Junque-ology - Re-Stuffing my Comforter

Yes, I wish this was my bed. Alas,it is not.  The comforter shown in this picture, however, is mine. I love the reversible fabric. I love the plaid on one side, the lighter striped pattern on the other. I bought this from Overstock.com probably about 2 years ago for just under $50.00.  I figured it would give me a few years, then give out. Well, I was right.  The batting inside has torn and bunched badly The poor thing is pretty much unusable. However, it being the only comforter I have, I've had to use it - even in it's horrendous shape. 

I really didn't want buy another cheap comforter. I REALLY REALLY REALLY want another goose down duvet. Our last duvet met its nasty end when one of our cats decided it was a much better place to pee on than in the litter box. But she was old and sick, and I forgave her.

I had thoughts of turning the fabric from the comforter into a duvet cover. It wouldn't take much, but getting a new duvet is something I cannot afford right now. Have you priced them lately??? O.M.G. it almost makes you want to raise the geese yourself just for feathers.

Anywhoo...I needed to do something quick. The comforter desperately needed to be washed, but the batting inside wasn't going to be able to handle another washing & drying. It hasn't been warm enough to line dry, either, which I was doing in nicer weather to save some wear and tear. What to do? What to do?

If you remember from my blog-post about the necklace board I made...I tend to dither. I want to do something, but I can't because something else needs to be done first. And that can't be done, because of cost or SOMETHING that always manages to bog down the process. So I dither. I let ideas swirl in my head, and nothing ever gets done. Starting this blog is helping me to stop and say, "Do What You Can Now." Just do it, and do it better later, if you need to.  So I am.

I went to the craft store, and bought out their section of poly fiber-fill. I remembered from my pillow making days, that you generally 2x what you think you do when it comes to fiber-fill. So I got lots.

I dug out my old sewing kit, and hunted up my seam ripper.  The seam ripper and I used to be good friends, back in the old sewing days. Yes, together we've ripped a seam or two...hundred.  I sat down with my comforter, my seam-ripper, a large garbage bag, and whatever was playing on the History Channel (something about the Pope, but I really wasn't paying attention).

I carefully "ripped" about 2 1/2 inches of seam from the side of the comforter. I pulled out all the gnarly stuffing from inside. And I do mean GNARLY. If you have a dog, and you let that dog sleep with you on the bed, then you know GNARLY.  I carefully took out the laughable quilting stitches in the middle of the thing (seriously, there were maybe 6 one inch long quilt stitches for a king sized comforter), which is why the batting tore and bunched up in the first place.

I'm washing and drying the shell of the comforter, then I will stuff it with the new poly-fill, then I'll whip-stitch the side seam back up.  And Viola! One fixed comforter.

You might ask, why didn't buy new batting, and re-quilt the thing?  Because I *do* want to go back at a later date and make this a duvet cover - when I finally get my new goose-filled duvet. Re-stuffing the comforter now will tide it over until I get that new duvet (and oh yes, I will get it). Then I can open the foot of the comforter, take out the poly fill, throw in the duvet, and either put on buttons, snaps or Velcro, as a new closure.

See? It *can* be fixed for now...and made better for later.  :)

And the dog can't lay on it until she gets a bath...and I mean that sincerely.

Junque-yard

One of my local nurseries has the most amazing selection on unusual herbs in the spring time. I was wandering around last year, when I saw they had a patchouli plant. I had never before even made the connection that  patchouli was a plant!  If I even thought about how Patchouli was made, I figured it was by squeezing whacked out hippies really hard (I KID! I KID!) No, I never really thought about where patchouli oil came from, so when I saw it, I marveled at it, but didn't buy one. And then I kicked myself, hard and often, because my mother loved patchouli oil. I went back later that summer and see if they still had it in stock, but they didn't.

So this spring, I knew that I was going to get her a patchouli plant for either her birthday or Mother's day. Her birthday, which is in early March, was too early for the nursery to have their plants out yet. We were still in the grip of winter at that time. So last week, I headed back to the nursery, driving with my fingers crossed that they had what I wanted. And they did! As I was doing cartwheels down the aisles (no easy feat with a plant in my hand), I decided to see what else unusual they might have. Something that I could grow as a challenge to myself, and my poor little herb garden. 

I ended up grabbing 2 awesome challenges!  The first is a stevia plant. I'm going to see what it's like to grow, dry, and crush it as a sugar substitute. The second is a curry plant! How cool is that?? I always figured that curry was a mixture of spices, and not it's own plant. And it smells heavenly too...just like a warm golden curry sauce.

I have no idea about the care and feeding of either of my new charges, but I plan on researching and learning. And sharing with you!

