Snow in Texas

Well, snow is an euphemism for what we saw this morning, but nice enough. We still have some white around on garden beds and shady areas, so it is still pretty cool here. The pictures are from ~ 6.30 am today, I did not want to risk to have it melt before taking a picture. NO snowball quality, unfortunately.

This is a neighbor's house - their snow was somehow prettier :-)

Origami Sweets Box

So, made another box from the 'practical origami' book. 

The second box is my first 'sweet box' that is folded out of one sheet, can be opened and closed and is stable enough to be filled with sweets for example. The bow is out of raffia, 'bast' as I know it, a material I love using in Japanese bookbinding as well. That reminds me I need to check if I can get a bit more before the holiday crafts are out of the stores - that's the only time I have been able to find it here in Austin. 

Origami box

Origami is wonderful, and like bookbinding needs just very few things to start - and they are very similar. I got the book 'Practical Origami' and could not wait to start folding. Paper is plentiful around here, up to an easy start!

The first box I made is a design I have made a few times already - and I think it came out nicely this time as well.

It is made from two sheets of the same pattern, just colors reversed. The bottom of the box started with a sheet 1 cm less on each side, and it fits snug.

Surprise Session at the Austin Book workers

Last session we met we had a little surprise session - I went to a Dollar store, and bought decorations for about 12 Dollars. I got a bunch of napkins, a table cloth, plates, and similar items. Then I made 10 little bags with these, added pipe cleaners, scrap paper, threads and such, gave each bag a number. When we met, everyone was supposed to say a number - and got the appropriate bag.

Here are some examples of what we did that evening:

Sourdough

Sourdough tastes great - and not sour at all. But the bread has a great flavor, much more complex than other bread, and 1000 x better than store-bought.

We had the other half while it was still warm from the oven...

Some years ago I tried, not too great success then, but this is my 3rd bread in the last 2 months, and it came out pretty good. Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, and good taste. My last one was a bit darker and had a very different taste, but I like the lighter kind.