Tree with a view

We went to Tairua on the Coromandel Peninsula (NZ) on the weekend, and happened to drive by this seaside tree with its own deck.

Rainbow Table and Chairs

Rainbow kid's chairs and table-top. The rainbow on top was painted by children! They stamped various stamps along my pencil guides.  

I decided to buy a big can of water-based varnish - as the clear glaze I had been buying was really expensive.  It did work!  I was able to just painted with any cheap water-based paint, then seal it after since the varnish was water-based as well (i.e. not oil based).  However, the paint did get "moved" by the topcoat, which was a pain.  For the clouds on the chair - I did the chairs first - I just went with it and "repainted" the clouds to get the protective clear coat on.  But I was wiser for the table, which I had the kids do - Troy and her friend. I mixed a bit of the water-based varnish in with their poster paints.  That kept the paint immobile enough for me to varnish the heck out of it after.  Although as always, learning by doing can be frustrating (the chairs), learning new methods is great - the kids table and chairs are now almost bombproof - and I have a flexible art painting method - as long as I have some water-based varnish. 

From problems to opportunities - the holes in Lukie's jeans

During a weekend away, I hand-stitched nice dark denim over some holes in Luke's jeans. You need to be relaxed, not under time pressure to enjoy doing this.

Just fold the edges under of the patch fabric so they won't fray, pin, and watch TV or listen to a radio show. (I watched a great Indian movie that I hadn't expected to like!) The letters are sewn with a large needle and wool/yarn.

If you take a positive spin on holes worn in knees (in otherwise strong jeans), they stop being problems and start becoming opportunities.

Check out these reusable bread bags by Ginger Pye

Check out my new reusable bread bags! They were custom made by Ginger Pye based on their lunch sack design, but larger (I gave them measurements), and lined with EVA which is food-safe and BPA and phthalate-free. These are large enough to fit any size loaf of bread (or a batch of muffins, or rolls...)

Two came to $40 (NZ).
I love being able to make extra bread and store it in these bags without the guilt of causing horrible landfill fodder...and they bring extra life into the kitchen (instead of taking it away).

Dad's tip: How to seal and protect a wood cutting board used for food

My father told me this great tip for looking after cutting boards.

He loved wood - he built often out of wood, and would usually varnish wood to protect it. He always nagged us if we were careless with water around wood. He told me that with cutting boards, you could protect the wood and seal it by coating it with vegetable oil, such as olive oil. Then you place it out in the sun to cure - and it creates a foodsafe varnish. This would be instead of the usual wood oils such as (non-food safe) linseed oil.

You just do it once in awhile when it wears off.

After I did it the wood was supple and felt beautiful again - as the wood's moisture was sealed in.

Yellow and Stripey Tomatoes grown from heritage seeds (Koanga Institute)

Look at these cool yellow tomatoes! They are called "Yellow Cropper", they are heritage seeds from the Koanga Institute.

There are also stripey tomatoes called Guernsey Island that are very very delicious.

I grew them from their "Tomato - 3 Colour Mix" (you can get Koanga Institute's heritage seeds from NZ garden centres or order them online).

The Koanga Institute was started by Kay Baxter, who wanted to preserve old seed lines that had been grown and cultivated in NZ for many years - brought with settlers as their most treasured family possessions, gumdiggers, etc. Also there are diverse varieties of and colours of Maori veggies such as kumara. (Nowadays you just find very few varieties compared to in the past.) Tomatoes you buy in the grocery store must last longer on the shelf - so they've been selected for long-lastingness or their looks. My tomatoes that sprouted from these seeds were tasteless compared with the Koanga seed varieties. They can be eaten from your garden fresh, so delicousness can be their dominant trait!

How to make your own simple sturdy cotton book bag

In NZ school kids have vinyl pouches to take their reading and workbooks home every day. They don't cost much, but also don't last for long before shredding and becoming landfill fodder. It's actually REALLY easy to make your own out of a sturdy fabric such as heavy cotton.

I embroidered my daughter's bags before I sewed the pieces together (photo below) but it's not necessary. I can picture other kids having sturdy cotton book bags in their favourite bright colour, like orange, or blue, or even pink, with matching colour of bias binding/ribbon along the edges. Just having a well-made real fabric book bag would look great.

The design of the bags is one piece only - with a bias binding sewn around the edges. (I was about to use thick strap material, but a crafty friend stopped me fortunately - so my embroidering was not wasted.) Bias binding is easy to use and light. However, I did notice after that there are a huge variety of choices in ribbon out there in a haberdashery shop, which would be of very little cost - if anyone thought that bias binding was too expensive.


You will need...
Heavy cotton fabric - at least 1 m
Bias binding (preferred) or ribbon
A few centimeters of velcro for keeping the top closed
Scrap of leather or other tough material
Marking pencil (white or dark)
Long ruler or straight edge
White fabric name label
The usual: Thread, needle, scissors
A sewing machine if possible

Step 1: Trace and cut out the one piece shape for the bag. The design of this book bag is one piece - wrapping around the bottom. Draw the bag shape using a white pencil crayon or black marker, depending on whether your fabric is light or dark. Use a ruler to measure and mark straight lines. The large book bag piece is 45 cm long and 36 cm wide, the small bag is 38.5 long and 26.5 wide. Bevel the edges of one end as in illustration above. The bevelled end folds over 9 cm in the large bag and 8.25 for the small. (But I just traced the old cheaply made book bags - it was really easy that way.)

Step 2: Measure and cut binding. Fold the bag piece in half, with the square end stopping where it should, and mark where it should come up to. Cut your bias binding by following around the edge. Piece 1: Along the square edge that goes inside flap lid. Piece 2: Follows the left edge of the bag, and then along the flap, and hten down the right side again.

Step 3: Sew binding along edges. I strongly recommend pinning first. Fold the short piece of binding along the square end first, pin it into place, then sew along it using a sewing machine using an appropriate thread colour. Then fold over the long piece that covers the edge including along the flap and down the other side. Pin, then sew it. Presto, the bag is made! Now you just have to handsew on velcro inside the flap, and a reinforcing piece of leather or other sturdy material (to the outside opposite the velcro. You could also optionally sew on a pull tab.

It's alot harder to describe than it is to make it. If you can borrow another book bag to follow the design, it's really easy.