Fringed Earrings

I have a little girl in my life whose birthday is just a couple of days before Christmas. That means that, even at this late stage in the year, I am still having to think of gifts for birthdays, rather than simply concentrating on Christmas. Whatever you intend these earrings for, be it yourself, or someone else, I am sure you are going to love the movement of the fringe on these easy-to-make earrings. I show you how in a few short steps.

You will need a length of fringe. How long the fringes will be depend on your own taste. As I am making these for a little girl, I kept it rather short.

Cut about 10-15 cm of fringe off and roll it tightly up into a a ball.

Use a needle and thread to secure the fringe in its rolled-up shape.

I also twisted the yarn around the bottom of the fringe 'head'. This is an optional step and one I don't always do. It largely depends on how you want the ends result to look. You will have more movement in the fringe if you do not twist the yarn around it. Do not remove your needle and thread, but simply leave it aside for the moment while we work on the beading.

String a couple of beads onto a hook pin.

Slide an ear wire into the hook pin.

Use your round nosed pliers to bend the end of the hook pin over, securing the ear wire to the hook pin.

You simply twist the wire around the round-nosed pliers to achieve this.

Now stick the looped end of the hook pin into the center of the fringe 'head'. Use your needle and thread to sew the fringe onto the earring, through the loop of the hook pin.

You will now have two festive earrings with lots of fun movement, just in time for the seasonal parties and get-together's.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
For more crafty ideas and great products, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
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Mixed Media Mosaic Mirror

After making a mosaic frame recently, my fingers were itching to make something more creative in mosaics. I found a square piece of wood panel that I've had for a while. As I still have not settled on an idea for it, I decided I would mosaic something on this. Going through my stash of tiles, I came across a handful of mirror tiles leftover from previous projects. There and then I decided to make a decorative mirror, bringing together a number of differently sized and shaped items and tiles. I walk you through the reasoning and planning in today's blog, showing step by step how to do this yourself.

This is the wood panel I had been waiting to use for while and now finally decided to put to use.

My small collection of mirror tiles would only cover a small area of the board. I tried it in different positions on the board. I found this layout too predictable and archaic.

I then moved it right into the bottom right corner. I liked this better, but it still did not satisfy me completely. It was important to get the mirror in the right place, as this would inevitably be the focal point of the mosaic.

Keeping it in the bottom right corner, but moving it slightly away from the edges, finally carried my approval.

I now went in search of a storyboard to use on my mosaic. I found this in a collection of glass tiles I had made a long time ago. In fact, I blogged about this and attach the links below. The storyboard I settled on was one of seaside holidays, and all things maritime. I lay this collection of glass tiles out all around the mirror tiles and the rest of the board.

Decoupage Glass Tiles Part 1 - Cutting the glass to size

Decoupage Glass Tiles Part 2 - Decoupage the cut glass tiles

My niece had left this odd collection of glass pebbles in a flower pot and I had been meaning to return them to their proper place. Now I realized that they would add a great dimension to my mosaic. I arranged them in an unpredictable pattern on the board.

I wanted to move away from glass and found some metal-clad tiles to add to the layout. Some of these were polished, others were burnished and still more were engraved. Thus, in one set of tiles, I had managed to incorporate three more finishes to my board. This was working out better than expected!

I then found some round tiles, cut from polished marble stone. These came in three different sizes and two shades, adding even more interesting aspects to the board.

Lastly, I found some tiny square stone tiles to use as space fillers where there were still gaps left open. I have finally reached a point where I was satisfied with the layout. It was now time to start gluing the elements down.

You can use mosaic glue, or craft glue, or wood glue to glue your elements down.

I started on the four corners, setting them in place first of all.

Note, that in the top right corner, I have a group of four tiles. All of them together constitute that corner and they all have to be glued down to fix the corner in place.

I then glued the top edge of the board, using a metal ruler to make sure all of the tiles lined up properly with the edge of the board.

