Geting Ready for Memorial Day with a Hamburger Bun Basket

Hi Friends,
This is a basket that I designed to hold a package of hamburger or hotdog buns. 
I chose this basket to show you today because if you are like us, you have plans to be outside cooking on the grill having hotdogs, hamburgers, potato salad, three bean salad, fruit and chocolate cake.  Any of you having something similar? 
The base is started as usual but then an additional "X" is woven into the base.  It is then twined for 7 rows around the bottom of the basket.  What this does is it makes the corners curved rather than sharp 90 degree angles so the package of buns fit in here perfectly.  The decorative "X's" on he outside of the basket in navy blue are short pieces of 1/4" flat reed inserted into the navy blue weavers after the basket is woven. 
I hope all of you have an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.
Baskets of Blessings,
Nancy

I'm Starting a New Blog

Hi Friends,
First off, don't worry, Basketmaster's Weavings isn't going anywhere. 
I've been thinking for some time though that I would like Basketmaster's Weavings to stand more on it's own.  I have so many passions, cooking, gardening, crafts etc. that I've been feeling like this blog has been losing it's direction.  That's not to say though that from time to time I still might post some of my other passions here.  I just want to try and get this blog back to its main focus and that being basket weaving.

So my new blog is called the "How To" Homemaker.  It goes along with my "Making Our Home a Haven" podcast and will be covering things such as cooking, cleaning, sewing, saving money and much more.  In the same vain that I've tried to teach new weavers how to weave here on this blog, the "How To" Homemaker is geared to teaching homemaking skills and focusing on the basics.

I hope you will all take just a moment to pop over to the "How To" Homemaker and take a look, leave a comment, and become a follower.  I'd also LOVE it if you would let others know about my new blog.  Hey, I'd LOVE it if you'd let others know about THIS blog as well.

Thanks everyone.  It will be back to basket weaving over here.
Sending you all cyber hugs,
Nancy

Back to Basics of Basket Weaving - Getting the Perfect Bend in Round Reed

There are times when round reed needs to be bent and it can be very frustrating to have a piece of round reed snap in half. A simple solution to keep this from happening is to have in your tool kit a needle nose pliers. When needing a crisp bend in the round reed, pinch it with the pliers first and then bend the reed. This virtually eliminates the risk of the reed breaking. Of course it goes without saying, make sure your reed is well soaked.


Baskets of Blessings,

Nancy

My Sweet Baby

Our sweet Katie turns 17 today.  It's hard to believe my babies are all growing up so much.  All my kiddos have summer birthdays so this is the first of the parties starting tonight.
We love you Katie!  Happy Birthday.
Love Mommy

Share a Basket and Making Our Home a Haven - Episode #8 Organizing Our Closets

Hi Friends,
Just letting you know that a new episode of Making Our Home a Haven is available to listen to.  In this episode I discuss how I organize my clothing and give you encouragement to tackle your closets as well as a few fun tips.  I was motivated this past week to organize my closet and I'm glad to report that I got rid of three kitchen size trash bags full of clothes, shoes and purses.  You can listen to Making Our Home a Haven right here as there is a player on my right sidebar, or you can listen to it on TalkShoe HERE.  You can also search for Making Our Home a Haven in iTunes podcasts and subscribe to it over there.  I hope you are all getting some good tips and enjoying the podcasts.  I would appreciate it so much if you would please let a friend know about them.

Now for the basket...This is a large basket woven on a "D" handle.  I use this basket in my pantry to hold snacks for the kids.  The wide strip in the middle is maple and is embellished with rub-ons.
Have a blessed Sunday everyone,
Nancy
This Post Links To:
Mom's The Word

Back to Basics of Basket Weaving - Basket Making Terminology

Good Morning Friends,
How are you all doing today?  It is cloudy yet comfortable here and I've got the windows open which I love.  It is a great day for weaving.
Today I wanted to give you some basic basket weaving terminology. You may hear me use words in my videos and see some written on my blog that are unfamiliar, so here is a definition of some of them. These definitions are for basic baskets. There are always basket patterns that break the rules and do something different, but this is for most standard basket patterns. There are many more terms and I will cover some of them in future posts. This will just get you started.
Baskets of Blessings,
Nancy

Base--Bottom of a basket.

Stakes--These are the foundation of a square or rectangular basket. They help form the base and then go up the sides of the basket vertically.

