Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Mini makeover

So here is the reveal of what I have been up to. Like most people, our master bath has the typical builder grade cabinets. I have been wanting to change these for a very long time, but I really have not had the energy to do it. What with Emigrating half way across the world to the US and becoming a student, it does tend to take it out of you and so I haven't really done much to the house since living here. Well my days of being a student are over, I finished my degree in May and since then I can put my energy into redecorating.







A little bit of priming going on.






AFTER



























Thanks for looking

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Sunday, August 28, 2011

Budget Makeover

I have been working on a mini makeover the last couple of days and I just need to add the finishing touches and then I will be able to share it with you. For now, I just need to decide on which knobs to use!













Wednesday, August 24, 2011

She Works - singer

Previously, I mentioned about the dodgey cable on the singer 5-91. Well I was going to order one of the internet and got dh took take a look. He decided that all it needed was a new wire, so off to Ace Hardware and back, he changed the wire, plugged it in and it worked. I am so pleased, I thought I might need a new foot pedal and have to sort out the light, but they are both fine. Now off to go and give her a really good clean.

I still need a name for her, any suggestions are welcome.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Singer Accesory Box

The black Box!!!!
















Contents of the black box just as I found it when I came home!










Lid of the box showing all the stitches

























Contents of the box, I am not sure what most of these accesories are for, so as I figure out what they are I will add to them. If you know anything about them please feel free to drop me a comment and let me know.
























This is a Standard Singercraft guide #2's with a bulb shaped end, they were produced with two different finishes, bronze and aluminium (or aluminum!!!! as you say where I live :-).








I think this is a Ruffler, but cannot find a number on it!















121318 - Sewing machine gripper







I have no idea what this is??????????????????????????







Hemstitcher


























































This box contains a few different things:

120842 - Foot Hemmer
1214 64 - Binder attachment
121441 - Gatherer
35931 -Adjustable Hemmer








































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Sunday, August 21, 2011

Singer Sewing Machine

In a recent post I blogged about the treadle singer sewing machine that I scored on craigslist for only $25. Well it looks like I have a small addiction to singer sewing machines and I just cannot help myself!

I was just browsing craigslist last night like you do!!!! and came across the singer sewing machine pictured below, with the following advert and pictures:

Beautiful Singer Sewing Machine With cabinet, button holer accessories, case of accessories, and stool with storage under seat which matches the cabinet.












so a quick email was sent and I went and looked at it this morning. The wiring on it looked completely dodge, even though they told me their Aunt who it belonged to said it worked. There is no way I would plug this into a electrical socket in my home. But it did come with its own stool and some accessories they told me! It was up for sale for $30 and with my newbie bargaining skills I managed to get this for $25. So with the help of the sellers I loaded it up into my car and she came home with me.

It was not until I unloaded her from car that I actually realised that I really did score one amazing bargain. The box of accessories they mentioned, which I never even took a look at in my excitement to buy her is unbelievable and are probably alone worth the $25 so I am as pleased as punch. In my next post I will share pics of some of the accessories that she came with.

I also managed to find some information online about where she came from and how old she is.

Factory Name: Elizabethport
Elizabeth, New Jersey


AE 343285
Register Letter AE- 325041 - 365040
Class (Model No.) 15
Quantitiy Alloted40000
Year Alloted December 29 1936

I found all the above info from the following website: sewing shop com so if your looking to date your own singer sewing machine check this website out and you should be able to date it. I also found another website ISMACS International - International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society where I found a wealth of information from sewing machine models to the cabinets, accessories, manuals and a whole host of other things useful to finding out more about a antique/vintage sewing machine.




Monday, August 8, 2011

How to make your own vanilla extract

Vanilla Extract





Christmas Gifts in August, why am I thinking about Christmas you may be wondering! Well, I have seen numerous recipes online for making your own vanilla extract and I have so been wanting to try this since last Christmas, but it was a little late, so this year I am planning ahead to be ahead of the game!!! and so can you........................

All you will need are two ingredients: Vodka and Vanilla Beans





















Ingredients:

20-25 vanilla beans (approximately 1/4-pound of beans)

I bought my beans from a seller on ebay Vanilla Products USA. Save yourself some time, I scoured the Internet for a few hours looking for the best prices of beans and this is where I found mine, they seem reasonably priced and have lots to choose from.
I made a small mistake by buying Prime Madagascar Bourbon Beans, as I wanted the best, but I could have got away with buying extract grade which would have been much cheaper, and some recipes mention extract grade beans are the best to use when making your own vanilla extract,live and learn. I could not believe the aroma when I opened the vanilla beans, WOW they smell absolutely divine.




















1.75 liters 80-proof vodka
I used Three Olives Vodka, because a. It is made in England and being English I wanted to add a little bit of English to this! LOL and b, because this vodka is also put through a process of quadruple filtration and distillation, which I have read makes for a more superior and smoother vodka. The downside of this is that it was a little more expensive but I guessed that as I was going to be making this for Christmas gifts, I didn't want to scrimp over a few dollars and have extract that was not good. However, saying all that I am going to try this at some point with a cheap bottle of vodka and see if it makes any difference.




















Product of England














1. Pour about a cup of vanilla out of the bottle, your going to need some room for all those beans.



2.Cut the vanilla beans open length-wise, I found this easier to do with a pair of scissors and did not cut right to the end, leave about an inch, so the vanilla bean stays as a whole (if you know what I mean) then scrape out the seeds (caviar), using a blunt knife.





















3. Put vanilla seeds and pods into the vodka.










4.Seal tightly, label the bottle with the date (so you have an idea when it will be ready) and shake, like a crazy thing.



5. Place the bottle in a dark place if possible, or away from sunlight and shake that little baby once a day for the first week,and I guess when you remember after that, I have put my bottle in my pantry so at least I will see it and actually remember to give it a good shake.

It is only one day since I did this and already you can see a change in the colour of the vodka.It smells absolutely delicious, just think what it will be like in a few months time!














Now this is as far as I have got with the whole process, but just so you know the rest of the process this is the next stage and what I plan to do.

From what I have read the vanilla extract takes approximately 6 weeks. But if you want to wait even longer then I think that would be even better, the vanilla flavor will be much stronger, so the longer you wait the better it will be. Which is why I am posting this now, in plenty of time for you all to make fantastic Christmas gifts for all your friends.

At this very moment whilst I type this I am sitting here drinking a bottle of this


and there is a method behind my madness. These bottles are the perfect size for the vanilla extract, and its a win win for me because I get to drink it LOL. I plan on drinking just enough of these between now and when my vanilla extract is ready and with the help of a few girlfriends I am sure I will be able to achieve this.





I will then design a label for the bottle, decant my extract into the bottles, add a vanilla bean and finish off by decorating the bottle with some ribbon.






Apparently this vanilla extract can be good for near on 6 years, you just keep topping up the vodka and adding a bean every now and then!!!







Along with the vanilla extract I have made some vanilla sugar, this is so easy just fill a jar with some sugar and add a few vanilla beans, and soon you will have vanilla sugar.


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