The left hand edge followed. Again, I used the ruler as guide.

The right hand edge was predictably next ...

... followed by the bottom edge.

I then glued the square tiles down that were directly below the mirror tiles. This gave me a proper foundation to start gluing my focal tiles, the mirror tiles, in place.

I started on the right hand mirror tiles, getting this first row of tiles in a straight line. Once again, the metal ruler proved an invaluable tool.

I then lined up and glued down the bottom row of mirror tiles, still using the ruler as guide.

I moved to the next line of tiles on the right hand.

And then I moved down to the bottom tiles again.

I kept alternating these two sides and getting the tiles lined up, until all of the mirror tiles were fixed in place.

I then moved over to the left bottom corner and glued down all of the tiles in this area that had not been glued down yet.

I moved up to the top right hand corner, gluing down the remaining tiles in this area.

The only corner left to do, was the top left hand corner.

With all of the tiles glued down, I put the project aside, giving the glue time to dry completely before continuing.

Mix some tiling grout with water when the glue is dry and the tiles are firmly set.

You are looking for a rather runny paste that will easily flow into all the openings, but at the same time, not run off the boards altogether.

Use your fingers to smooth the grout into the open spaces. Make sure the edges are even and that where there are differences in height, the spaces are sensibly filled.

Leave the grout to dry. Wipe it with a damp cloth shortly before it hardens.

Just one more wipe with a clean cloth, and this mirror will be finished.

Maritime Mosaic Mirror is available from Marietjie Uys at uys.marietjie@gmail.com. Mixed mosaic on board, 30 x 30 cm. R540. Artist: Miekie.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
For more crafty ideas and great products, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
You can subscribe to this blog and receive regular updates by email by simply registering your email address at the top of the current blog.

Whole Chicken Pot On The Kettle Braai (Barbecue)

In the past two blogs I have been sharing recipes and ideas for a braai with you. One of the dishes I prepared on the fire was a lovely green curry chicken in a pot. Whether you make this chicken on the braai, or in the conventional oven, it is sure to be a hit. I share the recipe with you in today's blog.

In a small mixing bowl, I measure 2 tablespoons (25 ml) crushed garlic, 2 tablespoons (25 ml) green curry, 1 teaspoon (5 ml) crushed ginger, 1-2 teaspoons (5-10 ml) crushed chilies and salt & pepper to taste.

Add white wine vinegar and mix well.

Wash and put 2 whole chickens in a pot.

Roughly chop 1 onion and put half an onion inside each bird.

Pour the mixture over the birds and rub them well with the mixture.

Peel 2 onions and 3-4 potatoes. Cut them in halves/quarters and  add them to the pot.

Pour about 2 cups of water into the pot. Avoid washing the flavour off your chickens when you add the water.

I cooked my chickens in a kettle braai once all the food was done. The coals started heating up again as the hard inner parts of the logs started turning to coals. If this does not happen automatically, you can force the heat up again by adding a few twigs. I waited for the heat to reach temperatures above 200 °C and then put my pot with the chickens on the grill. Make sure your pot lines up with the front leg of the braai for even heat distribution. I closed the lid and went inside to enjoy my meal. These chickens will be perfect for tomorrow's dinner. There is more than enough food for today. I simply left the chicken on the grill, only checking the temperature from time to time.

Roughly 2 1/2 hours later, the temperature dwindled to 120 °C. This was when I removed the chicken, as salmonella thrives in temperatures between 60-120 °C. Never leave chicken at those temperatures. The chicken was cooked through and falling off the bone.

I stuck a knife in the chicken to try to demonstrate exactly how tender this chicken was.

See how easily I pull the meat away from the bone? This is a beautifully delicious meal for any chicken lover. Enjoy!

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
For more crafty ideas and great products, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
You can subscribe to this blog and receive regular updates by email by simply registering your email address at the top of the current blog.