Wild strawberry jam

I have a patch of wild strawberry in my backyard. I have been anxiously watching the plants grow, get flowers and then tiny green berries. Then I started munching on the first red ones. Then I had enough to put in my cereal. Now it is peak season and I gathered two cups in a day. That is the perfect amount for one jar of jam.

First pick off the tops and any other twigs, etc that got in the strawberries. Now wash them.
Since wild strawberries are so tiny, there is no way to cut them, just throw in a pot while they are wet. Add sugar on top.

Turn the heat to low and let simmer until the strawberries get juicy.

Turn the heat to medium and stir until all the sugar is mixed in. Stir until the mixture in nice and bubbly.

Now stir again and leave alone, uncovered, for fifteen minutes.

Stir it when the time is up, it just be the right consistency now. Let it cool.

Add a little lemon juice to help it keep. Spoon into your jar and put the lid on. Refrigerate.

I didn't add enough extra sugar to account for the lemon juice added so mine came out not as sweet as I like my jam but you could omit the sugar and make straw-lemon jam. My boyfriend is a fan of lemons and straw-lemon jam but I eat more jam than him and I like it sweet.

The consistency of fresh home made jam is what appeals to me, over the store bought Jell-o consistency.

If you love to gather like me then you will love this quick easy recipe.

Wire wrapped rock jewelry

Wire wrapped rocks are easy and cheap to make and look like something you could find at a store. I wanted to make rock jewelry without having to solder or make molds and found a tutorial online for these same necklaces. I figured out how to do earrings too.

If you are like me, then when you see a rock that is prettier than the rest, you pick it up and put it in your pocket. I ended up with a lot of rose quartz this way.

I have a rock tumbler now, but when I started doing this I did not but still wanted shiny rocks.I pick out the rocks from my collection that are about a quarter to half dollar size that are pretty enough that I would wear them. For earrings, they need smaller rocks obviously.

I clean my rocks and use a paper towel to carry my rocks outside. With a spray can of clear gloss lacquer and a respirator on, I spray the rocks heavily and gently roll them around in the paper towel. This gives them an even coat without letting the rocks stick to the paper towel. Lacquer dries faster than other clears so you just need to roll them around a minute. Then I put them good side up and leave them for a while to let the lacquer smell air off.

At Michael's there is all sorts of jewelry making stuff. I got a set of little bins with all the jewelry making stuff  I need. It had dangling earring hooks, jump rings in two sizes, crimping beads, and lobster clasps.

Also at Michael's I bought some wire. I used just silver craft wire for the rock necklace shown but it is a little thin so I got some 16 gauge wire for the future ones. They have copper and brown wire too.

Now that you have a rock picked out-some pointy edges makes it easier to wrap, some wire, a jump ring,  needle nose pliers and a wire cutter handy, we can start.

Cut a length of wire about 8 inches long. Put it through a jump ring with two equal lengths on both sides. Now twist your wire a few times to set it.

Wrap the wires around the rock. This why you will be glad to have some jagged edges. You can wrap as few or many times as you like. Finish each side by wrapping it around the twist you made at the jump ring. Now twist the ends around and cut off the excess.  Use the needle nose pliers to tuck it the sharp ends.

Now use your needle nose pliers to grab the wire on one spot of each wrap around the rock. You have to tighten the wire.When you have the wire, twist either  up or down. This depends on the jag of the rock. If you pull one way it might slip off, and the other way will make it tight.This tightening will make a lightning pattern in the wire so you can choose to use this in the middle, at the side, or do it on the backside to not be seen. I have done two in each wire but sometimes the second pull will straighten out the first.

I know that last part was a little confusing but once you do it, it will make sense. I think this one is just embroidery floss for the string but most of mine are cord. I would like to try with leather string to get a real rustic look. There are several ways to connect the necklace, I used just adjustable knots so the necklace can fit anyone but you could use a lobster clasp and jump ring, or magnet clasps. It is up to your own preference.

Bas relief wood carving

In my last post I told you how to make a rustic modern bench. Now I will tell you about the bas relief wood carving I did on the top of it. I used to carve little animal totems out of wood with a razor blade when I was bored but this is a little different.

I got a Japanese wood carving set a long time ago and have mostly used it for carving pumpkins but the cedar I got to make the bench top is so soft I knew I had to carve something into it. My favorite animal is a beaver so I start with a pencil drawing of my beaver. When I see it drawn out I decide it needs a little more so I add some simple leaves and a branch for him to gnaw on.

Now with my first wood carving tool, just an angled chisel I dig my lines in. I make them even deeper with my smallest "V" tool. Very quickly I learned to wear gloves because the wood handles were not ergonomic.

Now I use my bigger "U" shaped tool to go with the grain outside the lines. Sometimes you have to angle about straight down to do this but you won't get any chips and it is easier to carve with the grain. I do about to two inches outside the lines.  These are the only three wood carving tools I use for this carving.

I go all around my nose, eye, ear, and the tops of my legs to carve the outside deeper so these features stand out. Sometimes I go back to the angled chisel to dig deeper and then continue with my big "U".

I use my small "V" to scratch in the fur. and put a little texture to the branch and make the veins in the leaves.

I now use a coffee ground stain to darken all my carving marks.If you don't know what this means you should. Wet coffee grounds give a nice walnut-like stain to the wood. I rub it in and then get a brush to really get the grounds into the grooves. Now brush the excess off and let it dry.

Now is the time to sand the wood. Just a little though. The low carved spots will keep the dark stain and the rest with be natural wood color and soft since this is a bench to sit on. I say only a little sanding because you might take off some of the beautiful detail that went into the wood.

It is time to put on your protection. I used log cabin clear gloss. It takes about two days to dry but gives a good gloss and UV protection. Normally I would just use water-based polyurethane since it is so nice to use and gives a sheen between semi and full gloss although it says glossy. I was almost thinking about doing epoxy to make it look super expensive but since it will be outdoors all the time and it freezes here it is not the best for my project.

Making a bench

My neighbor down the street gave me a chunk of cedar that I immediately thought "Bench". I used my handy dandy 14 inch electric chain saw to cut off the rotten end. Then sanded the bottom and made some quick legs from some old but still good 4x4s I had laying around.

 The only problem with this is that my screws are 4 inch too so I had to drill with my biggest drill bit down about an inch and a half and then use my long bit holder and screw down into the holes.

I cut my angles at 30 degrees at 17 inches to the ground. I forgot to account for the 4x4 on top I needed since the cedar is very wavy so my bench turned out a little high. My toes can touch the ground or swing.

I put the leg assembly together and then eyeballed where I wanted them on the bottom of the bench. I marked both sides with a pencil.

If you have to use more than one piece then you eyeball from the top down; the legs will stand pretty good on their own. If you have just straight planks then screw them down.

I had to use a router with just a straight bit on it to take down the high spots inside the lines I marked for the 4x4s because of the waves. Just move slowly and take off just a little at a time. On one side I had to do half the side and the other just a few spots higher than the rest. I recommend safety goggles and ear protection since routers will spit chips and can whine if you try to take off too much wood.

I test it my leg assembly in my new grooves. I now have to drill holes to attach the leg assembly to the bench. I put in two screws on each side and flip the bench to see if my legs are even. They aren't.

With a free beautiful wavy piece of wood I don't mind cutting a little more. Judging my wobble I had three legs fine and one too long so I used my chainsaw to chop the end. Then I flip it back and attach the rest of the screws.

I sanded the edges and put polyurethane on the bottom and legs of the bench.

The next day I did the top.Next blog post will be about that and you can see the finished bench after I did some bas relief wood carving into it.