Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Rice and Wool!

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may be aware that I have an embarrassingly large stash of felted sweaters. These are wool sweaters that have been washed in hot water and dried in a hot drier so that they shrank and became felt – a wonderful crafting material. Wool sweaters are not exactly a necessity of life in the OC, so they sell very cheaply on driveways. There was a time when I could hardly pass any of them up, leading to that stash. How large a stash, you ask? Let’s put it this way…I’m probably the only person you know who has slippers lined with cashmere felt.

In any case, I’m always on the lookout for ways to use my felt, and today I came up with something new: a secure mount for my new GPS!

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I almost ordered a ‘portable friction mount’ along with the GPS, but hated to spend another twenty bucks or so. Decided to see what the dashboard mount thingie that came in the package was like. And it holds the GPS just fine – it just won’t stick anywhere in my car. I didn’t want it on the windshield, and the slanty dashboard wouldn’t hold it at all.

But there’s a bit of space between the gear shift and the heater controls. So I took a felted sweater sleeve, cut a tiny hole in the center and inserted the head of the swivel mount through it, then sewed around that to keep it in place. Each end was filled with rice and stitched shut. The weighted ends hang down over the center console keep everything in place.

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Have to say I’m pleased as punch to have solved my GPS mounting problem so inexpensively (fifty cents worth of rice and maybe ten cents of sweater sleeve). And my felt stash is about half an inch lower!

7 comments:

  1. I'm impressed! (And storing up knowledge for future reference...) I've just scrolled down through your last few posts and enjoyed reading your news, although I'm quite exhausted too!

    I'm doing a pick and mix book giveaway (people choose the titles they want and then I order them for the winner) and one of the books included on my list is yours'! I rather hope the winner chooses it...

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  2. very inventive! and less than a dollar...as opposed to $20?? you truly are the Queen!! *e*

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  3. Wow! That is so clever! It looks really great. Form, function, crafty and resourceful, not to mention inexpensive and recycled...shoot, this project has it all!

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  4. Very clever! We have a pad on the dash that I use to stick my GPS and it works well, but this is way cute!

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  5. I really miss you and your inventions! Email me when you have time. I interviewed in SLC yesterday. Hopefully it was as good as I thought it was. Hope all is well in Oregon with you and the hubby.

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  6. ETSY!!! You could make a fortune. I'll buy one!

    Really.

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I really love your comments. Thanks for coming along on my thrifty adventures!

 
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