"Sounds like a fire"

I was trying to find some inspiration for my wildcrafting project and somehow wound up reading this tutorial on preparing perches for pet birds: http://www.ehow.com/how_5852118_dry-branches-use-bird-perches.html

I'm a little concerned by the instructions in Step 4.  200 hours seems a bit much, no?  I'm assuming it's a typo, but at the same time I'm giggling to myself as I envision someone sitting in front of the oven watching a stick dry for over four straight days, not daring to leave lest it catch fire - and then, according to Step 5 in the instructions, possibly repeating the ordeal several more times.

I love typos.  They can be so entertaining.

Some stuff wot I have made

I've made a few crafty things in the past several months that I photographed and intended to post, but then my laptop died and I kind of forgot about them for a while.  Now, since I'm lazy, I'm combining them all into one post.

Here's a bracelet I made as a birthday gift for one of my sisters-in-law:

This is a wooden tissue box cover I decoupaged using some wrapping paper from a Lush boxed gift:

This is a tote bag I painted as a prize for a dance competition:

Here are several silk scarves and handkerchiefs I dyed:

Here's an earring made from one of Newton's moulted feathers:

And here's a necklace of freshwater pearls on knotted silk cord:

Now that I've cleared up the backlog, I'll try to write some more detailed posts for any new stuff I make.   I have a few ideas for upcoming projects floating around in my mind.  I've been saving the nicer feathers that Newton's moulted over the past year and have built up quite a collection; now I'm trying to figure out what to do with them.  The central tail feathers are especially gorgeous, but they're so long that I'm at a loss for ideas.

I also have a few pieces of silk clothing I would like to try over-dyeing.  Some are thrift store finds that are faded and need a bit of perking up; others are new items in colours I'm not really fond of, but that I found at ridiculously low clearance prices and figured I could over-dye to a nicer colour.  Since none of these items were particularly expensive, my reasoning is that it won't be a big loss if the over-dyeing doesn't turn out well - I'll just wear them at home as comfy painting/cleaning/lounging clothes.

The thing I need to work on most right now is a wildcrafting project for my Ethnobotany class.  I collected some fallen twigs and am considering the possibility of weaving a basket.  Still undecided on that one.  It would require me to learn how to weave a basket.