Finishing the Unfinishable Project 5 -- Travel Blankets

I mentioned that a friend and I bartered...she drew up a legal document and I made her son some travel blankets. Sounded easy enough; she wanted me to cut a store-bought blanket into quarters and put some satin bias tape around the edges.

Well. I apparently don't know how to do bias bindings. I made up a way to do it. I know you're supposed to do a continuous piece of trim.
But this is what I started with:

So I did just do one edge at a time. They aren't perfect. But I think they'll meet the needs of my friend's little boy!

Blueberry Bread

Looking for another great way to use some yummy blueberries? Make this yummy bread.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
3 T oil
3 cups flour
1 t salt
4 t baking powder
1 cup blueberries

1. Beat eggs; mix in sugar. Add milk and oil. Mix well.
2. Stir dry ingredients together. Again, do not over mix. (I just added them to the egg/sugar/milk/oil mixture to save time and washing another bowl...do what you will.)
3. Carefully fold in blueberries.
4. Spray pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into a 5x12" loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Cool in pan but turn it out of the pan before it is completely cool.

Electronics & Water

Everyone knows electronics and water don't mix. But I have countless friends who have dropped their cell phone in the toilet, washing machine or had another expensive device meet some other untimely demise.

I have an history of electronics and water. When I was a sophomore in college, I broke my elbow. Really badly. I had surgery to implant 17 pins and 3 plates. Then I had a huge cast for a little while.

A week after I broke it, I was trying to water a plant in my dorm room that my wonderful boyfriend (now my husband!) had given me for my birthday. I managed to spill the water on my laptop. I made the cardinal mistake of panicking and turning it back on right away. It never worked again. I was so upset. Luckily, my parents felt bad for me with the whole elbow thing and thought I was a trooper for even going back to school that soon.

Fast forward to this past month...I was at the beach and I had my camera. I left it on my chair and the tide came in. The camera was underwater. So upset!! This is how we handled it:

1) Did NOT turn it on.
2) Removed the battery.
3) Put it in a bag of rice for a few days.
4) Turned it on and it works pretty well. A few problems.

*Sigh of relief*

Bartering

I've seen several articles lately talking about bartering and how it was popular during the Great Depression. I am currently the beneficiary of a barter. (Not sure if 'barter' can be used as a noun. Any opinions?)

I needed a legal service. A friend is an attorney. She helped me out and saved me approximately $150/hour. I am making her some 'travel security blankets' for her little boy. (More on those in another post. I'm still working on them.)

I think more of us should be open to offering a service we're good at and enjoy doing as payment for other things. Some ideas besides legal services and sewing:

-Gardening or other lawn care
-Cutting down trees
-Oil changes or mechanical skills
-Cake baking
-Proof-reading
-Upholstery
-Ancestry Research
-Catering
-House Cleaning
-Babysitting
-Tailoring (I consider this way different than just sewing!)
-Pet-sitting
-Refinishing furniture

Any other ideas out there?

Make Giant Crayons

I love craft projects. I love colors.

It is only natural that I want my 14-month old son to learn to color.

I went to Target to buy him some crayons last week. I was shocked at how much the giant crayons cost. So I bought the skinny kind instead.

Result: He loves to throw them and try to put them in his mouth. He gets upset if I try to make him even tough the paper with one, let alone grab his hand and help him make marks on it!

After conferring with my mom, we've determined that his chubby little hands need the fat crayons. So I decided to make my own.

All you need is an oven, old crayons (or broken, paperless ones), and an old muffin tin.

I went to my favorite grocery store and bought two packages for $0.49 each. (They were on sale with the school supplies.)

I tore the paper off and broke them into pieces. I like things to match, so I grouped them by shade (but you don't have to do that):I put them in the oven at 215 degrees F for about 20 minutes (keep checking them...) They melted completely. Now let them cool and harden. Then dig them out with a knife. I ran a knife around the edges before they got too hard but I don't think I really needed to do that.
I'm not sure this project was worth the trouble. My son tried to eat these, too.