Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Making an Elvin Archer Part 1: The Cloak
Got the elvin cloak done. It's a dark green suede-look cloth (100% polyester). I wanted to use alova (my favorite material of choice), but I couldn't find any in a dark green. This stuff looks just as good, but the edges on it fray, whereas alova doesn't, so I had to hem them all. I used brown satin ribbon for the tie-closure at the neck.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Making an Elvin Archer
Got two Renaissance costume requests to work this week, an elvin archer and a water fairy. They sent me sketches of what they wanted them to look like, and now I get to bring them to life. It's gonna be fun as fairies and elves are some of my favorite costumes to make anyway. And even more fortunately, I've already got most of the material I'll be needing to make them. Some of it's left over from other costumes I've done, and some it came from Gramma cleaning out her old material and giving me what she didn't want to use.
First up, the elvin cloak.
First up, the elvin cloak.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Turquois Feather Earrings
I still have some feathers left from a turkey I hit with my sister's car a few years ago (we ate it, it didn't go to waste). Mostly I've been making dreamcatchers out of the feathers, but some of the feathers are very small, so I decided to try a pair of feather earrings.
These are actually pretty simple to make. To begin you'll need two feathers. Take a quick walk through the woods or a chicken yard and you should find plenty of feathers lying on the ground. I used French hooks for the actual earring part, as they're the easiest to attach the feathers to, but you could probably use pretty much any type of earring top that has a loop on the bottom. You'll also need a few beads and maybe a piece of decorative metal.
I had an old necklace someone had thrown out made of turquoise beads and some kind of white shell bead, so I used those. And for the metal, I'd had some old jewelry scroll-work looking pieces, so I used one of those on each earring.
To put them together, you'll need some thin wire. I used copper, but any type of thin beading wire will do. Bend the wire in half and wrap it around the the quill of the feather. Wrap it several time to make it secure, then thread the two end of the wire through the metal piece and the beads. Twist firmly several times and trim the wire ends close to the twist. Use a pair of pliers to bend the tiny ends down into the beads they were just threaded through. This will keep the ends from poking into your ears.
These are actually pretty simple to make. To begin you'll need two feathers. Take a quick walk through the woods or a chicken yard and you should find plenty of feathers lying on the ground. I used French hooks for the actual earring part, as they're the easiest to attach the feathers to, but you could probably use pretty much any type of earring top that has a loop on the bottom. You'll also need a few beads and maybe a piece of decorative metal.
I had an old necklace someone had thrown out made of turquoise beads and some kind of white shell bead, so I used those. And for the metal, I'd had some old jewelry scroll-work looking pieces, so I used one of those on each earring.
To put them together, you'll need some thin wire. I used copper, but any type of thin beading wire will do. Bend the wire in half and wrap it around the the quill of the feather. Wrap it several time to make it secure, then thread the two end of the wire through the metal piece and the beads. Twist firmly several times and trim the wire ends close to the twist. Use a pair of pliers to bend the tiny ends down into the beads they were just threaded through. This will keep the ends from poking into your ears.
How to make earrings out of feathers - video
Friday, May 13, 2011
Diesel fuel repels flies
Spring and summer bring lush foliage, blue skies, warm sunshine and long days of planting. With the arrival of the warm months, however, also comes the incessant torment of flies. Black flies, brown flies, horseflies, deer flies; all emerge at this time to wreak havoc on every farmer's animals.
The tags on a newly purchased cattle rub recommend citronella pyrethrum or any other similar insecticide insecticide, but flies will often inevitably still find their way through such defenses. However, although you won't find it listed on the tags of cattle rub, an almost infallible fly deterrent is ordinary diesel fuel. My grandfather has been using this method, which we refer to as a "folk remedy," for as long as I can remember with excellent results. In fact, we have found that nothing works better than diesel in preventing flies.
Diesel is a simple and effective means to repel flies and other insects that torment the animals of the farm. For those farmers who have a ready diesel supply to power tractors and tillers, it is also a convenient source of fly deterrent. Diesel works like any other fly repellent ; it is poured onto a cattle rub and left for the cows to cover themselves with. Its only drawback is the fact that if any is spilled on one's clothes while soaking the rub, they will forever smell of diesel. Therefore it is often best to set aside some clothes and reserve them only for the pouring of diesel.
Animals quickly learn that the smell of diesel translates to mean no flies. Every afternoon during the warm months, our cows can be found sitting around the rub, soaking up the sun with very few flies to bother them. The ground around the rub is constantly torn up; visual testament to the amount of time the cows spend there.
The smell of diesel is strong enough that it penetrates through the air creating a "fly free" zone all around the rub. At our home we apply diesel to a rub once a week and that seems to suffice. Reducing the amount of flies also reduces the spread of pink eye and other such ailments and succeeds in giving our cows a better quality of life.
