USB Charger cord cover

I just couldn't resist.

When I had a moment, I grabbed some glittery yarn and used it to cover my new phone's USB charger cord.

No, I did not work it with the charger actually attached.  I popped it on because the cord kept trying to unroll on me, and I needed the weight to hold it down! LOL

The yarn is some leftover Paton's Brilliant that I have some remnants of.  I used a 2.00mm hook and did single crochet in the same manner as the ear bud wires..  The round cable was MUCH easier to work around.

The whole thing took about 20 minutes from start to finish, even with minor interruptions from a cat that was determined to climb on and around everything as destructively as possible.  I had used my wood burning pen earlier and, as it was cooling down, the case was still out on my table.  Somehow he managed to not just step in it, but in such a was as to flip the plastic tray holding the different tips, causing it to flip out of the case completely and sent tips flying.  Thankfully, they went flying into the case, rather than all over the table or the floor.

As an aside, using a heated craft knife makes cutting Styrofoam insulation a lot less messy!

My older daughter came by as I was working on this and like it so much that, when she replaces her own phone, she'd like me to cover her new cables and cords, too.  *L*

Ear Bud Cord Cover: Step-by-step

I don't know about you, but I'm one of those people that got dragged kicking and screaming into getting a smart phone - and then once I got one, I used it all the time.

Just not really as a phone.  I dislike talking on the phone to begin with.  Talking on a smart phone is gross.  No matter how careful I am, my screen gets all ear juicy, and it sucks to get it clean again.

When it comes to phones, I much prefer the old style flip phones with a physical keypad.

I do love my technology, though, and found myself using my phone for oodles of other things.  As I had to upgrade over the years, I found myself appreciated the improved cameras and photo quality.

I just had to replace my Galaxy S4.  It had served me well, but started to get glitchy.  All sorts of things started failing on it.  I really would have preferred waiting, but when I asked my husband to start doing some research for me, I suddenly found myself with a new phone.

One of the deciding factors in choosing a phone was the camera.  (Another was the operating system; I'm a die hard Android fan.) It's got to the point where I don't really use our cameras anymore.  I just use my phone.  The Galaxy S6 camera has gotten rave reviews, and now that I have one, I can see why!

All the photos in this step-by-step were taken on my new phone.  I used the default settings, mostly because I haven't taken the time to go through the phone's settings yet.  I did accidentally discover something called "selective focus", which lets you decide where you want to focus on your photo *after* you've taken it!  Pretty cool.

When I started this, there was still some daylight coming through my window, but my primary light source was a "daylight" LED.

The only post processing I did was to resize the photos to 30% (the default is huge!  With my old phone, as well as my cameras, I usually adjusted to 50%), cropping, and for 2 of them, rotating 90 degrees.  That's it.  I tend to be minimal in post processing to begin with, adjusting for light, but little else.  For these, I didn't even do that.

I'm quite pleased.

Now, with a new phone comes new ear buds with microphone, and a new charger with USB cable.

Did I mention I don't like how my screen gets when using the phone?

So what I'm wanting to get into the habit of is using the ear buds it came with, so my phone won't go anywhere near my ear.

I've got a number of them laying about from not only my own old phones, but the phones of other family members, too.  I find they all tend to get tangled up on things.  I noticed I'm not alone in that being a problem, as I've seen images on Pinterest of cords covered in crochet.

I decided to give it a try.

I didn't want to add too much bulk to the cord, so I went through my stash of crochet thread.  I also had a couple of cones of what looks like wool in a very fine gauge.  My mother had given me a bunch of cones, since she doesn't really crochet anymore.

Other possible options included embroidery floss, pearle cotton or any of my fine or superfine weight yarns.

I ruled out wool right away.  Even if I'm not sure if it's wool, I don't want to take a chance.  I am mildly allergic to wool, so it's not something I want touching my face and neck.

I admit I was really tempted by the metallic stuff, but again, this is going to be touching face and neck, so I didn't want anything scratchy.


I also considered going with white, since the cord is white and it would be more subtle that way, but then I figured it would start looking dingy much faster, and it's not like it can be through in the wash or anything.

I finally settled on the paler green of what I think is cotton.  There's a label inside, but I can't read it without taking it out, and it's stuck there pretty good.  It's another one from my mother.  I have no idea how old it is.






Time to break out the steel hooks!  I went with a 1.50mm hook for this, as I wanted it quite snug, and I was going to work only in single crochet.

I started with the section with the microphone and volume control, and began working near the ear bud itself.  I figured I wanted to get the shortest bits done first.

I joined the thread as close to the ear bud as I could.  The cord has a rubbery feel to it and is slightly elastic, as well as being flat, rather than round, like my other ear buds.  The texture means the stitches can't easily slide down the cord.  So it was important to work the stitches close together, and push them together often.

I don't usually work in thread, so this took some getting used to!




