Halloween last year I snagged a Power Ranger costume on a massive clearance sale for next year. It came with a generic suit that could be transformed into a Super Hero of any kind! Since our 4 year old was dubbed with the nickname "Super T" shortly after he was born, I figured this costume paired with my sewing skills could add a boost to my little boy's imaginative play, AND double as a costume for this coming Halloween.
Rummaged deep down in my fabric bin for some fleece and notion scraps to use up...bought the rest of the supplies with awesome coupons at JoAnn's (they always have great ones!), and this costume is complete for less than 20 bucks!


Super T was thrilled that there was a bit of wind today to help him "fly"...he's already planning what his 1 year old brother's superhero costume will look like for me to make. Apparently he needs a partner in flight.

Gearing up to say "Goodbye"...

Ruffie.

My shadow.
My little hero.

I've been in denial about the fact that my little mix-breed mutt is nearing the end of his days. He will be 15 years old in a few months. What is that in dog years? A billion?

Ruffian found me (or did I find him?) when he was a mere 6 weeks old and I was a broke college student. Broke or not, I scrounged up the $35 to make him mine. He stuck with me through college, multiple roommates and moves, broken relationships, growing up, marriage, an addition of an annoying puppy to follow him around, dark days of infertility and loss, becoming second place when babies finally entered the picture, and everything in between. Me becoming a mom probably rocked Ruffian's little world, as I've simply not had much time or patience to lend to my constant shadow. My parents have often commented that this dog has saved them thousands of dollars in therapy bills for me as I battled through the rough waters of early adulthood. He's been dubbed "The Hero". They are right.

Age has taken its toll though. I'm slowly coming to grips with the fact that my friend's quality of life is declining. Unfortunately during the last year, that decline has sped up and manifested itself greatly. He's basically falling apart.

Ruffie, about 7 years ago...(around age 7 yrs)

...and today...at 15 years old.

Saying "goodbye" sucks. I'm not ready to do it and I will probably wait for awhile, but I can tell my dog is pretty ready. I need to get there too for his sake. In the years that will follow my goodbye, I know that I will miss the ticking of his toenails as he pads after my every move through the house. I'll miss knowing he's sleeping less than a foot from me, right beside my bed. I may even miss the horrid stink that follows him around (he really is the smelliest dog ever).

How does this relate to crafting, you ask? Well, I'm not the only one getting re-purposed shirts around here to wear! In an effort to keep my old dog warmer (in addition top of his heated bed warmer, that is!), and also to keep him from biting at his hot spots, I discovered an infant's 18 month sized long sleeve T-shirt works perfectly! The bulky dog sweaters we have don't cover his front legs, which he has taken to licking until his ankles are nearly bald. A toddler's T with elastic sewn in a casing around the bottom hem, and wha-la! A new fashion statement and the easiest craft ever.
Oh Ruff, I wish you could live forever...

Haven't lost my mo-jo yet.

I'm still feeling inspired! Yippee for me! Yippee for you too because that means you get to see what I've been up to.

I'm into recycling lately. Or rather, re-purposing. I'm a gal that was born tall with a long torso. This might seem great to those that are on the shorter side, but for me, it has actually been quite frustrating throughout my life. You see, normal clothes don't fit. I have to buy "tall" sizes. This a pain in the rear when I walk into a store, spy something to-die-for cute, only to discover it doesn't come in "tall". I do a lot of online clothing shopping because of this, which results in too-high shipping charges. Don't get me started on that soapbox...

Anywho, since showing the mid-drift went out of style with the passing of the 90's, this has been a problem for me with shirts.

Hence...the re-purposing. I decided to see what I could do to remedy some of my too-short shirts.

Here is my first victim. I like ruffles. I even decided to model for you. Like my pose? Think I could make it into a fashion mag? I think not because it is the only pose I have.




I think I may add some more shirring to the bottom, as it isn't quite ruffled enough yet. But it is a good start.

For those of you that I have running to your closets, wondering what you could re-purpose of your own, this is how I did it. It is easy peasy.

I've learned I'm really bad at taking "before" pictures before I start cutting. This was a "regular" cap-sleeve Walmart cheapie t-shirt to start with.

I cut off the arms and bottom hem. Made the arm hole a bit bigger so it didn't hug the pit so much. What can I say, it makes me sweat when that happens. Glamorous, yes?


I cut out some pieces that I thought would work to make into cap-sleeves. I ended up making a second bottom piece that was wider for the waistline, as this one turned out to be too narrow to fit the hips once shirred. It's no secret that they aren't as narrow as they used to be!


Then, just sew them on the ends, not worrying about finishing the hidden edges since jersey won't unravel. Un-hemmed jersey edges seem to be the new thing anyway.
Add a few rows of shirring around the arms and waist...

And wha-la! I have myself a new shirt. Very cute if I do say so myself.

For a little bit of anticipation, keep tuning into see what I do with this pile of old cedar wood. That is, once it stops raining here. If it EVER stops raining here. This is gonna be a fun one!