Pin It Weekly #159

With the summer heat that we're getting here in Louisiana, there's only one place to be--inside with the air conditioning on full blast. Even then it's possible that you won't be completely comfortable: with temperatures at almost 100 and an heat index of  110, it's difficult to cool down homes and buildings, especially when there are many people inside.

I've been looking for ways to help Richard and the kids keep cool. They insist on going outside--sometimes to work, but also to play--and have found that there are a few really good ideas on Pinterest. Here are a few of the better ones and my take on how to make them even more helpful.

Provide lots of water, including water flavored with tea, lemons, cucumber, melon, and so on. I make sure to keep their favorites ice cold and to have extras in the afternoon. 

These stacked kiddie pools show a smart way to keep drinks from water to beer cold during a family get together. Tubs or buckets make a great base for the pools.  

Keep the ice clean by putting a small pan with a handle in the ice so that people don't have to grab ice with their hands. Use tongs  to grab the bottles and cans. Children love to eat ice, which provides fluids, but you want the ice to be clean. Of course, sodas and beer are not as good as water, so I keep much more water available. 

Another way to use your ice pools is to cool watermelon and other summer fruit: cantaloupe, cucumber, citrus, apples, etc. Wipe the fruit with a clean, wet cloth, and place in the pool then cover with ice. I sometimes cut the fruit into large chunks and put in a zipper bag before chilling so there's no work when we're ready to snack. 

We love fruit salad, salsas, and drinks made with the fruit. My family members are all big enough to handle seeds, but you can definitely remove the seed as you go.

I like the idea of chilling insect spray...add sunblock to the bucket and applying either will help cool off the kiddos. 

Don't forget your pets, including bunnies, chickens and so on. They need lots of fresh water to drink and cool water to walk or roll in when they get too hot. I add 1-2 ice cubes to our puppies' water. They like to lick the ice when they drink. Add a fan to pet coops and pens to provide a breeze that will keep them cooler.

And finally, if you have access to a shade tree, use it! Tree shade is generally cooler than shade from buildings. Of course, use what you have. Put games, tables, and drinks in the shade to encourage children to stay where it's cool. 

After 25 years in this home, we can finally walk outdoors and find shade right away. That shade helps to cool our home, but we have taken other steps to help keep our cooling bills down. We've added a vent in the attic to pull some of the heat out. We try to avoid using the stove top and oven, especially during the day. 

We turn off all electrical appliances that are not in use, keep the doors and windows closed, and turn off lights. Every small step helps. With Louisiana temperatures in the high 90's for about two months, we must do everything we can to lower our bills and keep cool.

How do you keep cool when the weather tops 100?

Review of Fruit Basket Tutorial

About three years ago I posted a tutorial on how to create a gift basket.  I still use this method for making gift baskets and try to keep the supplies on hand so that when I need a quick gift, 
this go-to idea is ready.  Of course, it means I have to pick up the items that will go into the basket, but that's just a quick trip to the grocery store for fruit and something for contrast, such as chips, crackers, or cheese.  


I thought it would be useful to you, as well.  It's easy to pull the items together and you can use the basket idea to make many other gifts.  For example, load the basket with gourmet coffees for a coffee connoisseur; wine and cheese for a wine aficionado; loofah, scrubbers, oils and lotions for a spa lover; or books with a reading light and pretty bookmark for your favorite reader.  Really, you're limited only by your imagination and the size of your basket.


Now is a good time to pick up baskets.  I like to have a few extra on hand and don't worry too much about buying the fancy, expensive ones.  I think the items in the basket are what count in this case. The dollar stores are great places to pick up a few cheap plastic ones. Of course, I've been known to give beautiful baskets to those who really appreciate a decorative basket.  Perhaps most important is that this is a great way to show that you know the recipient well.

After all, you are choosing items especially for that person and so it makes sense that you'd pick up some things that he/she really wants or needs.  Additional baskets ideas may include

• ribbons, bows and pretty papers for someone who loves to wrap beautiful gifts\
• games and snacks for a family with children
• favorite cookies, cupcakes, etc. for a snack-aholic
• DVD, microwave popcorn, drinks and candy for a movie buff
• paper, washi tape, punches, and stamps for the paper crafter
• lighter and many scented candles 
• whisk, spatula, mixes and frosting for the baker

• craft paints, small canvases, brushes, etc. for the crafter
• fat quarters, thread, needles, small scissors for the quilter
• embroidery thread, hoop, canvas or fabric for the needlewoman
• all of the ingredients for someone's favorite soup or casserole

Pinterest is full of ideas...just search gift basket ideas.


Here's hoping you find my build a basket tutorial useful now that the holidays are upon us.

Life is Peachy

LOVE peaches!  I don't mean that I like them.  Don't mean peaches are my favorite fruit (they are!).  No, I mean something much more.  

Given the opportunity, I will pick peaches over just about any other food.  Well, almost any other thing.

(Thank you, Google, for the yummy pictures.)

Imagine my joy at seeing my pretty little peach tree loaded with baby peaches.  Oh, happiness!   The following pictures are from my wonderful little tree.  

I should explain that this tree is one that I "planted" by tossing a stone after eating a peach.  It happens that said stone landed under the pine trees and azalea bushes in the back yard.  That means the lawn mower never had an opportunity to eat it, so it grew and grew and grew.  

