Tag Archives: DIY

DIY Waxed Cloth Food Wrap

October 1, 2017 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

I’m all for convenience, but after two years of making school lunches I’m realizing that I create a lot of plastic wrap trash. The other day I saw an ad for beeswax coated fabric that could be used in replacement of plastic wrap. You use the heat of your hands to seal the fabric to itself. You can reuse the fabric several times by just rinsing it in cool, soapy water.

I have an apiarist friend who keeps beeswax as a byproduct. I asked if he could spare a few ounces so I could experiment with this fabric food wrap idea. If you don’t know a beekeeper, you can easily order beeswax online.

This was a super fun crafty activity that required no sewing. Give it a try!

Continue reading DIY Waxed Cloth Food Wrap →

Crafts, DIY, Flowers, Tutorials

DIY Hoop Wreath | a simple tutorial

April 13, 2017 alaskaknitnat 2 Comments

This time of year isn’t the prettiest in Alaska. Snow is waiting to melt, everything is brown and dusty, and there’s a certain stale odor in the air. But there is LIGHT – so much daylight.

Erin of Blomma Designs, photographer Anne Marie Moran and I decided to take advantage of our ever-increasing sunlight last weekend.I brought my sister, Farra, along too. We all met at Erin’s studio to create modern floral wreaths. It was the perfect respite from Alaska breakup season.

I thought we should share this crafting experience with a step-by-step tutorial. The luscious photos are by the talented and delightful Anne Marie of Anne Marie Moran Photography.

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Crafts, DIY, Tutorials

Furniture facelift – how to refinish a thrift store table

September 17, 2016 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

The other day as I was making my thrift store rounds I saw an old table sitting outside of Bishop’s Attic. It had lots of stains on it as though someone was raised in a non-coaster family (oh, the shame!)

It was only $5 so what was there to lose by buying it?

I could tell it was a solid construction made with nice wood. Maybe teak, cherry and walnut in there? I’m not sure. But when I asked my husband if he’d help me refinish it I was surprised to find how easy it was. All we did was refinish the top of the table as the legs were still in good shape. We now have a gorgeous wooden table and all we really paid for was the wood finish.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Random orbital sander
Sandpaper in grades of 80-220
Tack cloth
Emmet’s Good Stuff wood finish
Shop paper towels

Directions:

Remove the top from the legs. Using 80 grade sandpaper sand down the tabletop with the orbital sander. Use circular motions and sand the top evenly all over. Sand the sides of the tabletop too, if you’re able to.
Repeat this step with the next finest grade of sandpaper until you’ve reached 220.
Hand sand any bits or corners you weren’t able to get with the orbital sander. I just eyeballed it.
Use a piece of tack cloth to remove all sawdust from the tabletop.
Pour a big glug of wood finish onto the tabletop and spread out evenly with a shop paper towel. Get all over and around the sides. Get it underneath the edge of the table. No need to finish the whole bottom part, but get some around the underneath edge. It should instantly look amazing.
Make sure the finish is evenly distributed and not applied so heavily that it drips or gloops.
After 3 minutes use a dry paper towel to wipe the table with the grain to remove any excess oil. If you go against the grain it might look streaky.
Wait four hours and repeat steps 5-7.
You could stop here or apply another coat if you’d like. I only did two coats.
Screw the top back onto the legs and presto! New table!

DIY, Flowers, Tutorials, weddings

DIY Mother’s Day Arrangement – a step-by-step tutorial

April 23, 2016 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Spring has sprung (hopefully) and nothing makes your home feel “spring fresh” more than a fresh flower arrangement. Recently I had a coffee meeting with Rachel Christy, owner of Alaska Blooms Peony Farms, and she pointed out that I’m a DIY bride’s florist. Indeed, many of the brides who hire me order the main floral pieces from me and then save money by creating centerpieces themselves. Since I’m a business of one person, I am completely fine with this arrangement. When a bride orders centerpieces I usually hire an assistant.

During a phone consultation with a Kentucky bride, she told me my floral business reminds her of small-batch whiskey makers. These are folks in Kentucky who make whiskey on the side of their normal jobs that are different from the standard whiskeys. I love that comparison.

Anyway, since Mother’s Day is the next floral holiday on the calendar (and often the busiest day for florists) I thought I would share a step-by-step tutorial on how you can make your own flower arrangement. Whether you’re a son, a daughter or a DIY bride, this should be helpful for anyone who is looking to be florally frugal.

