No. 36 Car Seat Covers

Making car seat covers is one of craft projects that I would like to start very soon.
This summer, I went for hiking a lot, and every time when I got into my car, I thought, “Gee, I should have a seat cover.” After taking a hard walk, I became very sweaty, and, the car seat might be absorbing great amount of my sweat. My husband says, “Smell like roses to me,” but, to be honest, I have a concern that my car might smell like a wet dog driving.
I have found a book, Victoria Romantic Touches by Gillian Haslam(Hearst Books, 2004), from whose chair cover projects, I could get a good idea how I would make car seat covers.
I am very excited that I have already found several vintage sweet floral print sheets and pillow cases that could make pretty car seat covers like the one attached above.

No. 35 Applying Sink Drain Nets to Kitchen and Bathrooms

Covering sink drains with an old style simple net was one of the best things that I had started to do. I applied the nets to the kitchen sink and the bathroom sink and the bath tub. The nets collect the garbage very well and it is so easy to clean up them.
Regarding the bathroom sink that I had a drainage problem, after cleaning up the drain, I replaced the former drain device to this simple net. And, the problem was resolved!

No. 34 Hand Washing Summer Light Weight Clothing

I hand washed light weight tops in a bathroom sink right before taking shower. It is so dry in Colorado, so, the wet light weight clothing would dry overnight. It was a good way to reduce the amount of dirty clothing for laundry. But, on the other hand, the soapy water seemed to slow the drain in the sink, and, I needed to give the really good cleaning. Less than 1 year before, our great house maintenance guy cleaned the drains of the sink and the bath tub and replaced the main pipe, so, before starting to hand wash the summer clothing in the sink, the drain was in the great shape. I assume that hand washing was too hard on the skinny sink pipe.

No. 33 A New Cooler, Kuur Aire

I didn’t have any cooling system and this summer for the first time, I had tried a portable evaporative cooler, Kuur Aire. The referenced portable evaporative cooler worked just fine for my need. I had several reasons why I didn’t want to set up a permanent swamp cooler, which is one of the common cooling system in my area: I live in a two story house and didn’t want to have a swamp cooler on the roof where I wouldn’t be able to go to put a cover on the swamp cooler for winter season, I didn’t want to lose a window in a hallway to set up a swamp cooler which was an alternative location except on the roof, and mostly, I didn’t need a big swamp cooler to cool the whole upstairs since I usually spend my day using only one room. The referenced Kuur Aire has 8 gallon water capacity and cools up to 400sq ft according to the box. My room is bigger than 400sq, so, I set up the Kuur Aire near to my desk and felt cool enough while working at my desk. The best efficient way to utilize the Kuur Aire was to put some ice cubes with water to make the air coming nice and cool. While working, the Kuur Aire would make noises, and, it was a little bit too loud to listen to music. But, for overall result, I am happy with my new portable evaporative cooler. I have already cleaned up the Kuur Aire for the next summer. It wasn’t too heavy for me to carry around and it was easy to clean up. And, probably, it saved energy as well.

No. 32 Homemade Strawberry Jams, Yummy!

One of the best treats this summer was homemade strawberry jams made by ME! I purchased fresh strawberries from a grocery store, King Soopers, washed them, chopped them, and boiled with white sugar(1/2 amount of strawberries, for example, 2 cups of chopped strawberries and 1 cup of white sugar) in a sauce pan, and added freshly squeezed lemon juice from a lemon and boiled down for a while, and added a little bit butter right after turning off the stove.
To me, it is sweet enough to add ½ sugar to the total amount of any berries, and to add a little bit butter is the trick to make jams taste so good.
Long and long time ago, for the first time when I entered a blackberry jam, I won the blue ribbon, the first place at a County Fair in California. Yes, believe it or not, I was the blue ribbon blackberry jam lady, but, to tell you the truth, I don’t feel comfortable to make jams preserved in a jar because I am not so sure whether or not I could sterilize enough not to let the jams go bad. So, I always make a jar of strawberry jam and keep it in a refrigerator. My next lesson will be to learn how to preserve homemade jams. And, I sincerely admire anybody who can fill cabinets with a lot of homemade preserves.

No. 31 Successful Cherry Tomatoes

My friend, who has a well taken care of veggie bed, reported me that her sweet cherry tomato 100 has been giving her around 400 fruits so far. Yes, only one sweet cherry tomato 100. Is it amazing? I had a great harvest off of my sweet cherry tomato 100 as well and they were delicious. I will make a note for next summer that the sweet cherry tomato 100 is the winner of the home grown tomatoes.

I had heard that planting tomatoes and basil together is a good paring so did twice last summer and this summer. But, the basil plants next to the tomatoes didn’t grow much. It seemed the tomato plants grew too tall around basil and seemed to dominate the area. I planted 8 basil plants together in an area without any tomato plants around, and they grew much better. So, I will make another note for the next summer: Plant basil in a small sunny spot given only for basil or similar height herbs like parsley and etc.

