Today, I decided to take the day to devote a craft project for my mom…. She had asked me to print out some recipes for her, so I thought, “I’ll make it special”…. or “Mol-ify” it…. So then it hit me, I had seen a lovely line of fabric covered folders in a local stationary store for about 5KD (about $20 each) and I thought…. to buy or to make?? Surely making it wud be much more fun!!! Don’t believe me? Try it! Its also easy enough to make with kids! This tutorial is just to make the basic cover, but with a bit of glue and alot of imagination you cud embellish it to your hearts content!

You will need the following:

1 two-ring binder

Some fabric

Fabric Glue

Dressmaker’s Chalk

Scissors

Step 1:

Lay the fabric on a flat surface, up (patterened) -side down, and lay the binder down as shown, keeping it as flat as possible (I used 2 candle holders to keep it flat). Draw a line about one inch around the whole folder.

Step 2:

Cut the fabric on the line, and iron.

Step 3:

Next, using a paintbrush, put a light even coat of fabric glue ON THE BINDER… its important that this is done quickly and without globs of glue…

Step 4:

Now you’re ready to lay the fabric on the glue…. again, do this relatively quickly as the glue will dry!!!! Avoid crinkles sticking by flattening with the palm of your hand. Leave to dry for about an hour.

Step 5:

Now we need to stick down and seal the edges of the fabric. With the paint brush, put a coat of glue on the upper and lower borders of the file, just enough for the fabric to stick to. Stick them down.

Step 6:

Next we need to snip off the little square in the corner of the file, you don’t HAVE to do it but it makes it less bulky and messy looking.

Step 7:

Almost there!!! Just lay down the last strip of glue and stick the last bit of loose fabric down and voila! You have a funky new file!

This was just my first one but I plan on having a whole bunch of really funky looking files for the next college year!

Happy Crafting!

Thanks for looking!

I was just sitting here, sipping on my cup of hot cocoa and then i thought, “Its been TOO long since my last post!”…. and my sister mannaire has kinda sparked my drive to start updating again…. Todays post will be nice and light…. its about what makes my room the funnest room in the house ….

My room is…… lets just say… its full of life!!! LITERALLY! I share my room with the following….

The Quads, my 4 baby Red Eared Sliders

these little guys are adorable… and although I agree they should be banned from the pet trade here in Kuwait… i just had to put their photo up!!!

Liam, My oldest Chinese Soft Shelled turtle

Of all the pets in my room zoo… Liam has the strongest character… Mannaire my sis just doesn’t understand him…. hence the weird conversations she has with him… ill stop there! Next, my precious!

My Albino Chinese Soft Shelled Turtle, Gooey.

This is Gooey. His name came from the fact that everyone who sees him goes EWWWWW… so i thought… yea.. he kinda looks gooey…. I love albino aMinals!!! Seeing as not many people keep these guys just makes it that much more exciting to own one!!! He is fiesty tho! Not a cuddley pet.

My "temporary" Apple Snail enclosure

I say temporary cuz im too lazy to move them into the bigger tank at the moment…. as you can see, in the back wall of the tank right at the top the snails have laid some eggs… i just love little surprises like that! Theyre quite relaxing to watch as their bodies move in a fluid floaty motion…. again, most people walk in and cringe…. EWW! so thats what theyre called :>

Last but not least…. the most important man in my life, the oh so famous, Woof…..

The Don Naughty-one!

Some say, “oh, its just a cat!”. Not this one. Check out Mannaire’s Post on Woof, the cat.

Thanks again for reading my post! More to come!

‘Ello! It’s been a while…. I’ve been avoiding typing up a new post for my blog for a while now… that and juggling somewhat of a difficult year full of not-so-unfortunate events….

