DIY Camera Bag Insert

I have a large camera bag for my DSLR, but wanted something smaller, yet still supportive to travel with, for an upcoming trip to Iceland. I knew I was going to carry a backpack around everywhere, so I customized an insert to fit my backpack using felt, fleece, and filling.

Here's how, in pictures:

some materials

round felt cover to fit on top of the lens cap

rectangles and circles of fleece and felt
to make a case to fit the lens

felt and fleece cylinder pouches to make lens case/cover

cylindrical case to fit over the lens
fleece inner, felt outer. wrapped around felt.

two-layered felt bag, ready to stuff with polyester filling

sewed lines across the bag for quilted effect, and to evenly distribute stuffing

filling the bag with polyfil stuffing

filled pockets

using a safety pin to fit the fleece to the stuffed felt bag

fleece lining of bag

two layers of protection - lining fleece along the inside of the felt padded bag
(inside-out bag pictured)

completed camera insert, with camera (lens on) and extra lens.
bag closes with velcro and slides perfectly into the bottom of a backpack

Keep exploring, keep creating.

<3 Mandy

Meyer Lemon Custard Tart

For Pi Day (3/14) this year, I wanted to bake a pie to bring to work to celebrate. I love lemons and decided to make a meyer lemon custard to fill a tart, following this recipe!

I made the pastry dough by mixing 1-1/2 sticks of butter with 1/2 cup of sugar with an electric hand mixer, and added a splash of vanilla. In a separate bowl, I mixed together 1-3/4 cups of flour with a pinch of salt, and then slowly mixed it into the butter and sugar mixture. After shaping the dough flat, I pressed it into a large pie tin and chilled it for an hour.

I used mini pie tins to use the remainder of the dough and filling. To prep the pie shells, I buttered aluminum foil (buttered-side down) on top of the pastry dough, and baked it in a 350º oven for 20 minutes under the weight of some rice. I removed the rice and foil, poked the pastry with a fork, and baked for another 20 minutes.

Meanwhile... the filling!

I made the batter by zesting a lemon and using an electric hand mixer to cream it with a stick of butter and a cup of sugar. I added in 4 eggs, one at a time, and squeezed in 1/2 cup of lemon juice and added a dash of salt.

After all was mixed together, I heated the lemon mixture in a small pot over low heat while stirring constantly to make a curd. It is very important to keep mixing so that the mixture does not boil. It took about 15 minutes to cook until the curd was thick enough, I love the creamy yellow color.

I poured the curd over the baked pie crust and let it set overnight.

I'm glad I had enough leftover mixture to make mini pies. I love their cute little shapes! And they make the perfect bite-sized snack.

Here's the finished pie that I brought to work:

Have a delicious pi day!
<3 Mandy

Cat Chalk Bag

I was getting bored of the mint green color of my climbing chalk bag, and also found that chalk was spilling out of the top... so I knew it was time for an upcycle! I found a cute crochet motif pattern of cats and decided to crochet around my bag in the design, using light blue (base) and black (cat) yarns. I also used some black fleece and velcro to add a top flap to my bag to prevent chalk spills. Versatile, unique, and cute!

beginning the crochet motif - both colors of yarn are used for the entirety of the project;
the top color is crocheted over both strings to cover the other color until colors are swapped

first row of crochet motif

completed loop of crochet motif

inside view

round bottom

attached bottom to bag

completed bag cover

completed cover, interior view

completed cover, side view

the old bag

top of bag with chalk spilling out

clean top, string pulled closed

added round felt flap

fleece flap sewed on one side, added velcro along rim of the other side

fleece flap fitted around belt

fleece flap open

fleece flap sealed closed

<3 Mandy

DIY Crochet Cactus

I love having little plants to care for and look at, but my desk at work is not close to a window with direct sunlight. I'm not very good at keeping plants alive, so without good light, I didn't want to take a risk and bring in a nice plant that would potentially not survive! So I decided to crochet my own, inspired by this project.

Using little scraps of yarn, I made a green cactus body, reddish orange flower, yellow flower, and brown dirt. I sewed them all together to make the plant.

I didn't have a little flowerpot to fit it all, so I cut the front and back of a magazine into strips, which I glued together and wound into a spiral. I pushed out the spiral to shape my bowl, and then used clear nail polish to secure the whole thing in place.

The crochet cactus fits perfectly into the bowl, but I decided not to glue them together in case I ever wanted to switch out the bowl. This little creation fits perfectly with my theme of little happy things around my desk, such as my putitto series pug dog from my sister, baby cow, mini origami cranes, a lotus, and a kusudama. I also have my name banner hanging up in the corner of my cube.

<3 Mandy