Etsy Weekends - Stained Glass Jewelry

If you've been keeping up with our Etsy Weekends, you've probably come to realize that I love jewelry. There's also been a bit of a trend with glass...so it shouldn't surprise you that I love glass jewelry. Especially stained glass looking pieces. I've come across a few I would like to share with you today!

Elm Leaf Earrings from Western Art Glass

Green Daisy Pendant from Becky Sharp Designs

Stained Glass Earrings from Antique Alchemy Shop

Stop by next week to see more great Etsy finds!

Birds of Bozeman

If you've ever been to this part of the country you are familiar with Magpies, the big dapper black and white birds who have a lot to say, and are addicted to all things shiny. They will climb into a car if the window is open wide enough (which is actually a lot narrower than you would expect!) just to get at something shiny inside, leaving droppings for you to find! We have lots of them in our backyard, and wake up to them and all the other singing birdies in the morning. It's easy to tell when the neighbor cat has strolled into our backyard because they go nuts screaming and squawking at him. While Mom and Dad were visiting, we learned they have another trick...ruining (or adding to, depending on how you look at it) pictures of beautiful Bozeman, MT!

This is a picture of my absolute favorite view of Bozeman. When you crest the hill of Kagy Boulevard, the valley opens up a little, and you have a clear view of the Crazies in the distance, some 80 miles away. That stretch of road used to be on my drive home and it was my favorite part of the day most days. In that picture is a magpie. A magpie just happened to be flying by as Dad raised the camera above the bars of the old Yellowstone Tour Bus to capture a shot of my favorite view. Such luck!

Happy Weekend!

A Few Good Plants

July is almost at a close already, and in Montana that means the heat is good and set it. Fires are going and the smoke has started to waft into our valley. The plants in the backyard aren't enjoying the heat either, as my red leaf lettuce has all but shriveled into nothing. But, some of the plants are doing really well! I have peas like crazy, lots of baby tomatoes, ripening huckleberries, zucchini, and ripening raspberries! I can't wait for a few things to get completely ripe so I can eat them...although I have been enjoying my peas, a lot. :)

Stupice Tomatoes

Teddy Bears

Teddy Bears are some of the most fun a girl can have with Knitting. They each have their own personality, and it all depends on your mood while stitching on the faces, or even just a slip of the needle. A slanted stitch may lead to an uneven smile. Use the wrong kind of yarn and you may find yourself with eyes that are different sizes. But all of these chances for things to go wrong, also give you so many opportunities to have completely individual teddy bear faces. The faces are the most difficult, and the most rewarding part of a stuffed animal. That is why I love making them, teddy bears in particular. I often will leave the face for a few days, until the bear has had a chance to show me what kind of face he wants. (Does that sound crazy? Probably. But I stand by it.) I also want to make sure I'm in the right place before I work on a face...too distracted and who knows what might come out on their little faces!

Here's my most recent teddy bear, and the instigator of a rush (hopefully!) of teddy bears. He's at least got my brain all worked up over knitting more, so we'll see how long it takes my hands to catch up to my mind!

Etsy Weekends - Kitty Photography

I love taking pictures of my kitties. It's got to be one of my favorite things to do in fact. I guess subconsciously I think I'll take a great photo someday that I can sell to other people, but in reality they will only ever grace my walls. But...when I come across a great cat picture on Etsy I think again about selling my Lela and Norman Glamour Shots! Here are a few of my favorites....

Cat Love from Emele Photography

Sleepy Kitty from Raceytay

Baby Blue Eyes from Gypsy Fyre Creations

Bob in Pearls from Hope Images

Hope you enjoyed the kitties! Come back Next week to see what else we've got for you!

Vacation Part Two

It's now been a couple of weeks since Mom and Dad went back home to the sheep and Lucy, but I am still working on sorting and cleaning up pictures from the visit. I'm a little behind...but since I still haven't sorted the pictures from Mom's visit in 2011, I don't feel so bad about these ones! Here are a few that Dad took after our driving tour of Bozeman. It's a service offered during the summer through the Museum of the Rockies. It was roughly two hours of Bozeman history combined with a lovely drive through the town and a discussion of the architecture of the town.

