Ready Made

Ready Made Magazine that is. I love this magazine but never subscribed until the Maker Faire last year when they were doing promotional subscriptions for $5.00 a year. For $5.00 I thought I couldn't lose and so far I haven't. It has an eclectic mix of how to make stuff, what to buy and some wonderful regular contributors. One that I particularly like is the interview series that asks someone HDYGTFAJ! (How Did You Get that F***ing Awesome Job! with apologies for the profanity). In addition Todd Oldham does a column on making simple accessories for you and your home. Who can resist a column called Hod Toddy?

The June/July issue is all about vacations but with a Ready Made twist. There are reviews of various camps where you can learn furniture making, basket weaving, fly fishing or a number of other adult pursuits. Another article has a whole bunch of camping equiment from smaller manufacturers. I thought the article on how to build a camp fire was pretty lame until I remembered how difficult this skill is for most of the participants in the TV show Survivor. They even devoted a couple of pages to vacationing at home in unusual ways. Heck, I even learned that the first hot dogs were invented in 1690 and called 'little dashchunds' (ewww!).

I have never made any of their projects but with the beginning of pool weather I decided to try Todd Oldham's Beach Tote. The complete instructions are in the magazine and online as well. My towels were bigger than he used but I think it turned out pretty well.

Folded up and ready to carry over the shoulder:

Unfolded down the stairs with the pillow at the top:

Close-up of the pillow and the side pockets:

I didn't have enough webbing or cord for the handles to reach all the way around the bottom so I improvised with some marine cord I had in the garage. I also put the handles on the short edges of the bag for stability. The pouch at the top of the bag has three pockets. The large middle one for an extra towel to be used as a pillow, and two smaller ones which seem just the right size for paper back books, water bottles and sun screen. Though I am not a great swimmer I do enjoy time at the pool and, with this tote, I will definitely have all I need for an hour or two at the community pool this summer.

Stay cool!