Paper Covered Bangles

What You Need:

• A bangle blank
• Ruler
• White glue, thinned with some water
• A small dish
• A sponge brush
• Decoupage sealant
• Discarded magazines

Look through old magazines and using a ruler, make 20 or so strips by laying a ruler along the edge you want to make, hold it down firmly, and pull the paper back towards yourself.

For a big bangle bracelet, you’ll want to tear the paper into small strips. The exact size will depend on your bangle, but mine are about .75” wide by 2.75” long. Look for colors and patterns that work together.

 Thin white glue with enough water to spread the glue easily.

 Choose your first strip, paint the back with glue, and wrap it around your bracelet, pushing out any air bubbles and as many wrinkles as you can. An easy way to keep things tidy is to use a catalogue. Lay your strips face down on one of the catalogue pages to paint on the glue. When the page gets sticky and yucky, flip it and start working on the next page. Ta-da! No stray glue all over your worktable.

 Now that you are gluing like a pro, continue placing strips all the way around the bracelet, always smoothing out wrinkles.

 When you have the bracelet totally covered, cut one last strip. This one is going to cover the joins on the inside – it should be wide enough to cover most of the inside of your bangle, and long enough to wrap all the way around. This is, of course, optional, but it looks nice and gives you something a bit unexpected inside.

1. Holding the bracelet at the edges, paint a thin layer of white glue over the entire exterior surface. Don’t worry when it goes on white – it always dries clear!

 

1. Hang the bangle somewhere and let it dry. Once it is dry enough to touch, about five minutes, pick it up and paint the inside with white glue. Lay the bangle flat to dry for a few minutes. Repeat the entire process three or four times to make sure that everything is nice and bonded. Let it dry overnight and it will be ready to wear in the morning.

 

Bottle Cap Locket

What You Need:

• 2 (two) metal bottle caps
• 1 (one) 6 to 8 inch piece of 1/2 inch wide ribbon
• 1 (one) tiny paper circle
• stamp pad
• white flat spray paint
• clear spray paint
• tiny photo
• thin ribbon about 1/16 inch wide –about a yard f
• beads with large holes

1. Collect bottle caps Place them all on a flat, clean surface, close together. Spray paint them white.
2. Make a heart on one bottle cap by using the stamp pad and printing a finger print two times to make the heart shape. Spray these with clear spray to protect the fingerprints.
3. Fold the 1/2″ wide ribbon in half and tie in a knot. Using a glue gun, glue the ends of the ribbon inside the two bottle caps, one end on each leaving the knot right at the top of the caps so that they fit together like a clam shell and the loop of the ribbon is above the knot.This loop will be used to string the locket onto the narrow ribbon.
4. Cut photos to fit the inside of the bottle cap the same as the circle of paper you will be using to write a message on. On the bottom half of the “locket” glue the picture. On the top half of the “locket” glue the message. Don’t forget to write tiny.
5. String completed locket onto long narrow ribbon. Then string the beads on either side of locket.
6. You may prefer to use the little seed beads to string the locket on. In this case use fishing line and fill the string up. These are really pretty strung with tiny beads.

Toothbrush Bracelets

I have seen these enough times to save old toothbrushes. I came across the “stash” and thought I’d give it a try. You should too!

What you’ll need:

• Old toothbrush
• Tweezers or pliers
• Pot
• Tongs
• Large mug
• Oven gloves

1. Remove all the bristles from the toothbrush with tweezers or pliers.
2. Boil water.
3. Keep water boiling, put toothbrush in water for five minutes.
4. Remove toothbrush with tongs, bend to desired shape.
5. If toothbrush doesn’t bend enough, submerge again in water.
6. Remove brush and bend as much as possible.
7. Place bent toothbrush in bottom of mug to hold its shape while it cools.
8. Pour cold water in mug and remove your new bracelet.

Make It Monday- Photo Frame from a Cereal Box

Its quite simple and easy. The things you need are a cereal box, cutter knife, worn cloth or jeans or scrap paper, scissors, glue gun, ruler, cotton, and button. Draw the outline on the paper box.