  During the tour our guide mentioned that the Pioneer Museum in Bozeman is a very interesting place to visit, so we stopped down there after the tour. It was great, a small museum full of local history, and a noose where they hung the only inmate to be put to death in the jail. It reminded me of the historical society in BRF where I volunteered when I was in middle and high school.

The tour guide also mentioned that the "warbirds" were coming to town that weekend. We went out to the airfield twice, but missed them both times. They weren't in town for an incredibly long time. But Matt still managed to get a picture of one while we were at Music on Main - it flew overhead on our way to dinner!

I think those are really all the good pictures, so I'll have to wait for another visit before I can share more pictures! :) Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later! Maybe next time we can talk them into going to Yellowstone! 

How to Make a Cake No One Wants to Eat.

I've made a few things from scratch over the years. Usually crisps, or pies, or Crazy Cake. But mostly, when I want a cake...I buy the boxed kind. It's just so easy! And it usually tastes good! Unfortunately, a few weeks ago I found myself craving cake...with no money...and no boxed cake already in my cupboard. The craving didn't go away, so I searched the internet to find a simple recipe that used ingredients I already had in the house. I found one too! So I made it. It wasn't great. I even took pictures to show you all. I was really proud of myself, until I ate the first piece.

I have been trying to decide if I should share it with you anyway, the pictures, the process, the recipe so you can avoid it...but I don't think I will. I've never been the kind of person to share when I fail...and I'm not the kind of person to show off something that isn't perfect. (Unless it's years later and now the failure has become funny) But I will assure you, my readers, of this: I will continue to make "from scratch" items that we as a society (or maybe just my family) have stopped making from scratch, and when they are good...I will share! :)

The frosting for the cake was about the best part. While the cake itself was dense and dry, the frosting was still somewhat drippy up to the last day. Microwaving a slice of cake prior to eating would make the frosting melt and drip down the sides...it was the only part that made the cake edible! (That and my voracity for all things cake related.) During my searching I came across this frosting recipe a lot, and have a plan for it in the future, because it tasted very similar to the frosting we used when I worked at Mrs. Fields. The very best use for that frosting: Peanut Butter Cookie Cups. Keep an eye out on here for when I make up those babies! Until then, here is the frosting recipe for you to use on anything that requires a yummy chocolate topping!

3 Cups Powdered Sugar
2/3 Cup Cocoa
1/2 Cup Butter
1 tsp Vanilla
1/3 Cup Milk

Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa together. Melt butter, and add to powdered sugar/cocoa mixture. Stir in vanilla. Slowly add milk until you get to your desired consistency. Add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time if necessary (I didn't find it necessary, and almost wish I had used less milk!) Can be refrigerated for 2 days, or frozen for up to 3 months. Makes 2 cups, which is enough for two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans or one 9x13 (That's the size I made)

Mine came out a little lumpy, but you couldn't taste it on the cake. Probably because I remelted it every time I had a piece! :) Hopefully I'll have a better cake recipe to share soon! Until then...I guess we'll just eat things I can make from scratch...like cookies! :)

Etsy Weekends - Goat Soap

We love soap in our households. Christmas care packages almost always come with some sort of new soap find, and craft show profits are almost always spent on handmade craft show soap. It's not unusual then, that I am drawn to soap on Etsy too! Here are a few of my recent goat soap finds:
 

Oat Loaf from Beautiful Soaps

Oatmeal Bars from Three Waters Farm

Oatmeal or Lavendar from Dancing Garden

Calendula from Sweet Sally's Soaps

Hope these clean up with you, come back next week to see what other treasures we have in store!

Little Baby Ducks

Matt and I try to do our loop around Peet's Hill several times a week as it is a great hour long workout! It's also a great view of the town, and depending on when you hit the trail fairly empty of people, and full of dogs! There's also a cute little duck pond on the trail, and we sometimes stop to visit with them, and sometimes even remember to bring our bread! This week, we saw the cutest thing on our walk...Baby Ducks! Today they were sleeping when we walked past, glad we had the camera with us when they were out and active! Happy Friday Everyone, and have a great weekend :)

Lace Knitting

While Mom was visiting I was shocked at the amount of projects she brought with, and here I sit wishing I had had her empty her bag so I could take a picture! There was a half finished scarf made with two different color changing yarns...very cool! There were also several finished scarves to show off, along with a quarter finished pair of Norwegian star mittens, a partial sweater sleeve, and other untold treasures whose needles I saw just peeking out from her bag.

