It has been a busy fall and now I am gearing up with a large selection of  a new selection of unique and beach-y pieces of jewelry for you to enjoy this coming Holiday season.

http://www.BitsofftheBeach.com

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Make a Halloween Button Ring

Lately I have had a couple of people ask me about wire wrapping jewelry.. Well, with Halloween just around the corner I thought it would be fun to show how to make a simple and easy ring you can wear for this fun and spooky time of year.

Supplies you need:

Halloween buttons
craft wire to match about 28 gauge
wire cutters
needle nose pliers
1/2 long socket  or 14mm  for about a 7.5  ring  ( or if you are really fancy, a ring gauge)

Pick a button with the loop on the back with a fun or scary theme. I chose a friendly little pumpkin face for this one, but there are a lot of choices out there.

 Next you need to measure out your wire. I used a 28 gauge wire because its flexible enough to easily wrap without bending it. It gets pretty sturdy by the time you are done wrapping. Measure out a length about 36" long. And using your wire cutters, snip it off.

Line up your two ends to find the middle. And place the center of your wire around your socket.

This will be your ring base, use a socket that will correspond with your ring size. A ring gauge would be the ideal tool to get a more accurate size. But I don't have one and this looked about the right size. Depending on how tight you can keep the wire will affect the final size. Some I wear on my middle finger and some my ring finger depending on how they come out.

Now take each end of your wire and wrap it tightly around the socket 2 times for each side. One goes one way the other goes the opposite direction. You should end up with 5 loops on your socket.

Now crossing over your wires, thread them through each side of your button loop. Keeping your wire tight to the socket, loop the ends back around to through again in the opposite direction. Sort of like an figure 8. Pull them tight. This should hold your button securely to your ring. Now you can remove it from your socket. I should note, watch out for ridges on your socket, if you wind your wire and it ends up in the little groove it is impossible to get it off.... not that I did that once  :)

Adjust your button to a position your happy with, ( straight, with no crooked heads) Take each wire and working in opposite directions, wrap it a few times around the shank of the button to hold it tightly.

Now its time to wrap the ring base. Take one end of your wire and wrap it tightly around your ring starting as close to the button as you can. Loop it in through the center and out, keeping your wraps straight, don't overlap them and try to keep them close together. I do about 5 on one side and then switch to the wire on the other side and do the same on the that side, making sure it stays even.

Keep on wrapping a few on each side until you reach close to the end of your wire, or you can end it earlier if you like the look. The ring will get progressively smaller them more wraps that you do, so you might want to try it on occasionally to see if you want to stop. It also get sturdier the more wraps you do. It doesn't need to cover the whole ring.

Now snip the wires off close to your ring, and tuck them tightly in to prevent them from poking out. And you are done. Ready to WOW your friends with your new fashionable Halloween ring.

Have fun and let me know if you decide to make one of your own. I would love to see your pictures.

Halloween Rings

Rod Run To The End Of The World

As summer winds itself into fall we were able to combine a last camping trip in with the Classic Car Rod Run To The End Of The World down in Longbeach WA. put on by the Beach Baron Car Club  One of our favorite places to camp, with miles of trails to hike or bike on, beaches on both the Pacific Ocean, the mouth of the Columbia River and a little lake that I have no idea what the name of it is.( Anybody know the name, jump on in :) The campground and State Park use to be called Ft. Canby but for some reason they have changed the name to Cape Disappointment State Park  It was NOT disappointing.. so ??

A few of the pictures of the campground and Ocean. We didn't have as much time as I had hoped for walking the beaches and collecting glass or driftwood for my jewelry.  We didn't even make it over to the Columbia River beach called Waikiki Beach. I was hoping to get over there as its a perfect place to jump logs and check out all the things that have gathered at the end of the mighty Columbia. Next year we are going to have to add a couple of days before or after for me to play too.

Saturday morning we made our way to the Show and Shine in Ocean Park ( 10 miles or so outside of Long beach) Good thing we staked out a spot on Friday afternoon, it was packed!!!  Between tons of spectators and the participants ( Over 700? ) it was a hopping place. Lots of fun,  live music, DJ music, vendors with tasty treats and assorted goodies to shop for.  The gave out door prizes about every hour. I was a loser :(  but the friends we drove down with won a cool set of wrenches on the very last drawing so it felt as good as winning myself.

Here are a few pictures from around the Show and Shine,  You can even see Lee doing his part to shine!
57 Chev is ours and the white Chevelle is our friends that came with us. The more the merrier plus it's a guaranteed rescue squad if something should go wrong on the way. 