No. 30 Full Moon

Did you get a chance to see the beautiful full moon?
Actually, I enjoyed watching the full moon at 9:00pm, 10:30pm, and midnight on Sunday, September 11. After watching the moon at 10:30pm, I went to bed, and I woke up at midnight and saw a small bright spot on the floor near to the window. Could it be the light from the moon? I looked up through the window, and sure, the moon was beaming. I went to the front yard to watch the moon again.
For a long long time, I had forgotten to take a moment to enjoy watching the beautiful moon. But, not anymore.

No.29 Full Moon on Monday, September 12

The full moon in the middle of September supposed to be the most beautiful moon in the year. I will enjoy the beauty of the full moon tomorrow night. Hope we will have a special clear sky.

No. 28 Successful Home Grown Veggies This Summer

I planted a pumpkin for the first time this summer.

First of all, the way how I planted several veggies in my garden was not a good way. I don’t have any veggie beds in my garden, so, I planted a tomato here, and then another tomato here, and four basils here, and so on. Feeding those veggie plants made it very difficult to control the weeds around them, and, probably, it was a very inefficient way to water them as well.
Yet, basils, Japanese cucumbers, sweet 100 cherry tomatoes grew well. On the other hand, hot peppers and regular sized tomatoes ended in very poor harvest again, so, I won’t plant them anymore.
For the next summer, first of all, I would like to plan a layout of my garden including a veggie bed and then to make the soil rich before the planting season would begin.

No. 27 Chicken Wire Cages Worked 100%+

The newly adopted method to put chicken wire cages around newly planted bushes worked perfectly to keep squirrels off. The squirrels used to damage the newly planted roses, berry bushes, and etc overnight and I had really a hard time to grow bushes in my garden. I still have several squirrels living in my garden, but, they don’t bother bushes surrounded by a chicken wire cage. For the first time, I made a success to plant bushes in my garden this summer!
My friend in California used to put chicken wire cages around her cactuses and bird of paradise bushes covering with cotton sheets to protect them against frosts during winter. I am not sure whether or not I would need to cover any of my bushes during winter, but, I am going to keep the chicken wire cages since it might be helpful.

No.26 Additional Bird Bath and More Birds and Bees

It’s getting the end of summer season and it seems to be a good time for me to review what worked and what didn’t work in my garden this summer.

The best new addition to my garden this summer was an additional bird bath. It was hard to find a garden store which carried bird baths since most garden stores including Home Depot seemed to stop carrying them. I was fortunate that the Abner’s Garden in Wheat Ridge, Colorado had a selection of bird baths and I could purchase a nice one for my garden. The store staffs at the Abner’s Garden were very friendly and nice.

Last summer, I had one bigger sized bird bath and one smaller sized bird bath under a big tree. Mainly, the doves and the red robins which had nests in my garden used them. And this summer, I added one more bigger sized bird bath under a different big tree and had new bird visitors to my garden, which seemed to be finches, and a lot of bees.
It was a new lesson for me that to put bird baths(water) in my garden would sustain wildlife.

No.25 Handmade Carrying Jewelry Pouch

I am always so impressed by creative ideas by artists, crafters, gardeners, cooks, and etc. While checking a book, Craft Hope that I had introduced the other day, I was like, “Who could come up with this pillow case dress idea? Oh My God, these sock monkeys are way too cute.” The very idea that someone could come up to make sock monkeys from socks itself is so impressive to me.
This tiny jewelry pouch is one of those creations that gave me the same kind of surprise long time ago. When I purchased jewelry at a store, the store gave me a manufacture made tiny jewelry pouch, and it turned to be a very convenient item to carry in my bag for going to swimming, traveling and etc.
I made the one attached here by hands using a black felt with blanket stitches. This is a tri-fold jewelry pouch measuring with folded dimension of 4” long x 2” wide. It consists of 1 pocket and a strap with a snap on one end for holding ring. A very quick and easy craft project.

No. 24 Mashed Cauliflowers and Castle Rock

After visiting the Cherokee Ranch and Castle, I went to the down town Castle Rock. It was my first visit there, and I was so glad that I did. I stopped at a farmers’ market while they were closing, so I could get a chance to check only 1 stand which still had some veggies on the table. I purchased several kinds of veggies and the water melons were the best of all. I got two cauliflowers for one, but, quite frankly, that wasn’t an exciting offer since, well, to think I would have to eat two cauliflowers rather sounded like a pain. But, the store persons told me, “Oh, no, try mashed cauliflower with butter. It would taste like mashed potatoes and it would be good.” That mashed cauliflowers was new to me, so, I tried with butter and ranch dressing powder and milk, and it turned to be very good and a good way to eat a lot of cauliflowers.
Besides the farmers’ market, I had a great fun time at Bennington Mercantile which wasn’t just a feed store but also carries fashionable western clothing and work clothing and the owner and staffs of the store were very nice and friendly. I was so happy that I found used horse shoes for sale at the store since I had wanted one for good luck. Also, the Barn, which was like an antique and unique gifts mall with style, was a wonderful place. I purchased several high quality cotton fabrics. I am sure that women would love to visit the Barn. And, one more treat at a Mexican restaurant, Yolanda’s Tacos. They served all homemade tacos, and they were really good. I had stopped eating meats at any Mexican restaurants for a while because the meats didn’t taste good, but, the Yolanda’s pork and beef were very good. Probably, the Yolanda’s Tacos would be the only reason why I don’t say that I am a vegetarian.