I have been working on Mice for a while, long ago I finished up most of my other "real" knitting projects in deference to my mouse projects. Seeing all of her real knitting made me itch to knit something difficult, or at least something that takes longer than 45 minutes to knit up! I headed to the upstairs closet and found a lace scarf I had started maybe a year or so ago. (I also found Matt's Mitts...but I passed them over for this lol) I managed to get quite a bit of the scarf knit during their visit and finished it this week!

It's a scarf knit in the general fashion of most of our other Hide and Hair scarves - lace paneled "sleeves" with a ribbed center. Now I have visions of lace scarves running through my head...along with fun fringed scarves and lace mittens and wedding bags...so much knitting...so little time!

Palisade Falls

During their visit, Matt and I took Mom and Dad to one of our favorite spots here in Bozeman: Palisade Falls in the Hyalite Canyon. It's a beautiful waterfall that you can climb right up to, and can even climb over (Matt and I did this a few years back, and someday hope to do it again, but it was a little scary...there was a bit of actual rock climbing and when you are only 5' tall, those footholds seem really far away!) This year we managed to get there at a really quiet time. There was one lady leaving as we arrived, and one group arriving as we were leaving! Unfortunately that meant we didn't get a great group shot, but we still managed to get some great pictures! We even noticed that some of the upper rocks seem to be tilted out farther than we remember, causing us to wonder when the rocks will fall, and hope no one is there getting a family portrait taken when it happens! Anyway, enough talking...here are the pictures!

Palisade Falls is one of our favorite places to go because you get a nice walk in, but it isn't too difficult. Even wheelchairs can make it up to the Falls, so with knee trouble and foot pain, we still made it to the top without too much complaining. Plus the scenery is unrivaled! :)

Etsy Weekends - Birds and Bees

The kitties love looking out the windows at the birds, and I love to hear the bees in the backyard - knowing they are doing their job to pollinate my garden goodies! Here's a few items from Etsy that would look great in my yard, and bring in those birds and bees :)

Pollinator BeeBom from Seedbom

Porcelain BirdHouse from LandMstudio

Bee House from TheBirdOnTheTree

Modern Bird Feeder from Ingleside Pottery

We hope you've enjoyed this week's picks, and hope you'll come back next weekend to see what else we've found! 

Happy Fourth of July!

From all of us at Hide & Hair, we hope you have a safe and happy Fourth of July! You'll find us defying the heat, working on some wool knitting projects, and enjoying the Fireworks! :)

How To Tuesday: Tarn

While cleaning out the closets this year we determined that Matt didn't need half of his t-shirts anymore. Unfortunately, most of them were in pretty rough shape...not donate-able. So I reached far back into my crafting mind and remembered a demonstration Mom and I saw a few years back - turning t-shirts into yarn! I sorted through Matt's shirts for the good ones, and got out my scissors. Now I have two bags of tarn and a stack of fabric to be upcycled into something soon.

If you too would like to tarn, here's a quick break down!

Start with a shirt that has no side seams. If you don't mind having a bump then use ones with side seams too - personal preference is the most important part of tarning! You will only be using the shirt up to the armpits, so feel free to cut off that part before hand. I usually cut it at the end, just so I have a wider swath of fabric to stretch across my knees...since I cut them on my lap like a weirdo.

First shake the shirt out to get it evened up and flat, then cut off the bottom band. The shirt should look like this:

Next start cutting strips across the shirt, making them as thin or thick or thin and thick as you like! You need to lave about a half inch of uncut fabric on one side however, as this is how you keep it all in one strand like yarn!

Once you've cut up to the armpits, we'll go back and cut across the strips, creating a continuous strand.

Cut up to where you've met the armpits, and you now have a string that can be rolled into a ball!

I'm going to make t-shirt scarves with all the shirts I've cut up! What would you use yours for? Here are some ideas from Etsy!

Infinity Scarf

Cat Bed

Bracelet