If you’re in Anchorage, you can purchase beautiful greenery by the stem at Alaska Wholesale Flower Market. They range from $1.89-2.99 a stem. They also have gorgeous blooms there, but in an effort to save money I purchased grocery store flowers using a buy one, get one half off coupon.

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appetizers, Cooking

The secret to perfect hard-boiled eggs

March 19, 2016 alaskaknitnat 2 Comments

There’s no other time that I feel as though I’ve failed at life as when I hard boil eggs. It seems like a simple endeavor: boil eggs, cool them, peel them. But usually my eggs are impossible to peel.

When I asked my friends on social media why I can’t seem to successfully peel an egg, I got all sorts of egg-cellent suggestions from running them under water as I peeled them, to shaking them vigorously in a jar of water (totally didn’t work). The most frequent response I got was I was using too-fresh eggs.

I dutifully tried every suggestion but got no closer to a peelable egg. Finally, I heard a new one: steam the eggs.

I tried it. It worked. Here’s how to make the perfect hard-cooked egg. *note: after trying this method three times, the only successful batch was when I steamed 4 eggs. When I tried to steam 12 they didn’t get cooked through enough — but they were incredibly easy to peel!

What you’ll need:

Some eggs

A pot

A steamer basket

Directions:

Fill your pot with about an inch of water and bring it to a boil. Place your eggs in a steamer basket and lower them into the pot. Cover, turn the heat to medium and steam for 13 minutes.

A couple of minutes before the eggs are done, fill a bowl with ice and cold water. Transfer the eggs to the bowl and let them cool for 15 minutes.

They peeled perfectly!

Yay for life hacks.

Looking for a good egg salad recipe? Try my chicken salad but substitute eggs!

alaska, cocktails, Italian, recipes, Tutorials

Sausage 101 — a photo & video tutorial

January 9, 2016 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

The kitchen is the heart of our family. My dad would spend the weekends making vats of marinara sauce and in the late summer my mom would be canning blueberry jam. Back when apples were cheap we’d make gallons of applesauce with the food mill and mix in low-bush cranberries for color. Most of my childhood memories are centered around cooking.

One staple in our family is sausage. I remember waking up early on Saturday morning to the loud humming of my dad’s homemade motorized sausage grinder. I was thrilled to stuff hog intestines with meat — I was the best sausage stuffer in the family thanks to my deft, friendship bracelet-making hands.

Sausage-making 101 | a photo tutorial from alaskaknitnat.com. Learn how to make your own Italian sausage with this step-by-step guide. — Me, age 9, stuffing sausage with some old family friends.

My dad owns one of the most popular sausage-making sites on the Internet, sausagemania.com (yes, that is really the name). People from all over the world come to his site for his detailed recipes and tutorials.

When we decided to make 100 pounds of Italian and breakfast sausage this morning at 7:30 I thought it would be the perfect time to make my own tutorial for my little DIY audience.

Continue reading Sausage 101 — a photo & video tutorial →

Crafts, Paper

The Best Gift Box Hack

December 21, 2015 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

I worked in retail for six years and by this time during the holiday season our gift wrapping supplies were usually low. Only birthday paper and giant boxes left. When I had a customer wanting a small item wrapped, I came up with this simple hack to make a small box out of the lid of a bigger box.

Here’s your key to being a wrapping genius.

Crafts, DIY, Patterns, Sewing, Tutorials

Dress to Apron Refashion – A free tutorial

November 22, 2015 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Sewing is by no means my greatest talent. My mom taught me to sew at a young age, but that doesn’t mean I like it. It’s time consuming to cut out a pattern, cut out the fabric and take out the sewing machine. If I’m going to sew something it’s got to be a two-hour-or-less project.

I love the concept of refashioning clothes; i.e., taking an article of clothing and turning into a different article of clothing. Refashionista is pretty much my sewing/thrifting idol and she’s incredibly cute.

Lately I’ve been noticing gigantic church-lady linen dresses at the thrift shops. My mother loves linen dish towels because they are lightweight and absorbent. I thought about purchasing a linen dress and cutting it into dish-towel rectangles, but the concept didn’t really excite me much.

