Stuff That Happens Here in December After Xmas

I'm really not so much into Christmas as I am into putting more lights out and up and all over.

My collection of  1970s Blowmold Snowmen 

http://www.blow-molded.com/Empire___Snowmen.html

They like to get all rainbow on the mantle.

It's actually the only holiday display of the year. The Child Who Likes The Tree does not live here anymore, so it was just this

And the chair on the porch.

But the Snowfolx electrical situation is disturbing and needs specific repairs.

There's three light cords, one with two bulbs that looks sketchy but is solidly wired. We don't leave these guys plugged in to that outlet unattended. And yes, they have their own smoke alarm.

For one, they need cooler bulbs. LEDs would be swell.

And one string with widely spaced bulbs and a online switch.

None of this is hard, but none of it is off the rack.

Thus, an afternoon on the interweb, finally landing at 

Christmas Light Source.

And no, this is not an ad. I haven't bought anything from them. But I probably will.

They use a lot of their own photography, and many YouTube demo videos.

I mean, check that wrench out.

Direct quote from website: " After we took this photo, Dave and I had a discussion about well-used tools and what they look like."

Awwww, words to warm my heart!

from Christmas Light Source website

https://blog.christmas-light-source.com/repairing-christmas-lights-replace-a-c7-or-c9-socket/

how do I add sockets? HOW DO I REMOVE THEM?

Maybe I just add sockets to a new cord?

I need them about 20" apart, and five on one line (with a three foot gap to get to the Big Guy).

https://www.christmas-light-source.com/c7-spt1-socket-cap-black

Cause I have needs

https://www.christmas-light-source.com/c7-smooth-multi-led-bulbs

https://youtu.be/awlWoNC8Mzw

This is just adorable. The owner is the spokesmodel.

https://www.christmas-light-source.com/Slow-Change-C7-LED-Smooth-Christmas-Light-Bulb_p_2361.html#

https://youtu.be/6Gfx5-1lrg4

WOOOOOOOOOOO

And then there's these guys for your car (no actions photos, sadly)

https://www.christmas-light-source.com/12-Volt-LED-Lights_c_253.html

photo Autofutures website https://www.autofutures.tv/2019/12/09/nissan-leaf-becomes-christmas-tree

But this could give you a few ideas. If you can hook 30 strings together, you could make this work.

Happy New Year, everybody.

https://youtu.be/K1Xkt1E7PJY

Things I love (Jumbo Bobbin)

I am unclear what this email is referring to. Also, umlauts. Is this Spinal Tap?

The first one of these emails is worrysome, until I remember two things: I don't do sexual prn*, and I don't have a webcam.

This is the.....I've lost track of how many variations of this mail I have gotten. 

In the name of clarity, I do have fantasies:
Please, someone in Seattle, sell me a bag of these without ordering online.

 Another fantasy: I would like Apple Music to have opera on it. Extra points for bringing Ballad of Baby Doe back in print cause I'm missing disc two. As it is, I listen to opera on YouTube. If someone could find a print of "Where's Charley?", the musical version of "Charley's Aunt" starring Ray Bolger, I'd be super grateful.
And I would really like the light rail station by my house to open now, not in two years.

https://www.soundtransit.org/system-expansion/roosevelt-station

I mean, they rerouted the buses to go by there. Five years ahead of time.
You remember the Mervyn's Sale lady? That's me at the Light Rail station-to-be.

https://filmthreat.com/uncategorized/the-bootleg-files-wheres-charley/

And updating this: Jo Loesser passed away this year. So maybe.

But let's jump to the point:

*this must be the video they are describing

That is just the prettiest jumbo bobbin load feature ever.
I really made a GIF because I love this so much.

Size queen:

But not worth 2700$ and up.

It's the end of the year. I love you all.
I hope 2020 blesses us with insights and revelations of good things for everyone.

The Future is Trashion

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/12/20/fashion/20Ragpicker-jacket/merlin_164102892_3a12cd58-7774-4287-9912-c9ea462b51f6-superJumbo.jpg

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/20/style/zero-waste-daniel-trashion.html

"The ragpicker of Brooklyn, whose name is Daniel Silverstein and whose nom de style is Zero Waste Daniel, looks like a fashion kid, which he is (or was). He is 30 and tends to dress all in black, with a black knit cap on his head, and went to the Fashion Institute of Technology and interned at Carolina Herrera and even was on a fashion reality TV show.

And the ragpicker of Brooklyn would rather not be called that at all.

“I prefer to think of it as Rumpelstiltskin, spinning straw into gold,” Mr. Silverstein said"

Go read the article. Swell photos, too.

Bag Recipe: Coolest Things

I've been making these bags for awhile. Takes a 24" by 10" strip of heavyweight fabric and the same or more of lining and some zips, a clasp, a strap, a couple rings, and you're good to go.

The collection thus far, not including the leopard one.

And in the name of our theme here: 

Sharing is caring, but screwing it up and doing it again is better.

Click on em to enbiggen!
Feel free to copy these instructions, don't steal 'em. Sorry for annoying watermarks.

There's an interior pocket.

The brown zipper (sorry this is so dark) is the top of the interior pocket

It's inside out, but you can see where I'm stitching it closed on the left end (the right already has the zipper and interior pocket in it

This is where you're going to choose a clasp if you're installing it through the outside layer of fabric. If you aren't, like this bag below, it can wait

The ribbon is sewn into the edging ribbon. It wants a fancier clasp but not today.

This gives you a rough idea of how that ribbon folds around the ring.
Hook your strap onto that (or sew it on) and enjoy!
I will get to the clasp fail story after the holidays.

Also get the photo editing software back. :(😕😾

Happy (your star war here) Day!

Online only.

(No, I still don't take ads. Yes, this made me laugh.)

Breaking up the Power Broker

If a book is too big to carry around, chances are you will  never read all of it.

Robert Caro's "The Power Broker" is one of those books.

This is from the gift guide of New York Magazine,  2014, probably late November.

I'd thought of this earlier, was delighted to see this, and been meaning to do this, I've been stuck at page 500something for a decade, and the only reason why I'm doing this now is that this photo, long gone from my files, reappeared on my FB feed.

I copied the cover and pages that might get lost in reassembly.

You want to peel back the cover off the spine to keep as much as you can for the new version

And then you break it

And cut it

I wrapped the cover around the page bundle (in the trade, it's a signature), gluing it on the spine.

I glued in the page that would have been lost to page gluing. Did it for all three 'volumes'

I brushed the glue in to cover and keep it even.

Any white glue will do.

I used whatever heavyweight paper I had. In this case, Bristol.

I copied the maps to put them in the other volumes for reference.

If you're curious about those maps, here they are in color

https://www.nycurbanism.com/blog/2019/6/11/robert-moses-legacy-map

I am struggling with a bag recipe post that is proving to be a bigger pain than I thought. It's an easy make,  except when it's not. Hopefully this week. 

Ikea Shark

I've been trying to post this to Instagram, and it's not working. I'm also working on several things that are presents and am reluctant to blog about them.

I will have a post about simple bag making, which makes a quick scrap happy present (have made several) in the next few days. But first I need to finish another one.

So, for your entertainment: the Renton Ikea Shark Displays

As we walked in, the first tableau tells you it's not just another day at IKEA

Employee Shark of the Week

I did not get photos of the shark chef in the kitchen, as it was being played with/photographed by a kid and a parent, and I just don't take pictures of other people's children, even if they say I can and what's my blog address.

They are so huggable!