Saturday 5 December 2020

Making suncatchers

 In an effort to use up some of the many beads I accumulated when beading was very popular back in the 1980s I thought I would make some mobiles. I had seen these hanging from the ceiling at Danish Flower Art each time I visited and it seems that these days they are called suncatchers.


They remind me a bit of the Pollyanna movie starring Hayley Mills. That's going back a few years!




                 
  These are really easy to make as you just thread beads onto memory wire  ......




...and add a crimp at the end to keep it all together. 




I made three including one Christmas suncatcher which will probably be the only Christmas decoration that I will put up this year as we won't be getting any visitors and I would only be decorating for myself. 





This is a really good way of using up your beads if you have a lot and if making necklaces with beads becomes popular once again you just have to cut the end and release the beads. How easy is that!




Although they do look good outside in the garden our sunshine would fade them in no time....




.... so I have attached one to each side.....




...of the bunting I made earlier in the year. 




On The Homemakers' Forum we have a little challenge going to use up our sourdough starter and I baked some Prune and Pink Peppercorn Sourdough using the recipe in Emmanuel Hadjiandreou's How to Make Sourdough.  I found a similar recipe that is based on the one in this book and, if you are interested, then check it out on Shipton Mill. This recipe doesn't use as much flour and is slightly different as it is a smaller loaf but I am sure it tastes the same as the original. I must say it is a very tasty bread. Seeing as it has a 1 1/2 cups of prunes in it I sliced it and put it in the freezer as I knew it would take a while to get through it. 





Like most of Queensland it is very hot here and according to the news it was 37C today whereas the forecast was for 34C. We still haven't had any rain so it is extremely dry and there are several bushfires which have broken out around the state just like last year. The fire on Fraser Island is still burning after a number of weeks. Tourists are banned from going there and I think some residents have been evacuated as well. We have another two really hot days to get through before it starts to cool down. It has been 43C where my grandchildren live in the Outback so the aircon has been going 24/7. The electricity bills up there are huge of course. 

I hope and pray you all stay safe and well if you live in countries where COVID-19 is prevalent. So far we have been able to live life pretty well as normal here in Queensland and have been very fortunate. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. 



13 comments:

  1. The beads look so pretty, such a good idea to use the up. Today is 36 in Brisbane and my air-con is broken and it's so hot. I'm over it already. On the count down to Christmas so the decorations are up. Have a good week.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear me Kathy, that must be dreadful with your aircon broken. I just use the fans until the hot air being blown around becomes unbearable and then put the aircon on. Today will be really hot from the feel of it already. Get cool if you can.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Suncatchers are so pretty.

    I hope bushfires won’t be as bad as last year’s.

    This morning I started a sourdough starter. This is my 2nd attempt. Last time I forgot to feed it! This time, a friend and I are doing it together. So we can remind each other about feeding. LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope it works out for you. Mine went a little mouldy when we were making ours with Mrs Meagre but I was able to spoon out a bit that was okay and went on from there and Gertrude is still going strong 😄

      Delete
  4. The suncatchers are lovely. I have not seen that type of thing before. I have glass paperweights on my windowsills which act as suncatchers. Today I put up my Christmas decorations and wrapped the presents and put them under the tree.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes the suncatchers are quite pretty. Not sure if I will get any Christmas decorations up this year.

      Delete
  5. Love all the colours in your suncatchers, Chel. Great idea to use up beads!

    I find this prolonged heat so draining. It saps my energy. The garden is struggling too with it being so dry. Fingers crossed for cooler days soon. MegXx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Meg, I agree as I can't be bothered doing anything in this heat. It was 37C here today and thr house is still like an oven even with the aircon on.

      Delete
  6. Chel the suncatchers look so pretty and I have to admit I have a lot of beads waiting to be restrung.A suncatcher in the garden would be nice until the beads fade. A 2021 project, Thankyou.I like your bread, I always have leftover sourdough and yours looks delicious. Have a meaningful Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pauline, the suncatchers do look nice in the garden I must say. I hope you post a photo of yours when you make one. Have a very happy Christmas with your family.

      Delete
  7. The son of Griffin you passed on to me, after I discarded mine, is still going strong. My son loves the pancakes I make, when it's too hot to make bread, and the starter still needs feeding. I'm planning to make cinnamon scrolls for the Christmas gathering with family, in Brisbane, too. So thanks for helping a gal out. :)

    It got to 43 degrees Celcius, here too, Chel. They were predicting 38 in Gatton. It's much more forgiving on the garden, the closer to 30, the temps are though. Yet I'm amazed at what has still survived, without additional water. I credit the plant selection for that. But golly it was nice when the heatwave broke, and we got all that rain. Really perked up the garden!

    I loved seeing what you did for your home, for Christmas. So colourful and cheery. Just goes to show you don't need to spend a lot of money to decorate.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Such a cute craft! I would love to try making a few of these for my apartment windows :)
    Jenna ♥
    Stay in touch? Life of an Earth Muffin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jenna they are easy to make and would be very cheery in a window.

      Delete

Thanks so much for leaving your comments as I love to hear from my readers. As soon as I check them they will be published. If for some reason you have trouble leaving a comment feel free to email me directly by filling out the 'Contact Me' form on the sidebar at the right.

Printfriendly

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...