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    T Tuesday: eco dye edition

    August 13, 2018 - By 

    Last week on T stands for Tuesday I had mentioned that I had attempted some eco dyed papers. Today I thought I’d share my results with you.

    Last we left off I had bundled my papers and my cooking pot was way too small….

    One trip to Goodwill later, I found the perfect size pot in which to cook my paper bundle. 

    The bundle wanted to float since it was pine boards that acted as the presser boards. A couple rocks worked well to hold the bundle down in the vinegar and alum spiked water. I boiled on the side burner of our grill for about and hour. Thank goodness I did this outside because it was not pleasant smelling. Also I learned that the pine boards had a lot of sap left in them…what a mess.

    After boiling I drained off the cooking water then added cool water which I salted quite heavily. Once everything was cool enough to handle I started the unbundling process.

    Then set the pages to dry on the hot concrete. I was surprised at what did and didn’t leave an impression. The marigolds and lemon grass had the greatest color from the experiment.  But that wasn’t my favorite.

    It was these….the baby maple trees I pulled from my lawn were lovely ghosted images.

    A few freshly turned leaves from our service berry tree gave a slightly rusty, vein like appearance as it’s only impression. Pretty as well but still not holding my interest like those baby maples.

    I think I’ll try this again…but perhaps with other sources for dyes. Purple cabbage and onion skins are the first to jump to my mind. I think perhaps I’d get some nice color out of those.

    Speaking of color….

    I enjoyed a colorful sort of beer this summer. Grain Belt came out with a limited edition Blueberry infused beer. I had to buy some…its local and we like to support our local business. That’s my excuse and I’m stickin’ to it. It was pretty in color and pretty tasty too. Not that you’d really want to drink more than one…too sweet for that.

    Anyway…this Tuesday I will be late in visiting…

    Next week I may miss all together unless I prepost. We are taking J to college!! Move in day is the 21st. Crazy!!

    T stands for Tuesday

    What are you doing today?

  • Around home - Blog - Kitchen

    T Tuesday: homework edition

    August 6, 2018 - By 

    Once again I missed last Tuesday linkup with T stands for Tuesday. Typically I write then post immediately on Monday evening since we have so many folk are at least 6 hrs ahead of me. Last Monday I spent canning and baking since it was slightly cooler in temp.

    yummy goodness from the garden and CSA

    Check out these super long beans from the CSA

    I borrowed the tall jars from my neighbor and gave her one of the finished as payment. These beans will be awesome garnish for Bloody Mary’s.

    By the time the evening came about I wasn’t feeling particularly motivated to write. Fast forward to Tuesday morning I realized since Mini-me had to be to work early I could stop by and see my old knitting group. The group is very small now, in fact there were only two gals there that day. It was nice to get caught up on all the news anyway.

    When I returned home I tackled a project that has been on the todo list for well over a year. We had a new front door installed by a friend and we told him we’d take care of the painting and trimming of said door. I stained all the wood of the jams of the door and when it was finished it looked really weird without trim covering it.

    So I tackled the job that Mr. G had been dreading. I learned a few things from working with my dad as a kid so I was up to the task. While I was still working, I heard a car door slam outside . Mr. G had come home for lunch. I had wanted to surprise him with my handiwork complete. I’m pretty proud of my work. Mr. G was so glad it was done. He joked with me that if he’d know I could do that he’d have encouraged me to do it long ago.

    Later that afternoon on the way home from picking up Mini-me we noticed the license plate in front of us. 

    It was from Honduras! Over 3100 miles from home. Crazy!!!

    I’ve been busy with many other things such as finishing an art journal, collecting and packing stuff for J to take to college in two weeks, eco dye papers and completely smashing my phone. Yep that was an expensive day. Thankfully I’ve got a new one and seem to have everything restored to my liking.

    T stands for Tuesday

    What are you doing today?

  • Around home - Blog - Creativity - Outdoors

    Inspired to Eco Dye

    August 5, 2018 - By 

    I’ll admit it…I went down the rabbit hole this morning watching eco dye videos on YouTube. although I got nothing physically accomplished during that time I was definitely inspired to give it a whirl myself.

    I picked up a pad of 100lb watercolor paper at a garage sale for 50¢. I figured this was good fodder for my experiment.  I walked around the yard picking various leaves, weeds and flowers to give variety since I really have no idea what will work the best. I also searched through the scrap lumber in the shed for wood to sandwich my pages between. 

    my bundle is all ready to go…just one problem…

    The cooking pot is too small. I fear we got rid of the large one that was in the shed at some point. A trip to Goodwill is in order before I can actually run my experiment.

    While in the yard I discovered that my dream catcher did its job and kept the pesky deer from eating my tiger lily blossoms.

    So pretty! Love the bright orange.