Now, for the past number of weeks, myself and my two lovely younger siblings have been preparing for ACK’s very first annual carnival which is due to take place on the 7th of May this year. Sewing machine jams, endless nagging and crying with a seam ripper in-hand are but a few of what the past weeks have been about….. I got to spend alot of time with my sisters which i havent been able to do in the past 5 and a half years. It hit me only last week that I really had to get to know them all over again as “the kids” plus all the time i spent away…. I know that when they read this it’ll put a goofy smile on their faces and hopefully land me a hug! (hint hint…)

I know this post is short but….. the next one will be great! and chocked full of photographs…. I refuse to list the stuff we will have on sale because im just weird like that sometimes…. but pictures paint a thousand words and you WILL enjoy them.

Toodles!

Swollen feet, funky gastric experiences, smiling muscle strain…. Yes everybody! I made it through my first proper craft fair! Despite the iffy food smell sticking to my clothes and the long hours spent on my feet it was one of the best weekends I had ever experienced! It was my sister Mish (check out her blog HERE), proud founder of natural organic handmade soap company, Miche Wishi, who had convinced me to participate in the craft fair. So we decided I would test out the craft market waters with a half-table selling hand crocheted items and a random selection of items I found I could make without any trouble. Two weeks of endless crafting ended in a wonderful weekend full of a vast array of great encounters with other crafters. Definitely something I would kill to do again… but seeing as I was able to fill a half table doing only 2 weeks of work (with the help and inspiration of Machelle, of course!), my next aim is to have a full 6 foot table to fill with my funky crafts to display and share with the world of crafters and handmade product appreciators (huh? Lol)

Handmade jewellery, woodworking, bathcare, and the funkiest accessories I’ve seen in such a small place all at one time!!!

This is Little Mae. She was the first of 6 Crochet dolls with wacky hair that I had decided to make. She, along with the rest of her fellow Crochet-tians were sent away to what I am sure were great homes where they will be appreciated and well taken care of

My Kryptonite…. at least in the beginning!!! hehehe…. These bracelets made my cortical hormones soar to their peak levels!!! But I got the hang of things eventually

Hope you enjoyed this post on my adventure in craft-fairing!

Feel free to enjoy the photos of my table at the fair below!

My table on day one (above)

The amoebug family…. So cute!! Dont cha think?

and the morning of the last day… this is what i was left with..

]]> http://tubachingching.wordpress.com/2008/05/07/red-dragon-craft-fair-weekend/feed/ 6 tubachingching My table on day one http://tubachingching.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/easy-peasy-catnip-mouse/ http://tubachingching.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/easy-peasy-catnip-mouse/#comments Tue, 06 May 2008 15:16:21 +0000 tubachingching http://tubachingching.wordpress.com/?p=23 ]]>

Easy Peasy catnip mouse

Materials Needed:

Small amount of scrap acrylic yarn, small amount of catnip, 3.5mm crochet hook, some stuffing, Jingley bell (optional).

Pattern:

Ch 17,

Row 1: sc in 2^nd st from hook and continue till the end. This will make the tail.

Row 2: Next, make 7 sc in the last loop of the tail (ie. In last sc). (7st total)

Row 3: We will be working in a spiral so do not sl st into the first of the 7 sc. Next, do 2sc in each sc (14st total)

Row 4: *sc in 1^st sc, 2sc in 2^nd sc* repeat 6 times. (21st total)

Row 5-7: sc in each sc

Row 8: sc in first 5 sc, sc next two sts tog. Repeat until you can just snugly fit your index finger into the top of the mouse. Stuff with catnip and stuffing (and bell).

*next we add the ears. Get another colour of yarn, join it to the outer lip of one sc, as we will use the inner lip to complete the mouse. Ch 2, then in the same sc make 2 dc, sl st in same sc lip. Next, sl st in the outer lip of the next stitch, and the one after. Next, ch 2, 2dc and sl st. tie and cut off.

Row 9: Continue with sc in 1^st sc, sc next 2 sts tog, until you only have 7 sts around left. After which just sc next 2 sts tog until you are left with about 3 sts. Leave a 3 inch tail of yarn to seal and secure.