After the show, there was a Cruise down to Oysterville, we skipped out on that part, but even just driving back to Long Beach felt like you were in a parade. The streets were lined with lawn chairs and fans hooting and hollering and some voting with their paper plates.  I think we got some 10's,  a few nice paints, and one nice dog for our Mya Dog that was riding shotgun in the backseat. We found a great spot to park back in town and watched as the cars cruised by.

Sunday the Beach Barons had a seafood lunch for the show participants, more prizes, and the trophy handout. Not as many turned out as it was cool and drizzily. But the lunch was good and we got out early for the long drive home.

Thurston Co. Fair

Another busy weekend going to the fair. Boy this retired living is tough :)

Thurston County Fair http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/fair/default.asp time again, I haven't been to it for years. Not too much has changed, chickens and pigs and cows and goats, etc. I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of all the critters. We spent hours walking through and seeing them all or at least a quick peek at most of them.

 We also spent time looking at the crafts, foods and flower entries... I loved the unusual flowers so much that I did take pictures of those. I would love to add some of the strange looking blooms to my own gardens. Always on the lookout for something new when I go to the nursery.

Spent a bit of time relaxing while sitting in the shade and watching the horses running through their paces. We never did figure out why some got eliminated and others got to go on to the next round. It seemed like every time we picked out who we thought was the best.  Out they went. Oh well good thing we weren't the judges.

Love that polka dot horse! I didn't know they had polka dot horses!
Ended the day with a tasty lunch. Of corn dog and curly fries, and a taste of a raspberry coated elephant ear.
YUM!

                                            My partners in our search for the perfect fair food
                                                           Deb and Mom

Wonderful Surprise Win

As most every one that knows me knows... I love contests! I love winning contests even more :)

This week I was the lucky recipient of a contest that Mary was having at  Try, Try Again . I received three beautiful refrigerator magnets.
 I know... why am I excited about magnets? Because the pictures behind them are just amazing. Mary actually "paints" each original pictures out of clay. She uses stiffer clays as the "canvas" and uses the softer clays as paint. Then bakes them all for the finished product. I am amazed at the detail and depth they have. And I only have a copy printed on the magnets. The originals must be truly fantastic!

all 3 magnet pictures.

 "Country Kitty" and "Owl"

So a BIG thank you to Mary.
I really love my new decorations on my fridge. Mary has a beautiful shop Uniquely Mary on Etsy showcasing her work and some collectible vintage items too. Lots of wonderful hand crafted items are available from books to adorable little wire seahorses. Plus, you can pick up some of the same magnets I received.

A Day with a Fungi

We spent a fun day at the Pacific Northwest Mushroom Festival yesterday. A little bit cloudy and cool when we first got there, but the sun soon came out and we had to stash our jackets in the handy bags they handed out upon entry.
It was my first trip to the festival and my sister inspired me into going. I'm glad she did :)

That's her with a new friend we found along the way.

We tried out the full line of mushroom "bites" they were offering. Local restaurants and organizations competed in coming up with tasty bites, all using mushrooms, for us fair goers to try. I must admit some were a bit... not so tasty.  I love mushrooms, but we decided there were just some combinations of flavors that just don't go well with mushrooms.

the bites

Our favorite turned out to be, surprisingly yummy. Mushroom Ice Cream! Creamy and nutty with just a hint of mushroom flavor. Second runner up being the good ole' mushroom pizza. You just can't go wrong with pizza in my book! We were entertained while we munched by the The Bobbers, a local fishing song band. Nice lively music with "catchy" tunes. The kids all loved them.

After our tummies were full, we wandered through the exhibits that had been set up in tents throughout the grounds collecting our freebies that some were handing out. Thanks everyone! Pens, notepads, light bulbs and even a roll of T.P. Learned a bit about local mushrooms from some of the exhibits, Ostrom's Mushrooms, and South Sound Mushroom Club had some great info. I think I might try hunting some new varieties come fall. We already know how to pick Chanterelles, but the others are beyond what I would feel safe to eat.

 A flat of button mushrooms growing

We finished up our Mushroom day with a cooking demo from Jimbo Jitsu, the YouTube chef. Fun little show cooking with mushrooms and bacon. He used a cool cooking device I had never seen, a wood burning rocket stove. Quick, clean cooking, looked like it would work fantastic for camping and I am still trying to convince myself to get one. Sure would beat cooking on an open fire and more fun than a camp stove.

 

Wood Burning Rocket Stove. that' it on the table top (Green pot looking thing.)

All in all a fun and interesting day. We left just as the crowds were rolling in. So go early when you go next year. :)