Believe it or not, I’m still crocheting little vases. In fact, I just received a wholesale order for three sets. I’ve finally worked through most of my tan and navy wool and can’t wait to start using some new color combinations.
Thank goodness it’s football season. If you need me, I’ll be on the couch surrounded by yarn.
The kids exchanged treats at my daughter’s preschool party today. Thankfully, the Skittles came in an orange package. Paired with a black ribbon, these little bags turned out cute and easy. Good thing about the easy because I had to make emergency fairy wings last night, too.
reuse and repurpose: I bought glassine bags instead of Halloween bags so I can use the leftovers for other projects. The ribbon is vintage seam binding, which you can usually find in bags of assorted widths and colors at thrift stores and garage sales.
Wow. This time last year I was doing the same exact thing: cutting out pictures for my daughter to paste on paper. It must be the official start of the holiday direct mail season.
Last year we put all of the shapes together in a single envelope, which created a lot of mess. She’d dump all of them out just to find one or two that she wanted. This year we are sorting them by category to make it a little easier.
Now that she’s using scissors, this is even more fun for her. Of course, we’ve created a whole different mess of scraps on the floor, but who cares. It keeps her busy and she enjoys it. I just need to remind her that we only cut paper and not hair!
envelopes: My daughter loves writing little notes and was cruising through my stash of envelopes. I started saving the ones that come with all of our junk mail. She’s got a nice supply now and that’s what we used to sort her cutouts.
catalogs: Did you know you can cut down the amount of paper that gets delivered to your mailbox? I’ve had good luck with Catalog Choice. Only problem is when you order something new, you get put on the mailing list again. At least we’re putting the catalogs to good use!
Ever since I started knitting socks, I’ve wanted to knit a pair for everyone in my family. There’s something about giving a gift of warmth, especially when it’s handmade, that I really like. I just don’t have time to make it happen, so I started to think of alternatives.
One day I was looking through Linen, Wool, Cotton and saw a pattern for socks using angora wool and I got an idea. I’ve got plenty of wool sweaters in my stash. Why not make a pair of socks out of that?
These are basically a tube with one rounded end. I didn’t felt the wool, but used my serger to enclose the raw edges. The cuff has a casing for elastic to help them stay up. The button is just for decoration.
I see more of these in my future. I’ll be looking for superwash or wool blend sweaters so they can be machine washed. I’m also thinking about stripes, fair isle and cables. The possibilities are endless!
alternatives: If you don’t have a serger, you could felt the sweaters first so the edges don’t unravel or try the zig zag stitch on your machine. Felted socks may be too thick to wear with shoes, but would make great slipper socks for lounging around.
The day before our vacation the little crochet bottles sold. When I got back home, I started to miss having them around. So I’ve decided to make a few more—some for the shop, some for gifts and some just for me. I’m also experimenting with different sizes, shapes and types of yarn. I love how a little re-purposing can transform a castaway into something beautiful.
Speaking of beautiful, don’t miss the lovely spaces over at Kirsty’s blog.
I think my exact quote for the morning was, “You are not allowed to buy any more sewing machines and I am not allowed to buy anymore sweaters for unraveling.” But when my friend and I got separated at a street filled with garage sales, I had no one to help me with my will power. This sweater is so soft. The colors will look great in my house. I’m thinking join-as-you-go granny square lap blanket.
recycle: “…to take an unloved garment, destined for the landfill, salvage the wool, and give it a brand-new start as a beautiful knit gift; it’s sure to be appreciated by any recipient who loves the planet.” Lee Meredith
In my creative space today, I spent the last day of my vacation crocheting squares at the beach. I’m cruising along on these, although it took way too long for me to memorize the pattern. Of course, now that I’m all relaxed and on a roll, it’s time to go home.
Make sure you pop on over to Kirsty’s blog for more creative spaces.
I’ve been watching a lot of What Not to Wear lately. Stacey and Clinton have got me thinking about my refashioning. I need to start picking items that are both easy to alter and will look good on my body shape.
One thing they recommend for my shape is a pointy toe shoe, which lengthens the leg line. They’ve also declared metallic shoes the new neutral and ok for daytime.
So of course when I saw these puppies in my size I had to get them. They look fabulous with my dark denim jeans.
thrifting: Church rummage sale.
Wow, just wow. Homemade granola tastes awesome. I adapted a recipe that my daughter brought home from Cooking Camp this summer. I need to do a little bit more fiddling with it to get the calorie count down, but this is definitely going to become a staple in our house. Right now I’m sprinkling it over my morning oatmeal. Delish!
reuse: Did you notice the mason jar? Classico pasta sauce comes in jars that are great for reusing as storage. Their organic pasta sauce is pretty tasty, too.
Ever since Amy posted a tutorial for fabric snack bags on her blog, I’ve been itching to make some. I took the photo after three were finished because I was losing daylight, but I made a total of nine. I easily got three bags out of a each fat quarter of fabric. Serging made this a super fast project, but I don’t think it would take too long with a sewing machine and some pinking shears.
reuse: I’m slowly reducing the plastic bag consumption in our household. The fabric is left over from the toy storage bags I made a few years ago.