BTW, Mom loved her new little patchouli plant. And it smells nice too. Much lighter than you'd expect.

No hippies were harmed in the making of this blog post.

Junque Jewelry or Junque-ology...you decide.

Necklace Organizer...round one.

I make and have a lot of necklaces. I have a jewelry box that I don't love. It doesn't organize well, and the spot to hang necklaces is down the back, so you can't see them unless you stand over the box, peering in. It's just not convenient.

I've been toying with the idea for a way to hang my necklaces so that they are all visible, and yet compact. Here's what I did.

I had an old framed cork-board & some tiny J hooks (or coffee cup hooks). Viola!

Yes, it's another crappy cell phone pic, but I'll take a better one at a later date. I promise!

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, but I need to jazz it up a bit. I want to paint the frame and paper the cork-board with some pretty paper.  I'm waiting until after I re-paint my bedroom, though, so I can match it to the new wall color.  Then I will post an update here!

Why would I post an unfinished project here, you might ask? Well, I think I have a good reason. One, I put making this necklace board for months, even though I really needed it. My brain was swirling with the "I can't-s"  as in, "I can't do that because I haven't picked out the pretty paper," and "I can't pick out the paper until I paint the walls in the room,"  and so on. I'm a master of procrastination for this very reason.  So I stopped, did the what I needed to get the quick fix, and the pretty comes when it comes.

That's my new Junque-ology rule to live by.  I hope you like it.

Junque-yard

...and a small plug! Mike the Gardener

A few weeks ago I signed up with a seed of the month club. I found the company through FaceBook, as a group that I'd "liked." 50% off the normal membership fee of $24.00 for a year. Plus if you tell them your birthday date, you'll receive some extras as a gift around that date. I figured what the heck.

I got my first envelope in the mail this weekend. WooHoo! Mike the Gardener outdid himself right out of the box! Here's a list of what I received. One seed packet of:

Sunflower (Mammoth Grey)
Peas (Lincoln)
Beets (Cylindra)
Thyme
Parsley (Italian Flat Leaf)
Cabbage (Golden Acre)
Zucchini (Black Beauty)
Carrot (Chanteny Red Core)

Very Not Bad! I can't imagine that Mike the Gardner is going to be that generous every month, but wow! (actually, reading the site...it's 8 packets the first month, and 4 packets every month afterward, for a total of 52 packets a year. That's a bargain @ $12.00 for a year's membership)

Now, I know that I will be getting things that I won't plant, because I don't care for the item, or know it won't grow every well, but I've been talking with co-workers and people online about swapping seeds. I can only imagine that after my year's membership is done, I will have bunches of things to trade with.

I also figured that I'd be getting things that I would want to try, things that would take me out of my comfort zone. For example, I tried cabbage a few years ago, but it didn't go anywhere. I brought a sprout-ling with a already-set head on it, planted it, and watched it do absolutely nothing all summer long.  But as you can see of the list above, I now have a packet of seed, and I'm going to try again in a different part of the yard.

And same goes for Zucchini. I am probably the only person in the world that has had trouble growing zukes. The one time I tried it, the plants I had produced only male flowers, and therefore, wouldn't set fruit. What's up with that?

I cannot to try this different variety of carrot, too. I've been growing Danvers Half Long carrots for 2 years now, and I've been really pleased with them. Trying a new kind and seeing the differences just makes me all tingly!


Just a little bit longer, and I can start planting veggies into the garden...I can't wait!

Junque Food

By request: Broccoli / Cabbage Slaw Recipe
(or Brocco-Slaw as my family calls it)

If you prefer, you can shred your own broccoli/cabbage/carrot mix in a food processor. Cut the florets off and use them for another dish and shred the stalks.

If the stalks have an uber-tough  skin, peel it with a potato peeler first.

Using only the stalks will keep the texture of the slaw more consistent, as the buds on the florets will degrade into mush. And it's a great way to get 2 uses out of one veggie. 

(I bought a bag of pre-cut mix because it was on sale for $1.50 a bag)

Measurements are approximate, adjust for your own tastes and balance

• One bag of shredded broccoli / cabbage OR shred your own broccoli stalks, purple cabbage and carrots in a food processor.
• 1/2 onion diced
• 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive or light veggie oil
• Spices of your choice, I used dried basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Thyme would be a good choice, too.
• No more than 1 teaspoon of sugar, honey, or agave nectar (to cut the acidity of the vinegar)
• Optional: If you want a creamier slaw, you can add a large scoop of sour cream or mayo, but it really doesn't need it.

Mix thoroughly, then mix again. You want to get as much vinegar coating everything as possible.  Store in the fridge overnight, stirring when you remember.  There will be lots of liquid in the bowl, so use a slotted spoon when serving.