I also made sure to work over the tail end of the threat at the same time as working around the cord itself.  After working about an inch or so of single crochet, I pulled the tail snug to make the start look nice and neat, then trimmed it.

After that, it was just single crochet around the cord until I reached the controller.












I worked the stitches as snug to the controller as I could, then after snipping the thread with a tail long enough to sew in, I locked it with 1 chain stitch.



















I then used a size 22 tapestry needle to sew the end under the stitches.

Tapestry needles have rounded tips, similar to crewel or yarn needles, so there was little concern that the needle would stab into the wire. Still, it's something to watch out for.














I pulled the needle out after about an inch or so and didn't bother trying to go any further.  After pulling it snug to tidy up the last stitch, I snipped the thread as close as possible to the stitches.



















Here is the finished section.












I repeated the process on the other side of the controller, finishing off at the join.



















The process was repeated again for the other side.

When I was ready to sew in the tail end, I passed the strand through the last stitch of the previous side first, then hid the tail end under the stitches just worked.  This made it look like it was all in one piece.













Then the process was repeated for the rest of the cord, up to the jack.

The whole thing was quick to work up, even though I'm not used to working in thread and the cord itself kept wanting to twist on me, making it a bit of a pain.  With the pauses to fuss with my desktop (yeah, I need a new one of those, too) and to have supper, I'd estimate the actual stitching time took maybe 2 hours.



Now... the charger cord is something else entirely.  It's a thicker cord, and is not going to be touching sensitive skin at any time.

I foresee glittery yarn in my future.

They work!

While waiting for my first clay oil lamp to dry, I made a second one.

I wasn't happy with it. 

The goal is for even very small children to be able to make one, with as little muss and fuss as possible.  With that in mind, I took the clay from the second lamp and, using only half of the amount, made an even simpler and smaller version than the first.

That one, I'm very happy with.

Today, I tested them both out.

They work just fine!

The fuel is olive oil, which is what these lamps would have burned as fuel thousands of years ago.  For a wick, I used a strand of cotton yarn.

I'm not sure how much oil either of them holds; at most, a quarter cup between the two of them, possibly less.

The lamp on the right (the first one I made) has a much shallower usable reservoir; the opening to hold the wick is rather low, so any more would leak through there.  The one on the left has more of an incline for the wick, so more oil can be added.

The shallow lamp burned for about 2 hours before using up the oil.  The deeper one lasted perhaps half an hour longer.

When I have the time to spend on the computer, I will post a how-to on my Squidoo pages.  I'll post a link to there when that's done.

I think these will work rather well for VBS!

In the works: clay oil lamp

I've volunteered to work the crafting station of our church's Vacation Bible School this summer.  We're in the early planning stages.

One of the things we've decided to do is *not* buy the craft kits from the US.  Instead, we'll be coming up with themed crafts of our own.

The challenge?  Registration is just started, and the age range for registrants is 5-12.  That's a HUGE difference in abilities and interest!

So I've been trying to brainstorm various craft ideas that can be as simple or as complex as the abilities of the crafter, that is also thematic.  Time is limited, as groups will be coming through the stations on a rotation (I've never done one of these before, so I have no idea what it's really like; just how it's planned).  Things have to be quick, relatively easy, not very messy, and if they require drying time, won't take up much space.

Also, the themes are related to water and the sea (Jesus walking on water, calming the storm, instructing the fishermen to throw their nets one more time, etc.).

I've decided to test out an idea.  Air dry clay oil lamps, shaped like fish.  I've picked up some terra cotta modeling clay and some light vinyl - the sheet can be cut into sections for each individual quite easily.  I found using the small sheet also made it easier to move my clay shape around as needed.

I deliberately kept things simple, without attempting to go into too much detail, nor to attempt any sort of "perfection."  I wanted to see if this was something a 5 yr old could do.

This is what I've got so far, after drying over night.  The clay needs 24 hours to dry, which could be an issue, but after about a third of the time, it was dry enough that I could remove it from the sheet without breaking anything, yet still soft enough that I could smooth out a few rough spots I couldn't reach while it was still fully damp.

The tail is meant to double as a handle.  The body will hold olive oil.  The wick holder was shaped using a pencil, which was also used to mark designs on the sides and tail.

Including time to knead the clay (which would be done in advance, I think, so wouldn't be part of the crafting time), it took me less than half an hour to make this.  Now that I have an idea of what I'm doing and no longer have to pause to get things I didn't think of ahead of time, I think I could probably make one in about 10 minutes.


After it's completely dry, I will test light it.  I need to make sure the wick is held properly.

Or, someone could "cheat" and just put a tea light inside the bowl, instead.

I will likely make at least one more before our first planning meeting on Friday.

What do you think?  Older kids would easily go all out with this, if they wanted.  I think the shape is basic enough that younger children can manage it, but it's been a long time since I've done crafts with children so young.  I don't even know if we'll get kids that young!

Is there anyone who has done camp crafts that can give me some feedback and suggestions?