The tags on a newly purchased cattle rub recommend citronella pyrethrum or any other similar insecticide insecticide, but flies will often inevitably still find their way through such defenses. However, although you won't find it listed on the tags of cattle rub, an almost infallible fly deterrent is ordinary diesel fuel. My grandfather has been using this method, which we refer to as a "folk remedy," for as long as I can remember with excellent results. In fact, we have found that nothing works better than diesel in preventing flies.
Diesel is a simple and effective means to repel flies and other insects that torment the animals of the farm. For those farmers who have a ready diesel supply to power tractors and tillers, it is also a convenient source of fly deterrent. Diesel works like any other fly repellent ; it is poured onto a cattle rub and left for the cows to cover themselves with. Its only drawback is the fact that if any is spilled on one's clothes while soaking the rub, they will forever smell of diesel. Therefore it is often best to set aside some clothes and reserve them only for the pouring of diesel.
Animals quickly learn that the smell of diesel translates to mean no flies. Every afternoon during the warm months, our cows can be found sitting around the rub, soaking up the sun with very few flies to bother them. The ground around the rub is constantly torn up; visual testament to the amount of time the cows spend there.
The smell of diesel is strong enough that it penetrates through the air creating a "fly free" zone all around the rub. At our home we apply diesel to a rub once a week and that seems to suffice. Reducing the amount of flies also reduces the spread of pink eye and other such ailments and succeeds in giving our cows a better quality of life.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully
No, I'm not referring to the Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs song, I'm talking about my wooly little sheep Bullseye, whose nickname (well, one of his nicknames anyway, he's got about 4) is Bully. And yes, at this point he is very, very wooly. As such it's sheep shearing day, not one Ziah's (did I mention he has several nicknames?) favorite days, unless of course it's warm out and he's lying down. On days like that, he seems to enjoy it. Today was one of those days, and I've got him about 3 quarters sheared.
I have to do it when he's in a good mood because I don't do the whole wrestle-the-sheep-down-to-shear-it thing. I do it the old-fashioned way, I hand shear him with a regular set of shears, no electric razors here. That way I never have to worry about cutting him.
Between the wool I got last year, and the wool I'll have this year, there shoud be plenty make some nice balls of yarn. I've got my dyes all planned out, no synthetics here! They're going to be all veggie-dyes. I just need to find some carding combs and learn how to hand-spin it. That way, whatever I make with it, when I say handmade, I'll really mean 100% handmade. Hand-sheared, Hand-dyed, Hand-spun, Hand-knitted; just like being on an 1800's homestead.
If I'm really ambitious, I'll teach myself how to do some needle-felting. It looks pretty cool, but I can never find a felting needle anywhere. Guess I'll have to keep looking, and just stick with the knitting for now. (Unfortunately, when it comes to knitting I only know one stitch and can only knitt sqaures. If I have time, I'll teach myself to do mittens this winter; they always come in handy).
I have to do it when he's in a good mood because I don't do the whole wrestle-the-sheep-down-to-shear-it thing. I do it the old-fashioned way, I hand shear him with a regular set of shears, no electric razors here. That way I never have to worry about cutting him.
Between the wool I got last year, and the wool I'll have this year, there shoud be plenty make some nice balls of yarn. I've got my dyes all planned out, no synthetics here! They're going to be all veggie-dyes. I just need to find some carding combs and learn how to hand-spin it. That way, whatever I make with it, when I say handmade, I'll really mean 100% handmade. Hand-sheared, Hand-dyed, Hand-spun, Hand-knitted; just like being on an 1800's homestead.
If I'm really ambitious, I'll teach myself how to do some needle-felting. It looks pretty cool, but I can never find a felting needle anywhere. Guess I'll have to keep looking, and just stick with the knitting for now. (Unfortunately, when it comes to knitting I only know one stitch and can only knitt sqaures. If I have time, I'll teach myself to do mittens this winter; they always come in handy).
Sunday, May 1, 2011
You Might Be A Redneck
If your car looks like this, you might be a redneck...
...Hey wait, that's my car!
No, those aren't racing stripes, that's duct tape I had to put on it to hold down the hood when it was on it's last legs. It had been a good car, but needless to say, this thing didn't pass inspection when the time came and I had to get rid of it.
...but I'd say I made out pretty well on the replacement:
No, those aren't racing stripes, that's duct tape I had to put on it to hold down the hood when it was on it's last legs. It had been a good car, but needless to say, this thing didn't pass inspection when the time came and I had to get rid of it.
...but I'd say I made out pretty well on the replacement:
My Sunfire. I love this thing!
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