PIMP MY USB FLASH DRIVE

With a polymer clay casing you can give the memory stick a very individual appearance. Each one is different and you can personalise by using the wearer's favorite team colour combinations.Myself being from Wisconsin, of course it must be Packers, Brewers, or Wisc. Badgers.If you do not have experience with polymer clay, just take some time to get some feeling with the material and you will very soon be ready to start.
As taking pictures of a polymer clay work in progress involves cleaning my hands thoroughly before taking the camera each time, I don't have alot of step pictures.I will soon be making more and will add  more step pictures.

step 1

Materials: - a USB flash drive. I prefer to work with the smallest possible, in order to end up with a small pendant. Sliding models, as opposed to those with a cap.

step 2

Covering the casing with clay is the easiest option for most models of USB flash drive, but it will result in a slightly more bulky pendant.You can also cut the casing off carefully using an exacto knife and a whole world of patience.

Step 3

With some unbaked polymer clay You can  give them shape by playing with it until you get just the right size and thickness desired
.

step 4 Making a hole and cutting.

Make a circumferential cut through the polymer clay, right to the core. Try to make one continuous cut. 

step 5

Bake the workpiece as indicated for the brand of polymer clay used and let it cool down. With the razor knife redo the cut. Take care to follow the original cut for a clean appearance.

Step 6

Paint details with acrylic paints and a very good quality brush.Let dry, and coat with a sealer. My choice is Mod Podge.I also added it to a keychain for my husband for extra convenience, and hey why not show it off !

SPECIAL NOTE:

Take care as polymer clay in unbaked condition is considered harmful to your health and to many plastic surfaces. I guess it's the softeners that do the harm. Check the instructions of the manufacturer. Avoid contact with anything not needed for the sculpting and wash hands, tools and working area thoroughly afterwards.

HOME MADE PICKLES

This was taken straight from an old Blue Bell Canning book.

Zucchini Pickles

2 pounds zucchini, sliced (about 8 small)
1/3 pound onion, quartered and sliced (about 1 small)
1/4 cup canning salt
2 cups sugar
2 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp turmeric
3 cups vinegar

Combine zucchini and onion, sprinkle with salt; add cold water to cover. Let stand 2 hours. Drain, rinse and drain thouroughly. Combine remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Pour vinegar mixture over zucchini and onion. Let stand 2 hours. Bring all ingredients to a boil; reduce heat and simmer5 minutes.

Pack hot vegtables and liquid into jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

Yield approx 4 half pints.

I have used this recipe for 3 years now. Each time they have come out crisp and delicious!
They're crispy, they're crunchy, a delcious delicacy & everything anyone could want in a perfect Dill Pickle. Definitely better than any store-bought.
You can slice them the long way, short way, or whole ...it's all in preference.











For crisp pickles, choose ripe, pickling cucumbers, which are shorter and chunkier than regular eating cucumbers, which tend to be longer and smoother. Overripe cucumbers make mushy pickles. Choose pickles that have not been coated in wax, as the pickling brine cannot penetrate through the wax. The fresher the cucumbers, the crisper the pickles will be. For best results, try picking your own cucumbers from a local farm or farmers' market.I am convinced that this freshness adds a little extra something to the flavor and crunch of the pickles.Another tip is in the processing (hot water bath) of the pickles. The cucumbers are processed only a short time so they are not "cooked".Critical to crisp dill pickles are soaking the cukes in ice water for at least 2 hours .Makes 8 quarts.
                     DELICIOUS DILLS

8 pounds of 2-3 inch cucumbers


12 cups water

1/3 cup pickling salt

jalapeno peppers to taste

grape leaves (fresh)1-2 per jar

whole peppercorn,I use 3 per jar

16 whole garlic cloves (peeled)

8 fresh dill sprigs4 CUPS white vinegar (5% distilled - commonly sold in stores)


1/4 tsp of mustard seed in each jar(optional)

crushed red pepper (optional)

Final note: The grape leaves give the pickles their crunch. You may have trouble finding fresh grape leaves, since they do not sell them in stores. If you can not grow your own or have a neighbor that grows them, I do not have a solution. I would not use alum as a substitute in my pickles.Cut off 1/8" of the blossom end of the cucumber. The enzymes located there can cause soft pickles. You can leave a short piece of vine at the other end. Do this even if you are quartering the cucumbers. What's Pickling Salt? It is not the same as Pickling Spice. It is basically non-iodized salt. Kosher salt works really well. Iodized salt will make your pickles blue! Try to use a ceramic or Teflon coated pot for the brine; contact with metal clouds vinegar solutions, and you may not be able to tell later if the cloudiness indicates spoilage. 





Directions

1. Wash cucumbers, and place in the sink with cold water and lots of ice cubes. Soak in ice water for at least 2 hours but no more than 8 hours. Refresh ice as required. Sterilize 8 (1 quart) canning jars and lids in boiling water for at least 10 minutes.
2. In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine the vinegar, water, and pickling salt. Bring the brine to a rapid boil.
3. In each jar, place 2 half-cloves of garlic, one head of dill, then enough cucumbers to fill the jar (about 1 pound). Then add 2 more garlic halves, and 1 sprig of dill, grape leaves, and jalapenos . Fill jars with hot brine. Seal jars, making sure you have cleaned the jar's rims of any residue.
4. Process sealed jars in a boiling water bath. Process quart jars for 15 minutes for safety.I only process mine 5-8 minutes for crispness.Any that do not seal by morning, go right in the Fridge as Refrigerator pickles, which are the only true way to get that Claussen crisp -- however this canned recipe with the short water bath are the crispiest I've ever had, next to refrigerator pickles!! 
5. Store pickles for a minimum of 8 weeks before eating. Refrigerate after opening. Pickles will keep for up to 2 years if stored in a cool dry place.

BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES 

This recipe from Mrs. Roland Smalley, Niles, Mich. is very popular. The pickles are the kind with a thickened dressing and was her mother’s recipe. The cassia buds are unavailable as they come from China, so broken cinnamon bark may be substituted.
Bread and Butter Pickles.
2 quarts unpeeled medium-sized cucumbers, sliced
1 quart or less sliced onions
Let soak in salt water overnight. Next morning, drain.
1 pint white vinegar
3 cups sugar
3 level tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon cassia buds (or cinnamon bark)
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon celery seed
Mix flour and sugar before adding, to prevent lumping.
Mix all together and add to cucumbers and onions. Bring to a good boil. Pack while hot in add one teaspoon olive oil (or salad oil) to each jar and seal. Be sure pickles do not boil more than 2 minutes.

This recipe is simply the best I've ever tried!! I tried this recipe for the first time last year & gave away the jars as Christmas presents. Now everyone is requesting these pickles for Christmas again this year!

BURLAP FEED SACK APRON

The idea of making use of empty feed sacks has been around since the early 1800s and is still a viable source of inexpensive and durable material. The material used in feed sacks has changed as many things that were once packaged in cloth bags are now being placed in heavy duty paper or plastic. But cotton and burlap sacks are still in use. Burlap is mainly used to hold potatoes, cotton and corn, while cotton bags are used for flour, beans and rice in the food industry. In the pioneer days, some families' only source of cloth for children's clothes was from empty cotton feed sacks. Little girls had dresses and blouses that were made from feed sacks. Men's work shirts and mother's dresses aprons also originated as feed sacks. Pillow cases and dish towels almost all originated as feed or flour sacks.




Manufacturers begin to realize that they could make their feed sacks out of attractive material with the hopes that they would sell more to the farmer whose wife wanted the pretty fabric to create a dress. Feed sacks can still be used to create clothing items. Use vintage or modern feed sack material to create blouses, dresses and men's shirts. Use a standard clothing pattern to create the clothing item using feed sack material. Cotton feed sacks are best for clothing projects, but burlap sacks can be used to create a particularly rustic look.

Create reusable shopping bags or travel totes. Cut and sew feed sacks into a sack and use a pretty ribbon as a handle. The sacks can be used to take groceries home from the grocery store or as a purse or travel tote to carry personal objects. Making totes and bags out of feed sacks is good for the environment because not only are you repurposing the feed sack, but by creating a bag or tote of it, you are not using environmentally harmful plastic sacks from the grocery store.

Feed sacks can be used to create trendy looking gift wrap. Use paper or fabric feed sacks to create natural looking gift wrap. Embellish wrapped packages with natural items such as dried flowers and satin ribbons. You can also use feed sacks to create small doll items such as doll clothes and rugs. Feed sacks also make good kitchen towels.




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                  Rags to Riches Apron Line


      What a unique and purely organic apron this is!

The bags are 28" x 40".  This particular bag has an interesting motif on both sides, so one bag can be used to make two aprons.  The burlap POTATO sacks have not been laundered.  I chose to wash and dry the sack to soften it up a bit and then ironed it. 

Supplies to make one apron:

• one burlap bag, washed, dried and ironed.
• 1 1/4 yards fabric for lining, washed and dried
• ruler

 Cut bag along edges.

 Mark the center point of the motif.  Even out the sides and bottom of bag.  In this example, there was 5.25" to the right of the motif.  So I cut off the excess on the left side for an overall size of 23.5" x 35". 

Mark 5.5" to the left and right of the center point; mark 11.5" down on the sides.

Draw a curve between the two points and cut out that top portion of the apron.  (You could also trace an existing apron.)

Use the cut out piece as a pattern to make the same cut on the other side.

Place lining fabric underneath the bag and cut out.

 Pin ties to right side of lining, raw edges together.  The shorter strip is the neck piece and the longer strips are the waist ties.  The ties should be placed one inch from the sides edges.

Place right sides together and pin so that the straps are encased on the inside.

Sew or serge using a small stitch length and a 1/2" seam allowance around the perimeter of the apron.  Leave a 6" opening at the bottom.  Trim curves and corners being careful not to trim too closely since the weave of the burlap is somewhat loose.  Turn apron inside out and press; press the seams of the opening to the inside and pin.

Top stitch the entire apron using a fairly small stitch to secure the  BURLAP bag to the lining and reinforce the weave of the burlap.

                            

    BURLAP FLOWERS

1. Pull a strand of burlap to use as your thread.
2. Cut 2 flowers with five petals each (I free-handed them).  Stack them and sew an X through the center to hold them together.
3. Stitch a circle around the X  on the top layer and pull the thread to gather
   it.  This cups the flower.
4. Sew or hot glue a button in the center of the flower. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   How to Remove Smell From Burlap Fabric

Instructions

1. • 1
     Place the burlap in a well-ventilated, dry area outdoors. Let the fabric air for several hours.
   • 2
     Sprinkle some baking soda onto the burlap and let it sit for an hour.
   • 3
     Shake out the baking soda and check for any lingering odors.
   • 4
     Soak the burlap in white vinegar for 30 minutes if you still detect an odor.
   • 5
     Rinse the burlap with water and spread it out to dry.

Now when someone asks where you scored that awesome apron or your killer napkins, you can feel superior when you say they're one of a kind!