Spokes--These are the foundation of a round or oval basket. They also then go up the sides of the round basket vertically.

Ribs--The skeleton frame in a ribbed basket that weavers are woven on.

Weaver--This is what goes horizontally around the sides of the basket.

Twining--This is done with round reed. It is a half twist in the round reed and is created with either two separate strands, or one strand that has been bent in half.

Packing--Packing is pushing the weavers tightly together as they are woven up the sides of the basket.

Splicing--Splicing is when you run out of a weaver before you are finished so you need an additional piece of weaver to complete the row or basket.

Upsetting the Basket--This is when the base is woven and you bend up the stakes or spokes so that you may begin working on the sides of your basket.

Cut and Tuck or Cutting and Tucking--When finished weaving the sides, you cut the stakes or spokes that are on the inside of the basket flush with your top row of weaving. The stakes or spokes that are on the outside of the basket get folded to the inside and tucked behind a weaver to hide the ends.

Basket Hairs--The splintery looking things on the rough (wrong) side of reed. These are cut or singed off when the basket is completed.

Rim Row--The top row of weaving. This is typically hidden under the rim.

Rim--Typically 2 pieces of reed that are slightly wider than the rim row. These pieces sandwich and cover the rim row and are placed even with the bottom edge of the rim row.

Rim Filler--Something that goes on top of the rim row and is sandwiched between the two rim pieces. Often this is seagrass or round reed.

Lashing--This is the material that holds the rim and rim filler in place.

Shaping--Using your weaver to make the spokes or stakes flare out or pull in.

Making Our Home a Haven - Episode #7 Using a Garden Journal

Good Morning Friends,
I wanted to let you know that the latest episode of Making Our Home a Haven is ready to listen to.  In this episode I talk about how I use my garden journal.

Here are a couple of pictures about things I mentioned in the episode.  The bottom photo is my tomato experiment this year.  We'll see which variety produces the best and with the best tasting tomatoes.

I hope you enjoy listening to this episode which runs about 8 minutes. You can listen to it on the player here on my right sidebar or you can go to TalkShoe and listen to it HERE.  As always, if you are in iTunes search the podcasts for Making Our Home a Haven and subscribe so as not to miss a single episode.
Do you keep a garden journal?  What do you specifically take notes about that are important for you to remember?
Happy Gardening!
Nancy

This post links to:
Mom's The Word - Making Your Home Sing
Trendy Treehouse
Women Who Do It All
Blogger Chix Designs

Notepad Basket for a Teacher Appreciation Gift

I made a cute basket to hold a shopping list or notes. Actually I've made a number of these little baskts.  They take about 50 minutes to weave. I used 5/8" flat for the side stakes and I used 1/2" flat for the front and back stakes. The weavers were 3/8" flat and 1/4" flat. The spiral was 11/64" flat/oval and the round reed was #2.  The hanger on the back is made from #2 round reed that has been coiled into a circle.

This basket makes a perfect teacher appreiation gift.
Blessings,
Nancy
This Post Links to These Fun Blogs:
Skip To My Lou
Tools are For Women Too
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
The Girl Creative
The DIY Showoff
Making the World Cuter
The Persimmon Perch
Keeping it Simple
Mad In Crafts
It's So Very Cheri
Sew Can Do
A Soft Place to Land
Sugar Bee
Lucky Star Lane
Today's Creative Blog
Someday Crafts
Trendy Treehouse
Blue Cricket Design
Women Who Do It All

Back To Basics of Basket Weaving - Tools Used in Making a Basket

Good Morning Friends,
Lately I've been receiving a number of e-mails with questions related to beginning basket weaving.  I'm thinking its time to get back to the basics because I want to encourage all you new weavers that basketry is something you CAN do.  Some of my posts in this series will be new, some you may have seen before.  Hopefully you will be reminded and refreshed with new ideas once again.

Today I want to share with you the tools I use in weaving baskets.  For those of you just starting out, I'm going to begin by listing just the basics you need.  The wonderful thing about basket weaving is that you can start weaving with tools you most likely already have at home.  There is minimal investment.

• Something to hold water.  At home I use my kitchen sink.  When I weave elsewhere I take a dishpan.
• Tape Measure
• Old Bath Towel
• Dozen clothespins
• Old Heavy Duty Kitchen Scissors
• Small Flat Blade Screwdriver

That's it!  For those of you wanting to give weaving a try, did you realize that basket weaving only needed these few tools?

