DIY Studded leather gloves

Guess what I made while Chuck took a nap yesterday?

A pair of studded black leather gloves for a tough chica friend

Although Spring is right at our doorstep, I had been meaning to make these leather gloves for quite awhile.  Last winter, one of my college friends came into town and we did a little window shopping.  She found a pair of black leather gloves at Urban Outfitters and debated whether or not to get them.  In the end, she left them behind.

I kept thinking about her studded gloves for the next couple of months.  When the weather got warmer, tons of stores had winter sales to clear out their merchandise.  Once I saw this pair of black leather gloves on sale, I snatched them right up.

Here are the materials that I used:  
- Black leather gloves
- Sharp pair of fabric scissors
- Chalk
- Golden cone spikes

The spikes contained two parts:  The sharp spiky cone and the screw 

Directions:
1.  Use chalk to mark where the spikes will go.

2.  Use the pointy part of your fabric scissors to pierce the top of your gloves.  (Make sure not to pierce through the bottom as well!)  Poke your screwback through the leather and screw the cone on.

 And that's basically all you need to do to make a pair of tough girl gloves.  The spikes are surprisingly easy to screw on and the screwbacks didn't bother my hand one bit.

What do you think?  Rock star fashion statement?  Or, tough chic weapon? 

Smiles

Oi vey, it's cold outside.  Baby Chuck and I are fighting the winter doldrums by visiting the shops and hanging out with friends at the library.  

Here are a couple of photos to cheer you on throughout the rest of the week.

Only two more days till the weekend!

DIY Birdseed ornaments

Today I'll be sharing how we created these lovely DIY Birdseed ornaments.

Back in Michigan, hubby and I put up a small bird feeder to feed the birds during the winter.  Now that we live in the city, we don't have space to put a bird feeder up.  (Plus, even if we did figure out a way to do it we'd probably just attract pigeons or rats.  Ew and double ew.)

So, you might say that I was feeling a bit nostalgic after seeing this lovely tutorial from Saltwater Kids showing how to make birdseed ornaments.  Luckily we have several family members that live in nearby tree-filled suburbs, so I made a bunch of these as small Christmas gifts.  I don't know about you, but I could really just spend hours watching birds hopping or flying around.  Hopefully this gift will keep the kids (and adults) entertained as they enjoy nature.


If you'd like to make them yourself, let me just first make two notes:
(1)  The Saltwater Kids tutorial contains really lovely photos and clear directions.  I totally copied their recipe.  I'm a copycat.  I fully admit it.
(2)  I tried to be neat, but the birdseed got everywhere.  Be prepared to sweep and wipe up lots of tiny seeds and sticky birdseed mess.

Still want to make them?  Ok, here's how I did it:

Materials Needed to make DIY Birdseed Ornaments:

-3/4 C flour
- 1/2 C water
- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin (Knox)
- 3 T corn syrup (I used dark... but I'm not sure if that matters)
- 4 C birdseed
- muffin tins/ molds (or cookie cutters)
- nonstick cooking spray
- drinking straws/ stirrers
- wax paper
- ribbon

Directions to make DIY Birdseed Ornaments:

1.  Combine flour, water, gelatin, and corn syrup in a large bowl.  Stir until everything is combined and resembles sticky goo.

2.  Add birdseed.  Stir until birdseed is covered.

3.  Spray muffin tins / molds with cooking spray.

4.  Pack birdseed mixture into the molds.  Use a measuring cup to pack and smooth everything down.   (I had a bit of trouble with this, which resulted in rough edges.)

5.  Push straws or stirrers through the birdseed.  (Make sure to push them all the way through so that you have a hole to string the ribbon through.)

6.  Let your birdseed mixture sit there for three hours.  Then, take out your straws and slide/pop out the hardened ornaments out onto wax paper.  (They easily popped out of the silicone molds, but I had to use a fork to pop them out of the muffin tins.)  Flip the ornament upside down so the bottom gets a chance to harden as well.  Let them sit out overnight.

7.  Put ribbon or string through the holes and enjoy!

Merry Christmas feathered friends!

Update-  I wanted to hang up ornaments with Baby Chuck around town, so I stored some in our apartment for about a week.  Bad idea.  When I finally remembered them, I saw that they had grown fuzzy with mold.  So, make sure you use them as soon as you make them!  Otherwise you'll end up with fuzzy black ornaments.  Ick.

 

Interested in other ways to create birdseed feeders?

Create your own toilet paper roll bird feeders and ice bird feeders.

Hubby turns a sweater into a hat

Last winter hubby bought me a beautiful mustard yellow sweater.  I loved it so much.  Even though it was slightly too big for me, I kept it because I loved the color.

Fast forward one year later and I still had not worn it.  I tried pairing it with different things, but the fit was always slightly off.  Instead of giving the sweater away, hubby and I cut the sweater up and upcycled it into a hat.

We measured the circumference of my head, and then divided that number by 2 (a).  Then, we measured the distance from the top of my head to my ears (b*).  Using those two measurements we chalked out the outline of a hat (the width being "a" and the height being "b").  After some quick pinning, hubby sewed everything up and voila, I had a new mustard colored hat.

(Embarrassing fact: What? Is Leslie wearing a hat?  Yes, it is a strange sight.  I typically don't wear hats because my ginormous head is so large that it never fits any of the hats in the store.)