This is the pattern we use:

When cutting outer frame  and the inner frame, keep at least 1 1/2 to 3″ between the two. Use the cutter carefully. Place the paper frame on the worn cloth, jeans or scrap paper and draw outlines. At least 1/2″  of extra cloth must left for the wrap around the frame. By using the glue gun attach the inner side first . You can fill the frame with batting, if you like, and stick it with glue gun. On the side of the frame with the fold, tuck fabric (if you are using it) under itself and glue down.

Fold frame. Now you can add buttons, silk flowers or other accessories on the frame to give it more chic look. Put picture in the frame and glue it shut.

You can place it near your bed table or hang it on the wall. You can give it as a gift to anyone who would like to see your face.  So use your imagination to make a masterpiece from the discarded items of the home. 

You can glue other things to your frame if you’d like. Try candy conversation hearts or paper jigsaw peices.

You could also change the measurements, add a small mirror and cover with paper reeds like this:

Make It Monday- Bamboo Wind Chimes

 If, like us, you have a few bamboo canes left over from the tomatoes, you could make bamboo wind chimes with your kids and hang them up in the garden or on the patio. Quick and simple to make, these chimes add character and their hollow, dolcid tones are a delight to hear in the background on a lazy sunny evening – especially for your neighbors! You will need: a length of bamboo cane or two, some string or yarn (not too thick and preferably synthetic as it will last longer), a saw, and a very small drill. A metal or wooden ring is also useful but optional.

Tip: Make your bamboo wind chimes colorful by painting the lengths different colors!

You will want one length of bamboo about 10 to 12 inches long for the top of the chime, and at least 6 further lengths to hang down. These can be of varying lengths to produce different tones, or all the same length, in which case they will produce much the same tone when they bang into each other. We prefer cutting the bamboo various different lengths for our bamboo wind chime, simply because it looks and sound more interesting. One idea is to measure the first one 4 inches long, then each one 1 inch longer than the previous one. Saw them carefully. While making the chime, try gently banging the lengths together to explore the different tones they make … several of ours have been turned into drum sticks while waiting for the next step.

With the saw, or a sharp serrated knife, cut fine grooves in the top length of bamboo, spaced evenly, equivalent to the number of lengths you will have dangling from it. Or, you could use a 1/2 of coconut for the top, like we did this last time:

Tip: Use a needle and thread to pull the string through the holes … tie the string to the end of the thread. Very carefully drill a hole through the top of each length of bamboo, with the exception of the top piece. Insert the string through the holes, and loop it around the top piece, ensuring it falls neatly into one of the grooves. Allow a couple of inches between the top of each piece of bamboo and the horizontal length (so they can dangle freely but not get completely knotted up!). Finally pull a length of twine or string through the length of the top piece, tying them together about 6 inches above the center of the horizontal. You can either tie them simply using a knot, or through a ring, or better even, through a large button – this ensures your bamboo wind chime is nicely balanced.

Now, hang your work of art up somewhere where you will be able to hear and admire it for years to come, but where you won’t keep banging your head on it! You can either hang the chime from a hook, or tie more string to it and dangle it from a branch or similar outside … though the birds would appreciate it if you could place it a little way from their feeder!

Make It Monday–Pop Bottle Wind Spinner

Easy Peesy-just wait til you try it!

Supplies Needed

An empty plastic two-liter pop bottle
Colored electrical tape, or labeling tape
Scissors
Flexible tape measure
Pen or pencil
Exacto knife
Paper clip
Ball bearing swivel  (used for fishing, and can be found by the fishing accessories in any discount store)
String for hanging

Instructions

 

Begin your pop bottle wind spinner by rinsing it out well, and removing all the labels, as best as you can.

Run lengths of colored electrical tape around the middle of the pop bottle, as shown.  This will also help cover any of the label that still might be stuck on.

Measure along the top tape strip with a flexible measuring tape.  Use a pen or pencil to measure off 3/4 inch sections.

Using an exacto knife, cut a vertical strip down the length of the pop bottle at each 3/4 inch mark.  Begin at the top of the tape strip, or about at the point where the pop bottle is straight and not curved from the top.  Extend the cut all the way to about 2 inches above the bottom. You may find it is hard to keep the cut lines straight.  Take your time and do the best you can.  If some are curved cuts, you will hardly notice in the final result.