Now, I've been weaving a long time so I have added a few tools to my collection to make weaving a bit easier, but all the extras are not necessary.

I carry all my supplies around in an old dishpan that I use for water when weaving. Everything fits nicely in it.

Now I wanted to show you what I keep in my work basket. I wove my work basket and attached the blue leather handles with rivets. The handles are just the right size to hold my spoke weight and the leather keeps the spoke weight from slipping out of the handles. Here are its contents:

• My old towel that sits in my lap when I weave
• Spoke weight
• Packing tool
• Awl
• Tape measure
• Glue - to attach embellishments
• 2 Lashing tools
• Mini electrical clamps (those are in the zip lock baggie)
• Pencil
• Nail clippers- to trim the hairs off the basket
• Reed gauge - to measure the size of reed (I eyeball my size most of the time)
• Exacto knife
• Lighter (I don't smoke, but I do use this to singe the hairs on my baskets)
• Wire - also to attach embellishments
• Sharpie - to sign my baskets
• Twist ties - to bundle spokes for kits together
• Clothespins
• Large electrical clamps
• Needle nose pliers
• Zip ties
• Samples of hair conditioner - keeps reed and my hands soft
• Band aids (you never know)
• Old kitchen scissors (not shown, children must have taken it)
• Squirt bottle with water (also not shown, again I'll blame it on the kids)

Of course I have more in quantity of some of the items show, this just is a sampling. What is in your work basket?
Blessings,
Nancy

Whew...What a Week

Hi Friends,

I know it is only Thurs. but it has been a busy week here. You've heard me say this before and I'll say it again, May is the second busiest month of the year. There are so many end of the school year activities.

We've had my in-laws visiting this week.

We started building trellises for the grape vines.  That's Mike and my Father-in-law setting the posts.

Going back to Mother's Day...It started off with church. My sweet children had their own surprises for me.

Timothy made my mother-in-law and I brownies and wrote on them "Happy M-Day" complete with candles. Emily wrote me a heartfelt letter. Katie gave me a gift card to the book store. I received a tape recorder/microphone for my podcasts from Mike and he took me out to eat. It was a no cook day.  Yea!

Katie has had another school play she was in on Monday night for her drama class final.

On Tuesday night Katie was confirmed into the church.  It was a very special evening.

The top picture is Katie with Bishop Tofoya and her sponsor Justin who is also the youth director of our church.

The bottom picture is 1/2 of Katie's class.  The other half of the class is getting confirmed next week.

On Wednesday night Timothy had a Court of Honor scouting ceremony and received a couple of merit badges.  That is Tim on the left with the American flag.  He is currently a Star Scout.

This week Emily (who I don't have a picture of here, bad mom) completed her ice skating lessions and has tested and advanced to level 8 which she is very excited about.

Today is a quiet day with nothing unusual on the calendar. I'm catching up on laundry, cleaning and e-mails. School ends in a little less than two weeks now. I can't wait!

Blessings,

Nancy

Free Basket Weaving Pattern from Me to You - Happy Mother's Day

Dear Friends,
Happy Mother's Day to all my mommy readers. I hope you are all being spoiled today. I have no idea what is in store for me but I'll be sure to let you know.
I haven't shared a free basket pattern with you in some time and so I thought today would be fitting.
Have a beautiful and blessed Sunday,
Nancy

Elegant Mother’s Day BasketPattern Written by Nancy Jacobs

Finished Size: 9” x 4 1/2” not including handle height.

Materials Required:
5/8” flat reed
1/2” flat reed - spokes
3/8” flat reed
3/8” flat/oval reed
11/64” flat or flat/oval reed
1/4” flat or flat/oval colored reed
#2 or #3 round reed
Seagrass
3 yards wire edged ribbon
6” thin wire (i.e. 22 gauge)
Floral embellishment