Weave in any loose ends into the mouse, et voilá!!! You have a catnip mouse!

Just like all past lifesaving discoveries, like the electricity, light and the macarena…. something new has emerged…I am talking about us… the YouTube generation. Haven’t you already realised how much YouTube has changed your life? How much it has changed the world? Be it seeing an old friend in the street or sitting bored out of your head at the back of a lecture theatre, the word(s) “YouTube” somehow pops up everywhere!!! You could be sitting talking to a friend about feckall… if you type those words into the search box you are guaranteed to find something…. its just scary how much this one idea has englufed the entire world into this almost addictive state. I heart YouTube.

Below I have listed my top 5 favourite videos from YouTube:

5) Daft Hands – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger – (You gotta love it!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cYWfq–Nw

4) Looty Baby (HAHA!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1G1t3-VZbA
3) Achmad – A Classic!! U Gotta Love Him!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjR2KbdW8oU

2) Tommy Tiernan – LOL! Well… It’s NOT CORK!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRm9Q2KfzBA

(drumroll…….)

1) Hooooo3!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtRzf_ZcM0U

Hope you enjoyed this post!!! I say “Hail to the new generation, the YouTube Generation!! Oh Yeah!”

Feel Free To Post Your Fave Links to share with everyone else!!!

Hello there everybody!!! It has been a while since my last post. Can’t say I’ve been busy cuz I’d be lying and that would be bad! I’ve just been super lazy

Now I realise the weirdness that is my topic of today but believe it or not its true! Now let me start by explaining WHY I decided to discuss herbal abortion today. I was handed a leaflet by a gentleman in the street which I hung up on my wall. You see, for a few years now the people of Ireland have been fighting for abortion rights, thousands of women have to travel to the UK every year from Ireland to get legal abortion procedures performed on them. I know many people out there are against abortions but, hear me out, this post is entirely non-biased and I will not be explaining the procedure in detail.

So here goes…!

Herbal abortions (or DIY abortions) have been thought to be around since before the 8th century AD, information was passed down from mothers to daughters. From the early 1300’s up until the 1800’s possessing such knowledge of herbs which cause a woman to miscarry/abort was dangerous. Anyone caught by the authorities at the time were considered witches and were tortured to death!

Also, women believed sitting over a pot of boiling onions would induce an abortion! Other techniques involved massage, pointy objects and administration of abortifacient herbal pessaries.

The success rates for herbal abortions are between 30 and 80 percent, and are effective only within the first trimester of pregnancy. This drastically drops as the pregnancy continues.

Typically used ingredients include:

Angelica

Black Cohosh

Blue Cohosh

Cotton Root Bark

Evening Primrose

Parsley

Pennyroyal

Pineapple (ya i know WEIRD!)

Tansy

Vitamin C

Most of the above ingredients work by either stimulating intense contractions of the uterine wall to dislodge the foetus, or by way of poisoning the foetus, not allowing it to thrive. I hope this post was intellectually stimulating for your taste I always say there is no harm in learning something new everyday, as the saying goes! Thank you for reading!

A word of advice: Many young women all over the world find themselves in the situation of a crisis pregnancy, I only have one thing to say (and please bear in mind, I AM NOT JUDGING YOU!), we all make mistakes, its only human of us to, however;

” Live your life before you start another”

P.S. I would advise against performing any at home abortion procedure without the advice of a professional. I accept no responsibility for anyones silly idea that this piece is highly informative. Please use protection!

Fear

(fîr)

n.

1. a. A feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger.

b. A state or condition marked by this feeling: living in fear.