I found that the flavor was better after sitting for 2 days, and was still awesome 4 days after making.  I was using it as a topper for tacos, and it was PHENOM(A NOM NOM).

I want to try this slaw again, but with an oriental flair to it. I will probably use rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and a drop (no more than) of sesame seed oil.  Maybe some lemongrass? I don't know. My attempts in the past have not been very successful in getting a light and flavorful taste, so I'll keep playing with it.

Junque Food

This past Sunday, I went through my fridge to salvage leftovers before they went south, then cooked up a bunch of meals or parts of meals to be used this week. I’m pretty proud of what I managed to accomplish with the odd assortment of what I had on hand:

 

• A tub of cooked plain elbow macaroni – leftover extras from Mac-n-Cheese,
• A bowl of leftover homemade pizza sauce,
• Half of a large pot of bean soup, made by Da Hubster, that needed to be portioned and frozen as well,
• A bag of shredded broccoli & cabbage for slaw making that was nearing it’s expiration date
• 3 lbs. of green bell peppers that I got on sale (have you seen the how the price of peppers has risen lately??)
  What would you do? Here’s what I did:

• The elbows were re-incarnated into a tuna casserole, and portioned for take-to-work lunches and dinners.
• The leftover pizza sauce got portioned into individual baggies and frozen.
• Portioned and froze the bean soup.
• The brocco-slaw was made.
• The bell peppers were washed, diced, and frozen to be used in recipes later.

 

For extra credit (or because I love to make ahead for the week):

• Another loaf of bread was made
• 2 lbs of taco meat cooked up and ready for tacos, nachos, enchiladas, etc…

 

I have to tell you, I had a hard time choosing what to have for dinner Sunday night.  I settled on tacos topped with the brocco-slaw. OMG. NOM!

 

I do this on Sundays often because it’s a great way to use up what I’ve got, and because I really don’t like cooking a full meal when I get home from work. If most of the meal is already made, then I don’t mind throwing dinner together. It keeps us from ordering out, or running through a drive-thru.  And let’s be honest, it tastes better.

Junque Jewelry

I wear a lot of necklaces during the week, most of which I’ve made over the years. There’s one necklace that I didn’t make, but has a great homemade flair to it. I'm sure that's why I like it. It is a silver wire-wrapped heart, suspended diagonally on a snake chain. You can tell the artist shaped the heart over some sort of form, probably something water soluble so it could be melted out by soaking. Or possibly using something flammable like cork clay, because the silver wire has been heat treated to become inflexible. This necklace was my grandmother’s, she and I shared the same passion for hand crafted wearable art.

 

I wear it fairly often and as a result, it’s become quite tarnished. 

it's hard to see the tarnish on the heart, but it's there, trust me!

Now, over the years, I’ve been giving various sorts of jewelry cleaners to try, and I hate messing with them. I don’t know the chemicals they have, and they usually still take a certainly amount of buffing or scrubbing to get clean anyway. I don’t know about you, but I hate spending money on a product that claims to be a breeze to use, and you still have to put your elbow grease into it anyway.  I’d rather pay next to nothing, use a more natural product that I know the ingredients of, especially if I’m going to have to use my elbows to clean it anyway.

 

So, I’d heard rumors about toothpaste, but never tried it before. but I thought it might be worth a try. Being cautious, though, I decided to check the interwebs to see if there were any warnings, and there were several. Toothpastes can have an abrasive reaction to fine silver, or silver-plated items, causing them to get scratched. While this might not be a problem for some things, it's better to be safe than sorry. So I decided to take a gander at other "natural" ways to take the tarnish off of silver, and I cam across  What I found was AWESOME! A quick, easy, safe, and CHEAP way to do what I wanted.


I spot-checked the method from a couple of different sites, and I'll list them at the end for you, if you want them, oh gentle readers.

How to Make a Silver Polishing Dip

• a disposable pie tin OR a glass baking dish with a sheet of aluminum foil
• 1 tablespoon of baking soda
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• at least one cup of steaming hot (but not boiling) water

1. Line the glass dish with aluminum foil (or if you are using the disposable pie tin, skip)
2. add the hot water, baking soda, and salt. 
3. Still until dissolved (it will fizz...no worries)
4. Drop your item(s) into the water
5. Check after a couple of minutes. Leave in longer of there's still more tarnishing to be taken away.
6. Remove, dry, and polish. Viola!

glass bowl & tin foil

heart pendant, getting dipped

all bright & shiny!

**Please be aware that this method of cleaning may not be appropriate for jewelry with precious or semi-precious stones in it. **



Sources:


Making a Silver Polishing Dip from About.com


Rena's Klingenberg's How to Clean Tarnished Silver Jewelry