Next, squish down the pop bottle.  This will make the strips flare out.  When they do, pinch each strip in the middle to create a fold.

The next step is to angle the strips by making folds at the top and bottom, so the wind can catch them.  To do this, begin at the top.  Make a 45 degree fold to the right at the very top of each strip.  See the photos below for help.

Now, at the bottom of each strip, make a 45 degree fold to the left.You can also add other details to the wind spinner.  Here I cut little triangles out of the tape and decorated the top and bottom of the pop bottle.

 Now you are ready to make the top for your pop bottle wind spinner.   Make a hole in the top of the pop bottle cap.  The easiest way to do this is by heating the end of an untwisted paper clip, then melting quickly through the plastic (be careful, plastic fumes are not good for you).  Or, you can use a drill to make the hole.  Another method is to pound a nail into the top of the cap to form the hole

Unfold a paper clip (I used a white paper clip).  Thread the wire of the paper clip through the end of the ball bearing swivel.  Then, twist the wire together once or twice to form a loop.

Push the wire ends of the paper clip through the top hole of the bottle cap. Fan out the wire ends inside the cap to anchor into place. 

 Screw on the pop bottle cap, add a string for hanging, and you are ready to hang your wind spinner!

 No batteries in camera, no pictures! Here is a good shot of what one can look like: http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FTB/2OKJ/FPQL8N8X/FTB2OKJFPQL8N8X.MEDIUM.jpg

Will post photo soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make It Monday-Going Batty

Halloween is almost upon us, then it’ll be over in a flash. But before Halloween goes into hiding until next year make a  fun, green Halloween.  It’ll make you go batty, but it’ll be worth it!

If you would like to make a couple of these bats for yourself, you need some small yogurt cups. You will also need black spray paint for plastic, black craft foam, a hot glue gun and glue sticks and a few drops of red and white acrylic paint for the eyes and blood drops.

• Take the yogurt cups outside and spray them with the black spray paint for plastic, let them dry then spray a second time for good even coverage.
• Cut wings and ears from black craft foam.
• Once the paint is dry fire up the glue gun.
• Add just a little bit of glue along the edge of the wings and ears and attach them to the yogurt cups
• Paint on eyes and fangs with white paint
• Paint red drops of blood dripping from the fangs

Now you have a crafty bat made from yogurt cups that would normally end up in the trash. Enjoy!

Make It Monday-Magazine Reeds

I’m getting fairly obsessed with magazine reeds these days. I first saw them at the state 4H fair and couldn’t wait to get home a try my own hand  They’re such a great way to make crafty use of those old magazines you have lying around. Once you’ve glued the reeds to a surface and sealed them, you have a project that’s extremely sturdy, colorful, and beautifully recycled.

What you’ll need:

• Magazine pages
• Two bamboo skewers (the narrowest ones you can find)
• Glue stick (see note below)
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Aleene’s Tacky Glue
• Moist towel
• Sharp, strong scissors
• Small box
• Mod Podge and brush

A note on glues: For this project, you’ll want a glue stick that sticks strongly and isn’t too wet. I’m a big fan of Aleene’s Tacky Glue Sticks. Similarly, I love good, old Aleene’s Tacky Glue for the gluing phase of this project—it sets up quickly, so the magazine reeds won’t slide around on your project.

Incidentally, you’ll end up with a lot of glue on your fingers during this project! Keep a moist towel nearby for clean-ups.

Make a Magazine Reed
First, tear out a pile of magazine pages. You don’t have to worry about the torn edges being too clean—they’ll be hidden when you roll up the reeds. If you have a particular color scheme in mind for your project, then make sure the pages you tear out contain large amounts of these colors. You can use ad pages, article pages—all that matters is the predominant colors.

Fold each page in half lengthwise, as shown. If you have a torn edge, just line it up with the straight edge as best you can.

Cut the page in half along your foldline. Take the first half, and place it face down. By this I mean that the side of the page you want to have showing on the finished reed should be facing down.

Place a bamboo skewer on the bottom right corner of the paper, as shown. It should be a little more than a 45-degree angle to the corner. No need to break out the protractor, though—this isn’t an exact science!

