From the latest issue of Cooks Illustrated. The secret is using a grated apple to add extra pectin and get the filling to gel up nicely but still taste like fresh berries without turning it into glupe.  I think it worked, but we were supposed to wait 4 hours for the pie to cool properly, and we could only muster 45 minutes. So it was still warm and runny when we had our first piece, but this morning it looks legitimately sliceable.

There's also vodka in the crust which they didn't explain at all. Very mysterious and Russian.

I’ve made peace with this project, and now I totally love the fused plastic bag idea.

Sometimes I think I’m a little psychic. Because usually I charge into project even if it’s totally unreasonable and we have a dinner reservation in an hour. But with this one, there was some dread along with the excitement.

The deal is that I used too many layers of plastic, and that made sewing it all together pretty tough. But the project itself is easy-peasy, so if you only use 4 layers of bags (instead of my 8), I think it would work a charm.

Because all of the melted bags seep through differently, the finished bag has a campfire effect and I can’t stop looking at it.

I used these instructions but made up a more detailed tutorials with lots of photos here.

I'm kind of paralyzed with this project. I read about fusing plastic bags into fabric but I didn't quite anticipate some key things. Like corralling a huge pile of bags before I started and being very organized about cutting them and getting them ready. But that's not how I usually work, and I didn't realize how many bags I would need. The correct answer turns out to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 20. And it turns out we don't have many plastic bags because we use canvas ones, so I didn't have a lot of color choice.

The ironing is a really cool process, in a Shrinky Dink kind of way.  Now I have these panels of fused plastic that I love the look of, but they may as well be 24 caret goldleaf for how precious they seem after all the cutting, fusing and ironing. My plan is to now make a lunch bag and hope this has a happy ending.

I can tell this is going to be a new craft crush: upholstery trim necklaces. These are some images I took of the idea right after it came to me, so these are just draped around my neck. I need to pick up some proper closures, or maybe just tack them closed with a couple stitches so I can loop and pile as the mood strikes.

I lust after a real room with a real door that closes so it can contain all my craftiness, stashes of supplies, and – most especially, a huge work table. But alas, we also want to live in San Francisco. 

However, our lean square footage didn’t stop my incredibly game husband and me from sectioning off part of our living with a moveable wall that acts as a little studio. We’re lucky to have a big living room, and this end was limping along as dead space, sucking the life out of the rest of the living room until the nook came along.

This project took some carpentry skills, but nothing too mega. We got the wood precut at the lumberyard, so you don’t need anything more fancy than some nails and pluck. My husband made the frame out of 2x4s, then attached pre-cut hardboard on one side and pegboard on the other. We (and I’m being very generous to myself when I use that word) popped it on casters so we could expand or contract the little studio depending on our living room use.

One the studio side, I painted the pegboard pale pink and added towel bars from Ikea hold stashes of fabric.

On the living room side, I painted it light blue and added some red flowers from a stencil I made. I found a two-dimenstional flower I liked in a pattern book, scanned it, and blew it up to size of a piece of paper. Then I traced it onto a stencil sheet, cut it out and painted in a random pattern that I made up as I went along.

I offer in case you, too, lust after a room of one's own.

I am all about the picnic right now. Sun on the skin, eating outside where food always tastes better, with the sound of birds and wind and leaves instead of the faint hum of all our indoor electronics.

To spiff up the table, here's a totally non-precious, no-sew project that you can whip up as the coleslaw is chilling. Cheery oilcloth placemats that stash a napkin and utensils inside for easy transport to your favorite meadow.  The placemats tie up with a sweet ribbon that you can slip off at the table, or tie into a bow to fancy up the table.

Add food, drinks, good company – and if you’re feeling inspired, a colorful tin and some shears to snip an on-the-spot centerpiece.

A link to the instructions and more photos right here. Hope your weekend includes gathering around a table with some of your favorite folks, preferably outside.