Last week I saw a lovely linen apron at Anthropologie. I had an “I can make that” moment. I figured an apron was a great way to refashion an old dress.

Years ago I made an apron for my sister and managed to write down the pattern measurements. I have included that pattern in this tutorial. Keep in mind my sewing skills are far from elegant so I’m sure some of you could come up with a prettier apron, but I’m satisfied with what I ended up with and it only took two hours from start to finish.

Be sure to check out the bottom of this post for more clothing refashion tutorials I’ve done over the years.

Continue reading Dress to Apron Refashion – A free tutorial →

Crafts, DIY, Tutorials

Pinterest Perfect: DIY Rustic Headboard

November 21, 2015 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

I wish my house were magazine-worthy. I wish one interior wall were made of raw brick. I wish I had large windows with endless natural light. I wish I had crisp white linens. I wish I had 11-foot ceilings. I wish I had a subway tile kitchen backsplash.

A woman can dream, right? And that’s what Pinterest is for.

I’m usually a practical pinner. I pin recipes I’ll actually make, knitting techniques I reference over and over, but once in a while I just want to be dazzled by what I call “Pinterest perfectionism.”

My friend Julie’s “For the Home” board is just that — a virtual cork board of immaculate kitchens, bedrooms and dens that are seemingly unattainable. But Julie is a DIY-er. I’ve seen her tackle several projects that require power tools. I’m a crafter, but I can’t get myself to pick up anything heftier than a staple gun.

I thought of Julie last summer when my parents were tearing down their 25-year-old cedar deck. My husband meticulously planed every board that came off of that wrap-around deck. He was left with quite a bit of cedar, which he used to build our son’s playhouse.

In the spring I invited Julie to stop by and pick up some planks because it just looked Pinterest worthy. The last month she sent me photos of what she created — a rustic headboard with personality.

I guess this post is an ode to those who actually do it. Her bedroom is a DIY, Pinterest-perfect dream come true. Well done, Julie!

Here’s what Julie had to say about how she made her too-easy-to-be-true, step-by-step instructions for a super cute headboard.

1. Get some awesome friends (wink wink) who offer you already sanded and planed cedar planks AND cut them to the length you want. I did some measuring prior to that and decided how long and tall I wanted the pieces.

2. Lay out your pieces how you want them and use wood glue to glue the sides together. I will admit, it was a little tricky because it was hard to apply enough pressure so that the wood would adhere together. A table with clamps would work a whole lot better than what I did!

3. Once all the pieces are glued together, I waited 24 hours to let the glue set, according to the instructions on the bottle.

4. The last thing I did was take the special piece I had picked out to go across the headboard and nail it down. I picked out some 2-inch galvanized nails. I really liked the way they looked with the raw cedar.

5. For installation, I was lazy and just set it up behind my bed. But you’re probably more motivated than me and might want to actually take the time to attach some longer pieces on to the sides to give the headboard some more height and screw those into the frame. I’ll probably do that…next summer.So that’s it! There’s your new headboard! There’s a lot of creative license with this you can take, so just have fun and make it your own! Enjoy!

Crafts, Knit & Crochet, Knitting, Patterns

Mermaid Hat

November 21, 2015 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

Rachel, my best friend from childhood, has been asking me to knit her a hat for three years. When I visited her in Seattle in 2012 we even picked out the yarn and everything.

She requested a cable hat and I’ve never had such a hard time finding a pattern I liked. I started three different patterns including the classic “Stitch ‘n’ Bitch Nation” one, but I just didn’t like them.

So I tucked the ball of purple yarn away in my stash and temporarily gave up.

Three years later I called Rachel to tell her I was coming back to Seattle for a work trip and asked if she would like me to bring her anything from home. She reminded me of my hat promise. I was determined this time that I would have a finished hat by the time I reached The City of Flowers.

I went back to Ravelry and found just what I was looking for. It must not have been posted when I last looked up cabled hats.

Presenting the Mermaid Hat:

I used Blue Sky Alpaca’s Worsted Hand Dyed yarn in Mulberry. The downside was I only bought one skein and ran out of yarn two rounds before the end. Luckily I had left a long tail when I started so I had to Frankenstein the yarn toward the end, but it all worked out. PHEW!

I really loved the little braided stitch going up the hat between the cables. It is a good pattern for folks who have gotten down cables but are still not ready for anything complicated.