Beginning at this corner, roll the paper snugly around the skewer. I like to begin rolling from the cut edge of the paper, not the torn edge.
As you roll, you’ll want to pay attention to the left-hand end of the skewer. The magazine paper will roll up around it and quickly cover it. Don’t let this happen! Take a moment every so often as you’re rolling to pull the end of the skewer out of the reed a little so you can still see the end as you continue rolling. (Hold your roll-in-progress down with your right hand and pull the skewer out with your left.)

The reason you’re doing this is so that you can still grab and remove the skewer once you’ve finished the reed.

Once you’ve rolled the paper to this point, spread some glue from the glue stick along the top edge of the paper, about halfway across from the right-hand corner. Then continue rolling the reed over this glue.

When you’ve rolled to this point, apply glue to the rest of that top edge of the paper and also to the left-hand edge. Finish rolling up the reed, making sure that the last tip of paper is securely glued down. Pull the skewer out of the reed and it’s done. If you have trouble pulling that skewer out, you can take a second skewer and poke it through the center of the reed to help push it out.

Make a pile of reeds to get ready for the next part of the project. This box required about 50. Once you’ve rolled a few reeds, you’ll find a rhythm and each one will only take a few seconds to make.

A Couple of Reed-Making Tips:
The reason we apply so much glue to the edges of the paper is so that you can cut your finished reeds into various lengths. If you only glue the end of the paper down, then when you cut the reed, it springs open and is difficult to reroll.

If your magazine page has a wide, white margin along the long edge, be careful! Make sure that this is the edge of the paper where you begin rolling. This will hide that white margin in the center of the reed so the colors can show.

If you roll this reed from the other side, that white margin will cover up all the colors. Not that this has happened to me a hundred times or anything.

Cover a Box
I’m using a ready-made chipboard box here, but you can cover any box you have on hand—raid your recycle bin for something you can repurpose. Little bits of the box may show through your reeds here and there, so you may want to paint your box before adding the reeds.

For this design, I used a ruler to draw guidelines on the lid of the box. You can place your reeds in any configuration you like, and the possibilities are endless.

Choose four reeds to begin the design. Fold each one in half—I fold them against the tip of my thumbnail to give them a nice, sharp crease.

Apply a generous line of tacky glue over your pencil line. Place these reeds into the glue, carefully pressing them together and adjusting their position. Let them sit for about five minutes while the glue sets.

The reeds should sit as close together as possible. If your design has any spaces, such as in the center of my four reeds here, you can tuck in a small slice of a reed to fill the space. I clipped this piece with scissors.

Work in sections from this point. Apply a generous amount of glue to the box, and then place the folded reeds into the glue, adjusting their position with your fingers. Press the reeds together as your work. If glue oozes out between then, just wipe it away with your fingers.
When you’ve covered a section, leave it to dry for an hour before proceeding to the next step.

This is a good time to mention that you can also cut the reeds to size before you glue them in place. In fact, when I’m working with straight reeds, I always precut them with scissors. However, for this design, I find it easier to glue first and trim later.

Once the glue is dry, use a pair of sharp, long-bladed scissors to trim away the ends of the reeds so they’re flush with the edge of the box. I like using scissors to cut the reeds rather than a utility knife—the knife tends to damage the reeds.

Repeat this process to cover the remaining sections of the box with reeds.
If you like, you can finish the cut edges of the reeds by gluing contrasting reeds over them. You’ll need to hold these reeds in place for a few minutes while the glue sets. I like to then use a bit of low-tack painter’s tape to hold the corners down until the glue is fully dry—this keeps them from warping.

Apply two coats of Mod Podge over the finished box, allowing it to dry between coats.

Garden rescue for fall

When fall hits, the end of tomato season is near. No more of those luscious ripe, red home grown beauties are in store until the next summer. It always seems like such a waste to throw out the green ones that came from all the spring’s efforts.

Every gardener grieves knowing all those small and medium sized green tomatoes are going to waste. If you live in the southern US, fried green tomatoes are a staple this time of year, but my family starts to whine because they find them more than a little tiresome night after night.

A well grown tomato plant will be loaded with lots of green tomatoes at the end of the season, and while green tomato relish is wonderful, it is not the reason most of us labored so long and hard to grow the plants.