Three years into adulthood, and it's still producing peaches.  

 Even better, the number of peaches increases with every branch I checked.  Yay, maybe this year there will be enough to share.

From 1 to 3

Along with the other photos that my sister Laura took are some of my small quilts.  One of my favorite pieces is this triptych that I made about ten years ago.  

I saw a Simply Quilts episode on making the monogram block and wanted to make one to put over the bar in our dining room.  That section of cabinet has since been removed, so the 12 X 12 inch quilts are now hanging vertically in the studio.  

After making the monogram block, I decided that I wanted two more blocks--one with fruit and one with flowers.  

Much of our living area had deep burgundy as the secondary color, so I decided to use burgundy, greens, and bits of other colors that would work together

The flower piece was actually quite easy, although there were a few techniques that I had not attempted before.    Reverse applique turned out to be easier than I anticipated but I was pretty nervous about cutting out the sections.  More difficult was appliqueing the berries so that they would be perfectly round.  The tight circles gave me fits.

Crazily enough, I included berries in the monogram piece, also.  I should have put more of the berries in this piece but they were just too much for me at the time.  Now, of course, I don't have any of the fabric, or I'd add a few.  Oh well, that's how it goes.

Of the three pieces, the fruit block is my favorite.  I really like the look of glass that I managed to achieve.  It, too, was difficult, but it was so much fun to watch the glass take shape and to place the fruit in the composition.  

I added a few leaves to the grape vines and stem on the apples and pears so there would be a little green in the piece.  The grapes were so much easier to applique than the berries simply because they don't have to be perfectly round and it's easy enough to cover mistakes.

I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I do.  Laura did such a great job shooting them.  She managed to catch the colors perfectly.  I'm amazed every time I look at her photos.  


The triptych was definitely a learning piece for me.  There are some things that I'd do differently today, but every quilt I've made in the past would have a few changes if I were to remake them now.  That's the progression of learning, don't you think?  Would you remake any of your quilts exactly as the first time?  You know how much I love your opinions.

Happy Quilting,

Mary

Build a Basket.......on the cheap!

Tomorrow our church will have it's annual Christmas dinner and, since we generally bring a small gift for the priest, I needed to pull something together today.  Richard and I had talked about giving him a fruit basket since he doesn't eat meat.  While putting together his basket, I thought some of you might like a tutorial on how it's done, or at least my frugal version of building a basket.

While at Walmart during the week, I picked up a fun basket for $6 or so.   I really like it because it's made like an old-fashioned fruit basket but with a black Santa belt.  Today we found ourselves at Super Target in Lafayette after attending Catherine's 2nd birthday party, so we picked up a few fruits and a bag of Zapp's potato chips.

To begin, gather the items you'll need: a basket of any shape or size, the plastic bag for wrapping, several pieces of fruit of your choice, paper to use as filling, tape, twist tie, card or name tag, and one contrasting item (in this basket it's the Zapp's).  

The first step is to fill the bottom of the basket with paper, especially if it's rather deep.  Too much fruit in the basket will result in mashed fruit at the bottom, especially if it will travel quite a distance.  In that case, the paper will also cushion the fruit.  


For this basket I used recycled Christmas wrap.  Crush or shred the paper so that it fits in the bottom of the basket.  If the basket is really deep, put some used grocery bags or extra paper in first.  I put enough paper to fill the basket almost to the very top.

Now you're ready to begin putting the items in the basket.  I start with one large item, placed at the back of the basket.  Then I add fruit on either side of the large item.


I like to separate the fruit so that the colors are distributed around the basket.  Admittedly, I do lots of playing around while trying to place the items.  


In this basket I added the Zapp's potato chips but I always add in something that is not fruit or fruit based: chocolate, pretzels, a tin of old-fashioned hard candies, candles, cookies, etc.  Doing that adds to the textures, scents, flavors and so on.  


I especially like the sweet/salty mix of chips or pretzels with the fruit.  Just be careful when making your choice.  You don't want to give pretzels to someone who can't have salt!  Sugar-free cookies or candy with fruit make a great gift for a diabetic.  Fruit with caramel dip and peanut butter (or Nutella) make a good basket for a family with children.  How about fruit and cheese with a bottle of wine for newlyweds?


Once all of the fruit is arranged in the basket, spread the plastic bag on a large surface so that you can open and flatten the bottom of the bag.  Roll the top edges out so that they will be out of the way.


Gently put the basket in the center of the bag and unroll the sides until the bag is completely open.  Tuck the corners in and tape down if necessary.  


To add the card or name tag, punch a small hole in the top left corner and string the twist tie on.


Now gather the top of the bag well above the basket and fruit and gently push out most of the extra air.  Use the twist tie to hold in place.  Add a large ribbon for fun and you now have a beautiful gift basket ready for giving.

You can use the same basic technique for other baskets and save money.  Put together a basket of baking goods with measuring cups and spoons for someone who like to bake, bath products and candles for a young teen, gardening hand tools and packets of seeds for the gardener and so on.  


The final cost of this basket was about $12, including the basket, plastic wrap, fruit and chips.  I picked up the plastic wrap at the dollar store, carefully made my choices for fruit, and used recycled Christmas paper for my filler, all of which helped me to put together this basket for half the price of purchasing one ready-made.