Rachel Robin's Nest

Crafts, Projects and Recipes to Help Feather Your "Nest"

DIY: Leg Warmers from Sweater Tights February 28, 2012

Filed under: DIY — raediantphoenix @ 11:07 pm
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First off, I’d like to apologize for the unintended absence of the last few weeks.  My only excuse is that life got in the way.  I’ve been on a fitness mission, pretty much to the exclusion of everything else, but I’m trying to find a little more balance in my life, and so, I’m back!

Part of my fitness kick is taking a ballet class once a week.  It’s pretty great.  I’ll be honest, I’m never gonna be starring in Swan Lake, but it’s great exercise, it’s lots of fun, the teacher is very cool, and I get to spend more time with my friend Erin from Wicked Vegan.

Now, when I went to get dressed for class one evening, I discovered that I’d somehow stupidly gotten rid of all of my awesome leg warmers that it took me years to collect.  GASP!  HORROR!  I therefore had to improvise.

So, I grabbed this pair of sweater tights that have always been too short (hi, crotch of tights hanging out about 4 inches below actual crotch), and some scissors.

Step 1:  Cut off the foot portion.

Step 2:  Determine how high you want the leg warmers to come up on your calves.  Keep in mind, the tights will have a lot of stretch to them.  Cut off at desired length.

Step 3:  Slip those babies on and marvel at how warm your calves are, how stylish you look, and how smug you feel about how cheap your warmth and style were :)

I found these to be EXCELLENT leg warmers.  The extra elasticity of their former tight-iness caused them to stay up and not droop like most other leg warmers I’ve had.  Score!

I imagine at some point I’ll want to hem the raw edges, but for now, they don’t appear to be unraveling in any hurry, and I sort of like the unfinished look, so I’m content to leave them as is.

Give it a try and let me know how it works out!

 

DIY: Yarn Wrapped Wine Bottle February 10, 2012

Filed under: DIY — raediantphoenix @ 2:26 am
Tags: , , , ,

Happy Thursday, everyone!  Today I’m going to share with you yet another project inspired by Pinterest.  Quel surpris, non?  I felt like whipping up a quick and easy project so that I could spend the rest of the evening reading and relaxing, and I figured this was perfect for a quick dose of crafty goodness.  I decided to wing it rather than following a tutorial, and I’m sure I would have had an easier time of it if I had done so, but on the whole I’m pleased with the outcome, and I can only improve from here!

DIY Yarn Wrapped Bottles

Materials:

  • Empty wine or beer bottle
  • Yarn (many colors or one, up to you!)
  • Glue gun
  • Mod Podge
  • Paintbrush

Step 1:  Rinse and let dry an empty wine bottle.  Pull off any foil from the top of the bottle, but don’t worry about any other labels since they’ll be covered by the yarn anyway.

Step 2:  Using your glue gun, put a dab of hot glue near the bottom of the bottle, and use it to secure the end of your yarn.  Then, start wrapping the yarn around the outside of the bottle, using dabs of hot glue here and there to secure it.

Step 3:  Once you have a good, secure start, begin painting the bottle with Mod Podge and using that as the adhesive to hold the yarn.  Using Mod Podge was a lot faster and a lot less bumpy, although I did get a lot of Mod Podge all over my fingers!

Step 4:  Continue wrapping all around the outside of the bottle, and when you reach the top of the bottle (or wherever you want to stop),  secure the end of the yarn with hot glue.

I started at the top and went down the bottle, which was definitely a mistake, and gave me problems around the neck of the bottle where it started to flare out.  The yarn didn’t stick well with the Mod Podge, and started to bunch up on itself.  If you look at the close-up, you can see my sad, lumpy neck.  Otherwise, though, it looks pretty nice, I think.  Try using different colors and textures of yarn, or try only wrapping part of the bottle for an extra jolt of customization.

Sad, lumpy neck

Eventually, I’m going to make this bottle into an oil lamp.  My mother gave me a really cool wine bottle wick and plug for Christmas, so I just need to get some lamp oil.  You could also use as a nice little bud vase, or just as a decoration.  What will you use your wrapped bottles for?

 

Chocolate Chip Shortbread February 4, 2012

Filed under: Baking — raediantphoenix @ 9:50 pm
Tags: , ,

Well, tomorrow is the Superbowl, and we’ve been invited over to our friends Renee and Ryan’s place to watch the big game.  GO PATS!  Renee is making pulled pork (YUM!) and I offered to make dessert.  I wanted something really tasty, but also somewhat novel, and not too rich, since I’m sure there will be a bunch of other heavy snack foods.  I finally settled on this recipe for Chocolate Chip Shortbread from King Arthur Flour.  With only 6 ingredients and only 3/4 cup of white sugar, it’s not quite as unhealthy as some baked goods, and it is absolutely delicious.  One batch makes up to 32 pieces, depending on how you cut them.

Chocolate Chip Shortbread

Ingredients and Materials:

  • 2 9in round cake pans
  • Blender or food processor
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/3 cups flour
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Step 1:  Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and lightly grease the cake pans.  I used Crisco for this, but go ahead and use whatever you’ve got.

Step 2:  Cream together the butter, salt, sugar and vanilla.

Step 3:  Combine 1 cup of the flour and the chocolate chips in blender or food processor.  Chop until the chocolate is in very small pieces.

Step 4:  Mix the flour/chocolatemixture and the remaining 1 1/3 cups flour into the butter mixture.  Mix very well.  The dough will be very thick and crumbly.

Step 5:  Divide the dough in half (I just eyeballed it)

Step 6:  Press the dough into the prepared pans with your fingers.  You can also use the flat bottom of a measuring cup to smooth it out if you wish.

Step 7:  Prick the dough with a fork in an attractive pattern.  For me, this step is completely optional.  I did it the first time I made it, and I didn’t the second time.  Honestly, I found it difficult and time-consuming, and didn’t find that it made a big difference in the finished appearance, so do whatever you wish!

Step 7:  Bake for 35 – 40 minutes, until it’s golden brown around the edges.  Remove from the oven, let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a clean surface.

Step 8:  Using a pizza cutter, cut the shortbread into as many pieces as desired while still warm.  If you wait until it’s cool, it will break rather than cut.  I find that a small bit of this is very satisfying, so I cut mine into 16 pieces each, but the recipe recommends 12 pieces.  Again, I think it’s up to you.   Move cut pieces to a wire rack to cool completely.I have to say, this recipe is REALLY good.  Simple yet satisfying, and I love that the pieces are shaped like little pieces of pie!  It’s similar to a chocolate chip cookie, but crisper and much more interesting to look at.  My King Arthur book has many variations on shortbread, and if they’re all this easy and delicious, you can be sure I’ll be trying them all out!

 

 
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