Photos take for frigging ever to load here on dial-up, so this is the last photo until I get home. But the Vermont sister arrived with these gorgeous lozenges of color for our little niece. Little wafers of waxy color that feel sturdy in your hand and look like those beautiful marbled papers of Italy.

Here’s how to do it:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Break crayons into small pieces
3. Arrange in small cookie mold
4. Bake for 5 minutes until crayons melt, and remove while colors are still distinct (if you leave in the oven too long, it will get too melty and the colors will run into each other)
5. Let cool and pop out of molds.
 

for easter and the arrival of spring. delicate litte egg toppers, with instructions here.

There’s something deeply satisfying about making pillows. For starters, they’re a snap to put together. And they sit at the intersection of design and comfort, so they’re perfect fodder for sewers like myself who fancy luxe fabric and patterns -- but lack fancy skills.

This used to be covered with a zebra fabric that I thought was the pinnacle of cool when I bought it for my freshman dorm room...but in the intervening 15 years, it took on a pretty dingy and dated pallor.

I updated it with two different patterns, a  2” wide grosgrain ribbon and solid fabric on the back. The back is envelope style so you can remove the cover and wash it ( learned a few things since my  dorm room years).

This pillow form is 24” square, but you can resize these instructions to fit any existing pillow or form. Just remember when you’re making new calculations to add a seam allowance to each piece of fabric, not just the overall dimension. All fabrics used here are cotton. Be sure to wash, dry and press even though it's a pain.

For pillow front:

1.    Measure, mark and cut 9" x 25” piece from first pattern fabric.

2.    Measure, mark and cut 15" x 25” piece from second pattern fabric.

3.    Pin long edge of first pattern fabric to long edge of ribbon, right sides together.

4.    Sew with ½” hem.

5.    Pin long edge of second pattern fabric to other long side of ribbon, right sides together.

6.    Sew ½” hem. You now have the front of your pillow cover.

For pillow back:
1.    Measure, mark and cut two pieces of 17” x 25” fabric.

2. Fold one long edge over ½” and press into place. Fold again and topstitch along the fold (sew very close to the edge of the fold).
3.    Repeat with second piece of fabric.

To assemble pillow:

1.    On a table, lay both pieces of the pillow back right side up, and overlap topstitched edges by 4.5” Check that width of the square you just make with the two pieces is 25”.

2.    On top of pillow back,  lay pillow front with right sides of fabric facing. Pin every couple inches around perimeter of pillow

3.    Stitch around all four sides of the pillow. Clip corners, turn inside out and insert pillow. Lounge.

I usually freehand my canning sessions, and this was no exception. I started with a recipe from Alton Brown, but then improvised as I went. I had a stash of Myer lemons from a friend’s tree (see still life below), but I forgot to zest them before juicing. And I kind of hate zesting, truth be told. So when I read that part of the recipe and realized my mistake, I skipped it. Also, I don’t like my jams to taste like hummingbird food, so I cut the amount of sugar and upped the lemon juice.

This made for fresh and gorgeous-tasting curd, but it's pretty thin.  This isn't a disaster because it truly tastes great, but I did some more research and have this expansion to offer with the recipe: The simmer should be high enough to actually thicken the curd to the consisency of hollindaise...but not so high that you cook the egg. I realize now my simmer was too low. Also, I seem to remember reading something about how you need enough sugar to thicken the jam (or curd in this case).

Still, it looks and tastes like spring. And runny or not, I love gazing upon these little gem-colored pots.

I am and forever will be a deadline girl. I have a scant few hours to conceive of and execute a kickin' couple entries for the design sponge DIY contest.

Macaroni on construction paper, anyone?

This looks like something you'd hatch sea monkeys in, but think of it as the rainy day version of sun tea. I'm steeping some rosemary, thyme, lemon and ginger in hot water for an herby tonic on a wet weekend.  

this is a dark little corner that's tough to photograph, but this 10 minute project cheered the place up. the recessed nook was screaming out for some color and pattern, so I simply cut a piece of cardboard to fit, neatly wrapped it in gift paper, and pressed it into place.