Procedure:
1. From 1/2” flat reed cut 11 pieces 23” long and 1 piece 63” long.
2. Mark the centers of these pieces on the rough side with a pencil
3. Lay out the 63” piece and 5 of the 23” pieces, rough side up, matching the centers, and to look like the spokes on a bicycle wheel. These become the spokes of the basket.
4. Take 2 long pieces of #2 or #3 round reed and begin twining around the spokes. Continue twining tightly around the base until it measures 6 inches in diameter.
5. Lay out remaining 6 pieces of 1/2” flat reed in the spaces between the woven spokes, rough side up, matching center pencil marks.
6. Continue twining, incorporating these new spokes. Twine until the base size reaches 9”.
7. Upset the spokes and twine for 2 more rows. The rough side of the reed is on the inside of the basket.
8. Using a basic over/under weave, weave the following:
Rows 1 and 2 - 3/8” flat
Row 3 - 1/4” flat or flat oval colored
Rows 4 and 5 - 3/8” flat
Row 6 - 5/8” flat
Rows 7 and 8 - 3/8” flat
Row 9 - 1/4” flat or flat/oval colored
Row 10 - 3/8” flat
Row 11 – 1/4” flat or flat/oval
9. Cut off the spokes that are on the inside of the basket flush with the top row of weaving. DO NOT CUT OFF THE HANDLES EVEN IF THEY ARE ON THE INSIDE OF THE BASKET.
10. Loop over the 63” reed to the opposite side of the basket and insert each side into the weaving creating the desired height to create the handle.
11. Cut and tuck in remaining spokes to the inside of the basket.
12. Place a piece of 3/8” flat/oval reed on the inside and outside of the top row of weaving.
13. Insert seagrass between the two pieces of 3/8” flat/oval reed. This will hide where the spokes were cut and tucked.
14. Lash on rim with 11/64” flat or flat/oval reed.
15. Wrap handle with 11/64” flat or flat/oval reed. Insert a strip of 1/4” colored reed along the center of the handle. Allow the color to show through by occasionally wrapping the 11/64” both under and over the colored reed.
16. If desired, stain basket at this time. When basket is dry, remove row #6 by cutting out the piece of 5/8” flat reed.
17. 17. Replace row #6 with wire ribbon. Center ribbon on the back of the basket and weave over/under to the front. Make a bow and wire in place. Embellish with flowers if desired.
18. Enjoy your basket!!!

This Post Links To these Fun Blogs:
Under The Table and Dreaming
Make It From Scratch
Somewhat Simple
Along for the Ride
Tatertots and Jello

Around the House Saturday - Casseroles and Ladybugs

Good Morning Friends,
From time to time I make casseroles. They are good for me to make when I want to disguise leftovers or clean out the refrigerator. I always have just a simple formula in my head that I follow:

• A cooked meat such as chicken or ground beef
• A cooked carbohydrate such as pasta or rice
• A vegetable
• Can of creamed soup
• Few spices such as salt, pepper and garlic powder
• Cheese

I combine ingredients and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. It is really just a mish-mash but I just make sure I make enough for our family of five.
Recently I got the book below and there is a really good casserole recipe in it. It is called "Spicy Pasta and Sausage Bake." I used a link Polish sausage that you can see above. It was a great hit with my family and it is giving me a new base formula. It uses my formula above plus a couple of different things.

• The pasta is cooked in chicken broth
• A can of Ro-Tel tomatoes (get the spicy you like) are used instead of a can of creamed soup
• 1/2 cup heaving cream is added

My casserole formula has changed! I can now hide leftovers more easily once again!
You all know I'm a test cook for America's Test Kitchen who published this book. Most times when I test recipes for them my kitchen is FULL of dirty dishes and it takes me some time to prepare them. This book is simple recipes that can be made in 30 minutes or less and my kitchen has not been messy when I've finished. I've been cooking from it all week and have had a happy husband and kids. One plug I've got to put in for America's Test Kitchen. They test their recipes over and over and over a ridiculous amount of times to find the very best way to cook something. If we don't care for a recipe it is because we just don't care for the ingredients. The only food I really don't like to eat is sauerkraut. I can cook it the best possible way but no matter what, my taste buds don't like it. What I'm getting at is that 95% of the recipes here are a huge hit with my family.
Anyway, if you are a casserole maker, try my formula above and let me know what you think.

On another note. My cherry tree is LOADED with ladybugs. They're everywhere on it. I don't know where they've all come from. I'm happy to see them as I've read they can eat up to 1000 aphids in one day. I hope they stick around and keep my tomato plants healthy. Did I tell you that a week ago last Friday we had snow? I had to cover my tomato plants two nights in a row and lost one to the freeze. Crazy to have snow this late in the season.

This is Katie's thumb with an albino ladybug she found on the cherry tree. Very interesting. She's taking biology this year and took it into the teacher. Yes there is such a thing as an albino ladybug.

