Fair Trade Fair

[livingdeb]

Today I went to a fair trade fair and three things tempted me, though I didn't get them.

1) Red chili pepper earrings - I've been wanting some red earrings, and I really liked these, but they were a little big for me.

2) A tiny zipper bag - I have one already that I really like for holding credit-card sized things. I use it to hold my frequent buyer cards. None of the ones at the fair were quite beautiful enough to make me grab them.

3) A bread warmer - This had three parts to it. There was a woven basket. Then, inside that, there was a double-layer piece of cloth, sort of in the shape of a big cross. On top of that was a large microwaveable bean bag (I would guess a rice bag actually). You microwave that, then set it in the basket on top of the cloth, and then arrange your warm bread on top. Then you fold over the four long parts. And now your bread stays nice and warm.

Normally, I've just seen people using basically a large cloth napkin and folding it over the dinner rolls in a basket (or a plastic container with a lid to keep tortillas warm). The microwave bean bag thing is awesome. However, I never actually use these things.

There was another very interesting thing I couldn't quite figure out. There was a rather large fabric pocket, sort of in the shape of a windsock, with the top held open by something round and stiff. This reminded me of a clothespin bag. That was connected, at one side of the open top, by a strip of cloth, to a bean bag so you could set the bean bag on the table and have this big pocket hang off the side. The bean bag had a pin in it, to illustrate that it was a pin cushion. But I couldn't figure out what you would put in the wind sock part. It looked just the right size for a thing of yarn and a bit of knitting, but (as far as I know), you don't need a pin cushion for knitting. And it was a little too long to hold your remote controls without having to dig into it to fish them out.

I mostly just went to the fair because it was a good excuse for a walk, since it was at a local church, and it was a lovely day for it.

Comments

[pamwheatfree.livejournal.com]

I have two of the bean bag heater things. I use them both for heating pads. One of them is filled with rice which smells kind of like oatmeal when heated in the microwave and the other is filled with flax seed and smells sharp like witch hazel when heated. I never thought about using them to keep bread warm. It makes perfect sense. I think I will try it.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

I used to have one shaped to go on your shoulders like a collar and filled with all kinds of nice-smelling things like cinnamon, and I think you were supposed to warm it up to sooth your stressed neck and shoulder muscles and sooth away your stress headache with relaxing aromas. I didn't use it except I liked to sniff it sometimes. But then moths got to it. Moths like rice.