Outdoor Food Guards

You know how you can never find the right lid to a container you want to use? All those plastic lids start looking just alike and, the longer you go through them, the more irritated you can become. But if youre having an outdoor meal youre going to need those lids. Otherwise, youll face flies, bees and gnats trying to get at your fried chicken, burgers or other foods. No one wants that. Even if you can find the lids to your bowls sometimes they can actually be a hindrance. If, for example, the bowls are colored plastic, with the lid in place you cant see whats in the dish. And, if the dishes youre using are glass or melamine you might not even have lids for them at all. Solve all your lid problems by doing one simple craft. Make outdoor food guards and youll have lids for bowls, pans, pots and even glasses. Its quick, easy and inexpensive to make covers for food and drinks in many different types of containers.

Have you ever done embroidery work? To make things much easier for the person doing the embroidery a hoop is used. The hoop actually is two hoops. Theres one hoop on the inside of another hoop. Fabric is placed over the small hoop, then the large hoop is slipped over it, and theres a small hardware piece which is then used to tighten the two together. The set of hoops keeps the fabric taut and also provides the needlework crafter a way to hold the fabric flat while working on it. Those embroidery hoops are perfect for creating lids for any number of dishes you use outdoors. Theyre available in various sizes and, with them, you can create a collection of lids in minutes.

Choose a material for making the lids. You can use cheesecloth or fabric which is fairly thin. If you use cheesecloth or netting youll be able to see the food through the lid. Although you can virtually use any fabric which isnt especially thick, cotton or linen is ideal. Cut a piece to be square or round and to be a little wider than the embroidery hoop is in diameter. Separate the two hoops, lay the fabric over the small one, then position the large hoop over the small one, trapping the fabric between the two rings. Tighten the ring down a little at a time, while tugging slightly at the edges of the material to make it taut. After the clamp is tightened the lid is ready to use. Cover bowls, plates, glasses, pitchers, pans and more simply by making assorted sizes of the lids. Youll never want to be outdoors eating without them.