That's what's going on here. I have been weaving and am getting ready for another series of YouTube videos that will be up in the next few days.

Enjoy your Saturday,

Nancy

This Post Links to the following Super Fun Blogs:

I Am Only 1 Woman
Crazy Dazy

Handweaver's Guild Of America

Hi Friends,
The Handweaver's Guild of America (HGA) is having their Convergence in Albuquerque this summer. That's my backyard! I'm not a member (yet) but am planning to join and take a few classes. The classes are all related to fiber arts. There are classes on loom weaving, spinning, and dying yarn, some knitting and even a couple of basket classes. There are even some computer classes related to the fiber arts as well as classes on photographing your creations.
I was wondering if any of you are members of HGA and if any of you are planning on attending?
Perhaps we can have a class together or meet for lunch.
Blessings,
Nancy

I Received a Kind Shout Out

Thanks to Leslie from Work At Home Success who gave me a surprising shout out on her podcast for an e-mail I had sent her. It is on episode #89. Leslie is the author of the Work At Home Success Bible and has been helping women for quite a number of years to find legitimate work at home jobs. She is full of some great business guidance for those of us who work from home. Here I was putting together basket kits that I'm selling and listening to my iPod when I put on her podcast to listen to. What a sweet surprise to hear her mention my name and website while I was busy away working at home. Thanks Leslie!

Altered Paint Pails

Hi Friends,

I have some scrapbooking fun today. I made these altered gallon paint cans. The top photo holds my snacks as I go to scrapbooking crops. I can also use it as a trash can if needed to hold my scraps, hence the name scraps and Snacks. The bottom photo shows my prize pail. I use it to hold small prizes or to hold names when we do drawings.

Enjoy!

Nancy

This Post Links To These Fun Blogs:

My Frugal Family

Project Tuesday

Today's Creative Blog

Sumo's Sweet Stuff

The Girl Creative

Skip To My Lou

A Soft Place To Land

Creations By Kara

Someday Crafts

Women Who Do It All

Somewhat Simple

Fireflies and Jellybeans

Making Our Home a Haven - Episode #6 - Children and Chores, Getting Kids to Help

Good Morning Friends,
I wanted to let you know I have a new episode of Making Our Home a Haven available to listen to. In this episode I talk about how Mike and I have been able to get our children to help us around the house and do their chores. If any of you are having trouble getting your children to do their responsibilities around the house, then I hope I will provide you with an idea you can try in your own home. As I said on the podcast, I'm not a child rearing expert. These are just things Mike and I have found that work for us, (most of the time).
As always, you can listen to it on the player here on my right sidebar. You can listen to past episodes here as well. You can also download it and listen to it through iTunes.
I hope we are all Making Our Home a Haven.
Blessings,
Nancy
This post links to:
Mom's The Word

Share a Basket Sunday

Good Morning Friends,
This sweet little basket that I wove some time ago sits in a shelf in our bedroom. It is only about 6 inches in diameter. The base spokes are made out of #0 round reed. For each spoke there are 5 pieces of the #0 round reed lying side by side and then they split off to make more spokes as the basket is woven. Around the bottom, what looks like flat reed is really more #0 reed that is woven in a chase weave.
I hope all of you have been having a good week. Yesterday was National Scrapbooking Day. I tried to do a little paper crafting and did make a Thank You card, but when I'm home with the family it seems like something is always coming up to keep me busy (like feeding them) so my crafting was cut short. Do children and husbands really need to eat three plus times a day? Ok, I'll just consider it a blessing that they are in my life so I can feed them.
I hope all of you have a wonderful and blessed Sunday.
Nancy
This Post Links To:
Under the Table and Dreaming
Make It From Scratch
Trendy Treehouse

Happy May Day

Good Morning Friends and Happy May Day to You!

Today I'd like to introduce you to Fancy Flours.
Fancy Flours has the supplies available for you to make the most delicious looking cookies and cupcakes you've ever seen. How I would love to receive a May day basket full of flowers and some of these super sweet looking cookies. I just think they are so beautiful.
Not only do they have supplies to make them, they also give you recipes and the how tos, to do it as well. So readers, you are going to have to use your imagination and just pretend that I have left a sweet basket full of these cookies on your doorstep this morning.
Wishing you a very happy May Day today. I hope you'll have time to stop over at Fancy Flours and see all their yumminess that they have going on.
Blessings,
Nancy