When you’re taking pictures indoors, ever want to get nice even lighting from your DSLR but can’t afford to buy a decent external flash, or don’t want to carry around an extra bag full of accessories when you go out?

Usually you can’t get enough lighting from indoor shots; built-in flashes are more for filling in shadows from bright sunlight, not illuminating indoor areas.

But with this home-made flash bounce, you’ll get much better results without spending much money on things like this or this. (I haven’t tried either of those; it’s more of an illustration)

All you have to do is download and print out the Shipwrecked with You flash bounce here or by clicking the image below!

Click through to see what a huge difference it’ll make in your photographs.

So here’s some results.

before:

And after:

before:

and after:

Here’s what it’ll look like when the flash is going off. Notice how the light is directed above, then reflects off of the ceiling, making for a more natural looking shot. Enough light even reflects off of your smooth bald head to fill the room with a warm glow. Huzzah!

When Joey and I first moved in together, we didn’t have much money to spend on furniture.  So instead of buying a couch for our living room, we bought a double papasan chair from Pier 1.  It started out great, and we felt so smart for all the money we saved, but over the years it’s been slowly falling apart.  We’ve already had to reinforce the frame once, and lately the cushion just gave up. We should probably just buy a new couch, but Joey graduates in just a few months, after which we plan to move to Oregon.  And I hate the idea of dragging a new couch across the country.  I thought about either buying or making a new cushion from scratch, but this weekend I decided to try opening it up and adding some new stuffing.  It worked beautifully and only took about half an hour from start to finish.  If you’re also suffering from a papasan cushion failure, here’s how I did it.

1.  First, I followed the seam until I found where the manufacturers had originally closed it.  Most cushions are sewn together with the insides facing out and a small opening left to invert it.  Once inverted and stuffed, this opening is then sewn flat creating a place on the seam with a visible lip.   This papasan cushion had two such places, but I chose the one where the tag had been, so I could get remove the leftover tag fabric left sandwiched between the cushion fabric.

2.  Once you locate the spot, use a seam-ripper to gently remove the closing stitches.

3. I somehow managed to not get a shot of this part, but it’s pretty simple.  Just feel around on the cushion for anyplace that feels loose, grab a handful of stuffing, and shove your arm into the cushion to put that stuffing into that loose spot.  I went through two nearly full bags of stuffing  (I suggest Morning Glory Premium Polyester Fiberfil) before my papasan cushion started looking full and fluffy again.

4.  Once your cushion is restuffed, pin the opening closed and handsew it shut.  You don’t have to worry about hiding your stitches to make it look pretty.  It just needs to be strong.

5. And that’s it, you’re done.  Hopefully your new cushion will not only look 100 times better, but it’ll also be way more comfortable than before.

Joey and I are watching this awesome documentary right now.  It’s magical, and really goes to show how hard work can pay off if you just stick with it and follow your passions.

Portuguese man o’ war – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

At the beginning of the year, Joey and I stopped eating processed foods.  We were overweight and unhealthy, and we knew we had to do something about it. When we first started our “diet”, we didn’t really know what we were doing.  We knew we wanted to eat lots of whole grains, fruits, and veggies as well as cut down on our sugar, fat, and meat intake.  It was a lot of work to get started, but so far we’ve done really well.  We make almost all our food at home from scratch, and we’ve lost around 50 pounds between us.  We still miss our old unhealthy favorites though, so we’ve been trying to recreate them on our own and make them healthier along the way.  One of our favorites is homemade pizza, which we lovingly call hippie pizza.  Hippie pizza is made from 100% whole ingredients, and in my opinion, 100% more delicious than any pizza I have had delivered to my home in a cardboard box.  It also takes less time from start to finish than the average pizza delivery in rural Mississippi.

Here’s how you can make it at home:

Hippie Pizza

Preheat the oven and pizza stone to 425 degrees.

Makes 1 large pizza.

Crust

• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups white unbleached flour
• optional:  1/2 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp rosemary, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp garlic powder

A delicious pizza starts with a good crust.  The crust we use is based on a recipe I found over here, and I love it because there’s no rise time.  That means I can start mixing it up when I get home from work, and I don’t have to wait forever to roll it out.

Step 1:  Add the water, yeast, and sugar to a large mixing bowl.  Mix it around enough to wet all the yeast and sugar, but then let it sit for a few minutes to activate the yeast.

Step 2:  Add all the remaining ingredients (flours, salt, olive oil, and herbs) and knead in the bowl for about 3 minutes.  If the dough is still sticky, add more flour (just a little bit at a time) until it isn’t.  When you’re satisfied with the consistency, let the dough rest about 15 minutes.  (I use this time to grate cheese, chop up toppings, or mix up the sauce.)

Sauce

• 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 fresh basil leaves (chopped) or 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp black pepper

Usually while I’m working on the pizza dough, Joey will mix up the sauce.  This recipe makes enough for at least two pizzas, so we freeze what we don’t use in a mason jar.  That way we can just pop it in the microwave the next time we need it.

Step 1:  Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir. That’s it, it’s super simple.

Toppings

Our toppings change every time we make a pizza.  It just depends on what we have around the kitchen.  Here are some suggestions:

• shredded mozzarella cheese
• shredded parmesan cheese (suggestion: wait until the pizza is finished baking and grate the parmesan right on top)
• feta cheese
• shredded chicken
• pre-cooked and chopped bacon
• sliced avocado (delicious on pizza)
• sliced mushrooms
• fresh sliced or sun-dried tomatoes
• sliced bell peppers

Put It All Together

Step 1:  Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough on parchment paper.  Carefully slide the parchment paper and crust onto the hot pizza stone, and prebake for about 3 minutes.

Step 2:  When your crust has finished prebaking, spoon half the sauce onto the crust and spread it around.

Step 3:  Add your toppings.

Step 4:  Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.  Pull it out when the cheese starts to brown.

Step 5:  Let cool, serve, and enjoy!

If you make this recipe, please leave us a comment and let us know how you liked it.

Around here at Shipwrecked, we like to make things. Special thanks to Bethany Johnson and Florie Crump!

We had to make up the beer company and create an actual physical package, which we then photographed. Enjoy!

The idea I had was of a company based on historic rivalries. Each six pack of beer would contain two kinds of beer selected to mirror each side of the rivalry for three of each kind.