 If you know what to do, those unripe tomatoes can be coaxed into ripeness with time, patience, and room. While they will never match the sweetness, and flavor of those ripened on the vine, they are still miles ahead of the red pieces of cardboard you buy in the stores.

 For starters, only choose green tomatoes that have some small tinge of pink on them. If they are totally green, they will never ripen. Those are candidates for the frying pan.

For just a few tomatoes, you can put them into a brown paper bag with a ripening banana in the bottom. A “ripening” banana is one that is ideally yellow in the middle and a little green on the end. Ripening fruit produces ethylene gas which speeds the ripening process. Bananas are champion ethylene producers, and are a good choice because they continue to ripen after being picked. Tomatoes are losers in this department, by comparison.

 If you have more tomatoes than you have room for bags, try using paper boxes. Line the bottom with newspaper, and put a layer of green tomatoes, stem end down, but not touching. Another layer can be added on top of a second layer of newspaper, but no more than two. Be sure to select only tomatoes that have no insect damage, and are firm and intact. A ripening banana can be used to speed the process, but the tomatoes will ripen on their own without help. But a banana can be used in one box, then the next to stagger the ripening process. Put the boxed tomatoes in a dark, cool, slightly humid spot and check them every few days.

 

If there is a frost coming, don’t bother harvesting individual fruits. Pull the entire plant out of the ground and shake off as much dirt as possible (getting rid of the root ball removes a handle you are going to need to hang them). Remove any twigs, leaves or branches that are not needed to hold the fruit. Hang the entire plant, upside down, in a sheltered area, such as a garage, or a basement (or if you are really brave, the laundry room). They must be kept in the dark. While the leaves need sunlight to feed the plant, the tomatoes themselves will actually ripen better if they are kept in the dark.

Inspect the tomatoes, those that are darker green, hard and show no signs of beginning to ripen will ever get ripe. The ones that have begun to lighten are showing signs of getting ripe. If you are not sure whether they will ripen, it does no harm to leave them on the vines for a few days to see if any changes appear. If they remain hard, and dark green, they are good material for frying, or for relish.

They will ripen almost as well as if they had remained outside to finish their march to being table ready.

Don’t let them get hit by frost, then none of them will ever ripen. Surrender to ripping up the plant is not easy, but is better than having to discard the entire unripe lot.

But in the end, the reason anyone grows tomatoes is for the table, and even if the fresh, wonderful red ones will no longer be around, there are wonderful ways to enjoy them, green or not.

 

I used to take all of those slightly pink tomatoes at the end of the season, nestle them in newspapers in a paper box, and put them in our cool, humid basement. Well into January, we could find quite a few ripened tomatoes for cutting, and tomatoes perfect for frying as green. We used flour insted of corn meal, and the results were fabulous

For those tomatoes that are never going to ripen, enjoy them fried, or made into relish.

 

How many ways can you use green tomatoes? These are my favorites:

Fried Green Tomatoes

4 medium green tomatoes, sliced into thick slices
2 eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups yellow corn meal, seasoned with salt and pepper.

Dip each slice in the beaten egg, then the cornmeal. Fry over medium heat in small batches and serve immediately.

 Best Ever Green Tomato Relish

2 ½ pounds green tomatoes
½ pound very small onions, quartered (boiling onions work well)
6 jalapeno peppers, quartered, seeded and sliced into rings*
2 quarts water
6 cups sugar
3 cups vinegar

Boil water and add sugar, vinegar until sugar is well dissolved. Add green tomatoes, onions and peppers. Bring to boil, and then reduce heat to simmer for about 8 minutes. Ladle into sterilized ½ pint jars by putting vegetables first, leaving about ¼ inch of headroom. Fill with fluid. Remove air bubbles. Put on caps and tighten. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Makes 6 ½ pints.

*For the faint of heart, the peppers can be reduced in number, or omitted entirely. This relish is quite hot with the full contingent of peppers.

Green Tomato Chutney
You can deal with the tomato skins in one of two ways.  You can either blanch them in boiling water for one minute to loosen the skins, or do what I do.  Just cook everything, then pick through with a spoon and fork and remove the skins. Most of them will have fallen off and curled up into little cylinders during cooking. Of course you could make this chutney with ripe tomatoes, too, but part of its charm is the tartness that comes from the green ones.