(*Side note:  I think the next time I would have made the hat a bit taller.  It just reaches my ears, so it would have been nice to have a bit more room up there.)

And since we had a bit of extra material hubby quickly whipped up another hat for a slightly smaller noggin.

Yup.  Because sometimes Baby Chuck and I like getting all matchy matchy like that.

(By the way-  Thank you all for voting for my crapty reindeer head!  I was one of the top 6 and moved onto the final round of the competition.  So, if  you have another spare moment, would you please vote for my reindeer head at the Totally Green Contest? Thanks so much for your support!)

Central Park

Can I just say how happy I am that it's no longer raining here on the east coast?!?  Can I get a "whoop whoop?"  (Whoop whoop!)  Baby Chuck and I are loving the bright and warm days.  We're doing our best to soak up every last bit of sunny goodness before winter comes. 

I think last Saturday definitely marked a turning point in the weather.  Hubby, Baby Chuck, and I seized the day by meeting up with some friends and walking through Central Park.  I loved seeing the swarms of tourists and natives out enjoying the good weather.

Even though we live just across the river, we really don't visit the city as often as we'd like.  Whenever our car crosses the river, I always begin "oohing" and "ahhing" over all the sights. 

I really love New York City and it's just so beautiful in the fall. 

This must have been wedding photo day because we saw a total of three brides walking around!

I so want to make this bubble man's special wand.

Love toasty hands?

With Valentine's Day less than a month away (oh golly, where does the time fly), you're probably looking around for a gift for your sweetie.  If you two enjoy long walks on cold winter nights, perhaps this gift will strike your fancy:

You can find these funny dual gloves here

Sunny days and pop of color

Even though it's well and truly winter, the weather is still relatively mild and sunny.  Hooray!  We're going to drink in as much sunshine as we can.

**Update:  Can you believe it just snowed this morning?

 

Sunny days celebrated with sunny clothes

Get psyched...

it's finally Friday!  I thought the weekend would never come.  We're definitely going to enjoy the outdoors before winter sneaks up on us again...

Excitement is clearly written all over Baby Norris's face.

Frolicking in flowers

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. - Hal Borland

Two magical ingredients

Nothing tastes better than a steamy bowl of soup on a cold winter's night.

Slurp me

This chicken and potato soup was particularly yummy because of two star ingredients:

(1)  Cilantro- The tastiest herb ever

(2)  Better than Bouillon- Chicken flavoring in a jar

With temperatures dropping, I hope you all stay warm and full-bellied.

note:  cilantro photo taken from here

Cat huts

A cat colony lives in the empty lot adjacent to our apartment complex.  With the recent snowy weather, hubby and I worry about these feral felines' fate. 

How will they stay warm in this weather?

Luckily for the cats, many kindhearted neighbors have reached out to help.  Some constantly put out tasty treats.

Monday's Special:  Stinky sardines

Those who are a bit more crafty designed and assembled small "cat huts."  Built out of old pet carriers and cardboard boxes these units are insulated with straw and old blankets.

One hut in the cat complex

We're all hoping that they'll stay warm this winter.

Welcome, December!

Today, Charlie and I were greeted by a wintry surprise.

The cold and snowy weather came at a perfect time.  Our fridge has been on the fritz and now stores everything at an ultra-mild 70º. While that temperature is great for humans and dogs, it's not so good for milk or meat.  So now we're storing our food "Little House on the Prairie" style until the fridge gets fixed.

Doesn't this remind you of an image from an airport scanner?  I can already spot three deadly weapons:  salami, margarine, and cheese.

And now, we finally get to wear our boots.  Ta da!

This picture was obviously not taken today.

 Big, clunky, and ugly, these babies are going to get us through the winter.

Letter from a reader

I recently received a letter from one of my many squirrel readers.  It just made my day.  Here's what the letter said:

****************************************
Dear Ms. Pink Stripey Socks,

My wife and I thoroughly appreciated your "Treasure Map" post.  During this terrible recession we've struggled to take care of our large family.  With eight mouths to feed, we're constantly searching for food.  Your map has greatly helped us.  Now we hope to make it through this winter.

Thanks very kindly,
Mr. Harold T. Squirrel

PS:  I've included a picture of my youngest daughter Matilda enjoying a recent treasure map find.

Treasure map

To my squirrel readers:

Lately I've seen so many of you running around and hiding your nuts.  Will you even remember all your hiding places?  I hope so.  We're expecting a cold winter here in western Michigan, so you're going to need sustenance. Just in case you forget, I've doodled this map to help you out.

Love,
Pink Stripey Socks

PS:  Please don't come by my door asking for nuts.  I won't share my pistachios with you.  Really.  I mean it this time.  

Super Dog

Hello everyone. Like a squirrel storing nuts for winter, I'm using this blog to store one funny, silly, or happy thought or thing that happens everyday.  Hopefully by the time winter rolls around I'll have an abundance of bright memories to carry me through the cold, dark days. 

So, what better day to start blogging than Halloween?  It's my favorite holiday and coincidentally, my dog's favorite as well.  He just loves getting gussied up for the ladies.  Here he is wearing his homemade super hero dog costume. He's so crafty.