No.23 Cherokee Ranch and Castle Tour

I took a tour at the Cherokee Ranch and Castle in Douglas County, Colorado for the first time. The castle was built with rocks originated to the Douglas County in a Scottish style. From my perspective that I had seen the Hearst Castle and other Victorian mansions in California, the Cherokee Castle had rather a simple interior with mainly beautiful stone works, not too many furniture and decorations, and the spectacular view.
And, it is great to know that the land is protected as a wildlife sanctuary.

No.22 Good Book: Craft Hope by Jade Sims

I found this book, Craft Hope at a public library today. This is a great reference book for someone who is looking for a way to utilize sewing skills to bring a smile to someone in need in the global community. Jade Sims is the founder of Craft Hope, and this book introduces very cute and simple craft projects such as pillowcase dresses, soft cloth dolls, care caps, burp cloths, and etc. and the contact information of the charity groups which would be happy to receive these handmade crafts. I will be happy to make some, too.

No. 21 Handmade Cotton Dishcloths

I have been using Scotch Brite Heavy Duty Scrub Sponges for washing dishes and cleaning bathrooms. They work great. But, I have a concern that probably it would be better for me to start to use more natural materials because I have to throw away them oftentimes.
Long time ago, my dear friend gave me the handmade cotton dishcloth attached above for washing delicate china dishes. Since it is a handmade gift from my friend, I have been using it as like a doily. I have never used any cotton dishcloths, but, I am going to make some to see if they would work fine for regular dish washing.
At Wal-Mart, I have purchased a Peaches & Crème 100% cotton yarn for about $8.00. It was a good buy for 400g/14oz and seems to be proper for making dishcloths as the label indicates Free Dishcloth Patterns on back. I was so ready to try to crochet a dishcloth, but, Oh My, I can’t pull a yarn from a spool to start. Does anybody know how to find the starting yarn from this huge spool?

No. 20 Organizing Ribbons by Yarn Remnant

I love sewing and crafting and re-organizing my sewing room is one of the high priority projects. My friend once told me, “Someone who loves sewing usually has an enough collection of fabrics and etc to open her own fabric store.” Well, I don’t have that many fabrics, but, it is true that I may already have enough sewing materials that I would be able to enjoy sewing and crafting for the rest of my life. But, I still love finding cute and beautiful fabrics, ribbons, buttons and etc. especially vintage items. To me, it always brings me an excitement and fascination. And, it is also wonderful that oftentimes another shopper would come to talk to me in a very friendly manner, “Oh, it’s pretty. What are you making?” It would be just a very quick exchange, but, I always feel so blessed with a quick connection that we share the same love for making something beautiful.

I was so happy when I had found a package of the ribbons attached above at a junk store. I enjoyed opening the package pulling a piece by piece to see what I had gotten. I tied each piece by a ribbon that I had collected from gifts received or a yarn remnant that was too short to make something and stored them in a vintage tin box.
This is a small start to re-organizing my sewing room.

No.19 Handmade Simple Bed Cover

I made this bed cover with a 33” W x 42” L panel and three other fabrics. I was going to try my very first quilting like project but called complete just for a single fabric bed cover without lining. I have cats and they sleep and play on my bed, so, for a frequent washing purpose, this bed cover is more practical than a bed comforter to be used as a bed cover on top.

No 18. Roxborough State Park in Colorado

I had an unexpected great hiking at the Roxborough State Park in Littleton, Colorado. It was so hot under the shinning sun without much shade, but, the trail was nice and flat and it wasn’t too bad for me to walk. I applied Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock SPF 100+ on my face and Coppertone Ultraguard Sunscreen Lotion SPF 70+ on my arms and legs and they worked wonderfully that I didn’t get sun burn. After this trail hiking, I have a greater confidence that I have such a strong heat resistant body to enjoy more outdoor activities.
Besides, the view of the huge red rocks formation was breathtaking. The Roxborough State Park doesn’t allow hikers to bring dogs nor bicycling, so it was also nice that I could enjoy the silence while hiking on the trail. The Roxborough State Park had a special spiritual feeling to me. I thanked Gods for giving me eyes to enjoy the beautiful creation and His presence in the absolute silence.
For the next visit, I am hoping that I would be able to see some beautiful wild animals there.

No.17 Japanese Plush Beanie Maneki Neko Black Good Luck Cat

This is a contemporary Japanese Maneki Neko, Good Luck Cat which will protect you against evil.
Material: 100% Chirimen Rayon / Lining 100% Cotton.