Earring-A-Day 10: Flying Spaghetti Monster Earrings

These earrings are the reason I had a "make something from office supplies" day. I was a little nervous these wouldn't turn out well, but they're my favorite so far. Seriously. I may have to stop now, because there's no way I'm going to top Flying Spaghetti Monsters:

Obviously the spaghetti is rubber bands. The meatballs are erasers, and the support structures are paper clips. The eyes are just the wire shaped into loops, then covered in a thick layer of white out. Once that dried I used a sharpie to color in the pupils.

Another pic:

I know the FSM usually has more...tendrils(?), but I was worried the rubber bands would come undone. Still. Look at them: adorable!

Earring-A-Day 9: Dinosaurs!

I've had periodic bouts of insomnia lately, which has been annoying but there it one benefit: by this point I've moved past the tired into some kind of zen state where I get lots of weird ideas. Or I've gone insane. Either would explain how these lovely earrings popped into my head the other night:

Yes, those are dinosaurs. Yes, they're on swings. Yes, I'm wearing them to work.

I decided to break from my usual "drill hole, attach to hooks" method for these because dinosaurs are awesome, and I felt bad drilling through their heads. Originally I wanted to have the swings made from T-pins for more support, but those are really tough to bend. Then I came up with a complicated but stable backup:

These were nice (dinos are held on with little harnesses of wire) but I thought the swing contraption distracted too much from the dinosaurs- and that the duct tape swing was too ugly. So, after spending most of Open Craft Night at Etsy Labs working on that thing, I threw together the swing I ended up using in 10 minutes. And then glued the dinosaurs on at home.

Here's another picture for fun:

The swings are just two head pins taped together at the bottom with loops at the top. Dinos are from one of those quarter machines at the grocery store. Awesomeness. If I don't get comments on these at work I'll know I've gone off the deep end haha.

The Bread Project Week 7: Potato Bread & Flailing

So this week's loaf was someone on a whim. I intended to either remake The Learning Loaf, but maybe braid it? Either that or some english muffins or cornbread with yeast I'd had my eye on. Instead I drew another recipe from The Wood Spoon Bread Book!

Recipe: Dusty Potato Bread

I'd had some russet potatoes in the cupboard that weren't looking especially pretty anymore, and D is always bugging me to make him mashed potatoes. Also, unlike the wheat breads I've been making, D is madly in love with potato bread. So many birds killed with one stone.

I was doing a million other things in the kitchen that day so I let the first rise go on probably a bit too long, but all in all it came out well. Since the only actual potato came from the water the flavor wasn't there as strongly as I'd hoped, but I think it softened the texture up a bit.

My only change was using butter instead of shortening, as that's what I had on hand. Once again I was very pleased with the instructions in the book, and had no problem creating a bread that was delicious.

The Result:

 Maybe I should buy another loaf pan, as that second was made in a slightly larger dish.

Overall I'm feeling more confident in the technique, though I know there's still a ways to go. But given that the whole thing isn't as scary or overwhelming as it used to be I've started thinking about the direction on this project. Lately I've been just pulling recipes that look good or interesting without much thought as to direction. Given that the potato bread wasn't very...potatoy? I'm thinking about making it again next weekend, with another recipe.

Not too long ago I read this excerpt from a Mark Bittman book, which makes a lot of sense to me. I should pick a type of bread and for a few weeks make various recipes, taking note of things I like and don't like. It will give me an idea of what characteristics different ingredients bring to the table. Specifically, D wants yellow potato bread, which I think means eggs- right? So I'll find an eggy recipe, or maybe just one with actual potato in it, not just the water.

That's the overall goal- though don't be surprised if next week I'm making something random again.

Earring-A-Day 8: Lionshead Bottlecaps

Lionshead. Such an awful beer. But so cheap! At this point in my life I have standards for what I'll pay to drink, and Lionshead doesn't really make it in the flavor department. Even though this new redesign of the outside of their caps is kind of cute:

The real selling point for this beer is under the caps- they have Rebus Puzzles!

 
Not too long ago a liquor store near my apartment had random cheap single bottles, so D and I picked up two. I've saved the caps for ages and they're today's pair...except I'm wearing them backwards. See last week for a tutorial. Here is my finished pair:

These were kind of easy, though for whatever reason the one of the left took me a while the first time I saw it.

Earring-A-Day 7: Button Studs

Sunday came on a little to fast, and I feel like I copped out a little on these studs. I never make them so I was at a loss for what to do. Then yesterday D and I went out shopping and two things happened:

1) The greeter at the store said (re: my matchbooks) "Your earrings are pretty! I mean, unique. They're cool." Haha.

2) I noticed the studs they had there were fairly boring.

So I don't feel too bad about today's earrings: buttons I picked out from a random bag of buttons I'd gotten at a church rummage sale.

These were as easy enough as attaching the buttons to the backings with super glue. Sadly the glue I had was a little dried- kind of gummy- so it was hard to get a thin layer. Hence the glue gunk in one of the button holes. But they're nice.

I have a few more creative ideas for studs assuming I can find the materials. For now I'll just leave you with a shot of the backs.

Earring-A-Day 6: Matchbook Earrings

Todays are easy ones, as I knew I wouldn't have much time to finagle with earrings after work. They're matchbooks from a nice bar/restaurant I went to after Etsy Labs on Monday.

I honestly can't tell you if most of their food is good, but they've got a deal where you get a bacon cheeseburger and a beer (they even had a Captain Lawrence on tap) for $10, which isn't bad.

Construction is super easy, just drilled a hole and bent some wire through to attach the hooks. Originally I just drilled close to the edge and thought I'd use a jump ring, but I figured it could break through so I did another hole on the other side of the staple. Then I got all artsy this morning with the macro setting on my camera. This was supposed to be a closeup of the hook attachment, not sure if it's in focus though.

Best part about these? Full of matches. Though at this point they're kind of heavy so hopefully someone needs something set on fire soon before my ears get tired.

Happy with how these turned out, but let's see how they hold up today.

Earring-A-Day 5: Sailor Jerry Earrings

Friday is Upcycle Day, where I take something that would otherwise be trash and turn it into earrings. Today's are created from a Sailor Jerry promotional cup I may or may not have taken from a bar. It would've been thrown out at the bar- I wanted to save it!- but on the way home it got cracked in my bag. The cup had already been turned into earrings by the time I took pictures, but here's another one I just *ahem* happened to have:

Side One

Side Two

I originally thought the idea for this would be too simple to turn out well- cut out a few stars and other shapes, drill then link them together- but the results were actually really nice. The only additional step was to sand the edges a bit, as my scissors left them a little rough. It was easy enough that after drilling at home I sanded and assembled them at the bar.

Here's a better view (though less classy with flash):

They're nice and graphic without being obvious. And really, they didn't use much of the cup- I was able to get a second pair out of it with little trouble:

I'm not sure I'll ever wear these though- I've found wearing earrings with a visible name/logo implies I'm madly in love with whatever product it is. And though Sailor Jerry and I have had some good times, I'm not sure I love it that much.