I have been going through my pattern list, looking for holes in the products. What jumped out at me was a lack of kerosene wall fixtures. A good project for a Saturday afternoon

The result was a simple sconce. It has a reflective back and uses a glass font. The combination of tin, glass and brass has all ways been a favourite.

My main concern in the design was creating a safe bracket the would hold the glass font. The bracket will be subjected to a lot of action every time the lamp needs oil. I think the weakest point will be where the ring, that holds the font. It is only attached at 3 points should one point of attachment become loose, the whole lamp could become unstable. To make the ring more secure I decided to attach it at the back with a rivet.

To order a sconce visit the product page at www.pietersmatinworks.com

Hmm… James loves rib bones!

montrealfood.com: World’s Best Ribs

I love ribs. They are one of the first feasts every year as soon as it warms enough so that I can control the temperature in my smoker. Winter here in the Great White North can be long. With all the bloody snow this year – it does some bleak.

To brighten things up this march break with the kids I thought I would make some ribs – everybody like ribs -even the twins like ‘em. They gum the bones like there’s no tomorrow. My last rib feed was for our secret super bowl party. They were ok but not great. the recipe came from one of cook books. It was so unmemorable I have forgotten which one.

This morning I had the ribs ready – but no recipe – a Google search later I came across this recipe. The cooking method jumped out at me – place the ribs right on the rack!

Here are some of my notes:

• I didn’t have time to let the ribs marinate with the rub.
• Despite the obvious concerns around the mess in the oven there was very little. I put a large cookie sheet under a roast pan. The grill cleaned up easily with a sponge.
• I used a convection oven which knocked 3 hours off the cooking time.

I am going to use this technique for other meats – CHICKEN!

Make your own cookie cutter

Every wanted to make your own cookie cutter? Our guide shows you how in step by step colour photographs. We show you all the steps in creating a cookie cutter including making of a jig and how to join ends together without having to solder.

Cookie cutters are fun to make. They are a welcome change to the day to day products we make.

Here are the steps I use to make a cookie cutter

1. Put on a good podcast. This is key.
2. Pick a subject. Some sort of noun.
3. Do a Google image search. Make sure you have safe search on, other wise you will be surprised at the variety of images you will see! You are looking for a simple shape. Or guide has some tips on what kind of image to select.
4. If you are having trouble finding a good image, add “outline” to the image search. Also try a Google web search with your subject and “coloring book”
5. Once you have found the image print it off in the size of the cookie cutter you want. You can resize the image with most image editors. Windows Live Photo Gallery or Picasa are free programs you can use
6. Now the fun part grab the cookie cutter jig (we show you how to make this in the guide) and start bending.
7. Take your time. As with any craft there is some skill behind it.