2. A feeling of disquiet or apprehension: a fear of looking foolish.

3. Extreme reverence or awe, as toward a supreme power.

4. A reason for dread or apprehension.

 I decided to take a turn from my usual goofy-ness for this post to talk about something a tad bit more serious. I was walking merrily in town when a word randomly came to mind, FEAR. What is fear to you? Is it a colour? A texture? A smell? Everyone fears something or someone. Be it God, our parents, spiders or even polkadots! The point is, we all fear something… and the purpose of this post is to see what people are afraid of…. you can add as many fears as u want… no matter how silly u may think they are… and just to start you thinking… I am gonna write down a few of my own fears, and I hope my readers can appreciate the courage it took for me to write this down:

1) Spiders - I would sooner grab a snake by the fangs than allow a spider near me…. (cringe)…. I don’t remember any traumatic experience that involved spiders but i just do NOT like them at all.

2) Heights - Ever since I could remember I’ve been afraid of heights. Even as a child so much as learning to ride a bike (which I still can’t bring myself to doing!) was one of the scariest things I ever tried to do!

3) Failure - Now this fear is one of my worst… I am not afraid of dying because its inevitable…. but the fear of death without accomplishment is what I fear…. I want to die having given something back to the world, and not being able to do that to me is, failure.

“A problem shared is a problem halved.”

If you aren’t comfortable revealing your name thats not a problem for me. Just leave your fear on the page for myself and others to see… theres nothing to be ashamed of…nothing to lose….. and theres no judgement here… I just wanna know…

What do u fear?

P.S. This post was NOT meant to depress or scare anyone… its just a thought that came to mind today when the word FEAR came to mind

Ahhh…. What a beautiful day this was…. Myself and my snapping buddy Valí were taking a nice long walk on the South side on our way to the bird sanctuary (known locally as the Lough)… the wind was so strong I felt like I was about to be blown off the face of the earth!! ANYWHOO…. back to todays post…. when we reached the Lough we popped over to the petshop round the corner to buy some birdfeed…. the lovely shop owners not only gave us a giant free bag of bird feed but also allowed us to take a photo of them!!! (they insisted actually!!)

There were loaaaaads of seagulls… there was a family bringing out a bunch of stale bread to feed the birds and the seagulls swooped in to get it… they were coming from everywhere… and you can see a bird coming in from all angles in this shot… but lets see if u can spot the intruder lol…. like he even stands a chance!!!

QUACK!

Ahhh…. hello there again…. todays post is well…. u probably saw it before u even read this!! Those who know me know one thing I am passionate about is my photography… so I thought I’d share some of this passion with y’all :> What ur looking at is a photograph I took of Saint Finbarr’s Cathedral in Cork City. It was built in the 19th century in honour of the patron saint of Cork (duh!). Now the story of how I came about to take this picture is actually quite funny:

I was chilling at a friends house one day after classes munching on a bar of Dairy milk chocolate when I took a peek out the window at the cathedral… the sun was just setting and the sky was the colour of the warm organic honey my mama used to shove down our throats as children (everyday!!! I tried to avoid it by sleeping in a little extra… doesn’t work!)…. AAAANNNYWHOO…. I quickly jumped up, snagging a whole toe on the coffee table to fetch my camera from my backpack to take this shot. Et voilá! Totally worth the blinding pain of my toe AND my picture had a story to tell!

I like this photograph for a number of reasons, one being the feeling that sunset gave me when I first set my eyes on it, like there was an explosion of warmth and passion right behind that building! On another note, I’d love to get your feedback on what you think of this photograph! (I DID use a film camera to take this picture and it didn’t exactly scan perfectly but thanks to Mish it looks muy better than the original scan! Phew)

Now that I’ve conquered the craziness surrounding the fear of showing my photographs to people, you will be seeing more and more of them! I plan to take my #2 trip to the Lough this weekend if the weather stays this nice or if I’m really lucky I’ll go to Fota Island and shoot the penguins!
And that ladies and gents concludes post number 3 of Mollie’s Blog of Stuff. Thank you for tuning in!

(Mol Bows)

(Applause)