2-3 lbs. tomatoes in various stages of ripeness, coarsely chopped
1 Tb. olive oil
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
2 Tb. chopped fresh rosemary
2 Tb. chopped fresh ginger
dash of red pepper flakes
salt

Heat oil in a large saucepan.  Add onion and ginger and saute until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the rest of ingredients, bring to a boil, then turn heat down and simmer for about 45 minutes, until mixture is thickened, tasting a few times and adding more of anything to taste.  Remove from heat, let it cool, then store in the fridge.  Will keep for at least a week, and will thicken up a bit more when cold.

Green Tomato and Manchego Pizza
This isn’t something you’d eat for dinner: far too delicate and insubstantial. But as a pre-dinner snack, it is terrific. A few hours or a day in advance, prepare the tomatoes: for each eight-inch pizza you need half a green tomato about 2-1/2 inches in diameter.Cut it in half lengthwise (spheres don’t have lengths, so let’s say longitudinally), then cut each half into very thin (1/16 inch) slices. Put them in a bowl with some salt, some olive oil and a few leaves of fresh sage, slivered. Cover and leave until needed.

Preheat your oven to 475 degrees F. Using handball-sized pieces of dough, roll out thin eight-inch circles; let them rest for five minutes, covered with a cloth. Top with a single layer of overlapping tomato slices, making sure that the sage is fairly well distributed. Using a vegetable peeler, shave some young manchego or similar sheep’s milk cheese onto the pizzas – not too much. Grind some black pepper, drizzle some olive oil and bake for ten or twelve minutes. Cut into wedges and serve with nice white wine.

Spaghetti with Green Tomatoes Spaghetti con Pomodori Verdi

1/4 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup basil leaves
1/4 cup arugula
1/4 cup dill
5 green tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 pound spaghetti
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt.
In the bowl of a food processor combine the herbs, tomatoes and garlic and puree. Add the cheese and pulse for 30 seconds.
Cook the pasta in the boiling water until tender yet al dente. 1 minute before the pasta is done, turn on the food processor and slowly drizzle the oil in to make a smooth sauce. Drain the pasta, discarding the water, and return to the hot pot. Stir in the tomato mixture, season with salt and pepper, to taste and serve immediately.

Make It Monday

So here’s the idea, we love to make things around here. You name it an we have probably crafted or cooked it at least once. I thought maybe you create things as well and we could all share them here.

 

But craft materials are expensive, you say…Ha! I say! Using found items like beach glass, sand, rocks, and pine cones, challenge and delight yourself on “Make it Monday.” Every Monday, I’ll share my crafting projects as I contemplate the pine cone or mull over the various uses for a twig or bark. This may include a pine-cone room diffuser, a birch-bark picture frame, a pressed-leaf lampshade and twiggy candles. I challange you; get outside and to start hunting and gathering natural and recycled material for your craft projects. Remember, there is always another way to use it just one more time!

Please do not strip a tree or harm the environment when foraging for crafting supplies, but do pay attention when walking the dog or jogging along the waterfront. You never know what sort of treasures are crying out to be restyled and honored in a craft project.

Our favorite recycling bin project is tincan laterns.

This is how we make them:

• Clean, dry tin can
• Hammer
• Nail
• Wire clothes hanger
• Needle Nose Pliers
• Wire Cutter
• Small votive-sized candle

1. Fill the tin can with water, and place it in the freezer until the water is frozen solid.
2. Take a wide-headed nail (roofing nails work great), and pound it into the side of the tin can until it pierces the metal.  (The ice will keep the can surface firm as you pound!)  Keep piercing the metal to make any design you like—a star, perhaps, or a moon, or creative sun.  When you’re done,  make two more extra holes across from one another near the very top of the can—these will be for your handle.
3. By now, your block of ice will be melting.  Dump it out, and you’ll see that you’ve got a very attractive small lantern! 
4. Now use the wire cutters to cut the wire hanger, and use the needle nosed pliers to shape it.  Stick it through each side of the tin can, and loop it around to make a handle. 
5. Congratulations!  You’ve made a tin can lantern, quite similar to ones that lit our country’s log cabins across the frontier.  Make several, and then turn off all the lights for an entire evening—reduce your carbon footprint!