Bright Bulb

As I prepared to scrape down and scrub off the cooking sheet yet again, I had a brilliant idea.

I'm going to get a new one. 

Seriously?  This cookie sheet (like all my cookie sheets and all my towels up until a few months ago) have been in my possession since I left my parents' house for college.  And they were hand-me-downs at the time!  Some of these, I shit you not, were my mom's when she was a newly wed!  I think it's safe to say I've gotten the maximum use from this.  In fact, after a quick review of the baking cupboard, there are easily three other sheets that can be replaced. 

Because I am freakishly concerned about contributing to the landfill (exactly the kind of thinking that has me cooking on this monster in the first place), I will actually have to scrape down and scrub off the cookie sheet one last time...so I can use it to make a magnetic board.

Any suggestions on good cookware?  Because, obviously, my standards are quite high here.  :-/

They Nest!

Sometimes, I'll come across a blog that details in photographs a grand haul from a thriftstore, and it's always the same thing....
It will start off with something I always need and/or totally want....like these storage jars I can't seem to get enough of for everything from lentils to buttons, or these ridiculous ceramic bowls.





Did I mention the bowls?  They nest.  And pour.  Swoon!







Then there will be a stack of sheets, perfect for backing pieced blankets or to turn into a shirt or two.  Maybe even a big, perfect, king-sized  crisp white sheet, that can be dyed any color under the sun!  The photo will include a small (but necessary) stack of melamine plates, which I personally love to keep on hand for kid-meals.





A stack of vintage linens will follow.  So many of these are hand embroidered or edged with the most delicate of crocheting and tatting, and I always shake my head in wonder at how fantastically undervalued these items are on the second-hand market!

Same goes for a few dozen linen cloth napkins, or these handmade braided potholders that are so tight and thick and lovely they make me want to weep. 

Then the parade of vintage aprons (and it's always the same "picked up a dozen of these for $3.00!").

And then the next picture will undoubtedly be some handwork detailing on the vintage aprons that were practically free....






And the final picture, with the MOUNTAIN of useful, vintage, and/or precious-to-me haul, will invariable end with "and all this cost $11.00!!"







And I'm here to tell you, that is not how this story ends. I don't live in the Land of Nod, where somebody's grandma is selling aprons for a quarter.  I live in the SF Bay Area, where things cost money.  Did I mention the seven million people?  Yeah, it's crowded here.  So whatever it is, that you're looking for at  a thrift store or as a second-hand bargain, it's likely that about a hojillion other people are scouting out the exact same thing.  And some of those people (read:  most of them) will have a lot more money than you do, so they'll be willing to pay a lot more than a quarter for an apron.   Frankly,  it's rare that I even find this much wonderful all at one time.

I felt lucky to have found all this, and I even felt luckier that it "only" cost me $35.  The aprons were $2 each, and those bowls were a king's ransom in thrift money at $9 for the pair. 

But you saw the bowls, right?   *cute*

Timeout

My food scraps bin is on a timeout.

I was so excited to get the notification from our waste management company that they would start accepting food scraps, and paper products used with food, in the green recycling bin starting on June 1st.

A couple of weeks earlier, I started collecting the food scraps and dumping into the bin...then I couldn't put it out at the curb for a little bit. I have a worm bin, but they can only eat so much cast off, and you certainly can't put meat or mayo or a host of other things that, for reasons I cannot fathom, they are willing to take to the compost. I won't complain though, because our garbage output has declined from a 50 gallon bin once a week, to barely filling it in two weeks. Our 50 gallon recycling is always full, our 20 gallon green is now always full, and we're officially going to downsize to a 20 gallon garbage.

This makes me so happy!

What makes me very not happy is that my green bin, under the kitchen sink, is attracting ants. We're having a bit of an ant problem already, but this is ridiculous. I've had to put it on a timeout on the front porch.

Also, there's a definite...funk to the green bin these days. What is anybody doing about ants and stank, if I may ask?

New Year Motivation.....

It's the New Year. Oh, how I love the New Year! IdoIdoIdo! Everything about it. I feel so motivated and hopeful.

I have big plans, and today was to be the start with lots of purging and organizing. I love a freshly reorganized closet!

Sadly, I'm all hopped up on painkillers and penicillin at the moment, thanks to a dental procedure gone awry, and it's slowly sapping my get up and go.

Also not helping?

Certain Individuals who have figured out how to use open drawers as a staircase to the top shelf of a closet where Certain Things are hidden out of his reach and you may, legitimately, be wondering how long he had been gone before it occurred to anybody that he should be checked on. Because that's a lot of work he got done, and though he moves fast, the truth is this reflects more on my one-track-mind than on his naughtiness. *sigh* Time out, clean up, knock it off!





But not to worry, I'm going to bang out an hour or two this evening, then a couple more tomorrow, and hopefully then I'll be feeling well enough to go full throttle on a few other projects.

One thing I want to do is sew some of these for me. I made these for a few friends for Christmas. They are re-usable grocery bags that I repurposed some thrifted pillow cases for. They were so easy to make! And really kind of fun, too. I love the little bias tape on the top one, but I also quite like the size on the bottom one. I was experimenting with different styles, because I was kind of making it up as I went along. I think the top style is my favorite, but even when I make my own I'll definitely do several different kinds, just because I like a little variety. These are easy to keep in the trunk of the car, and then you can stop at any store and forego the plastic bags.

Because they're made of cotton, they're really great for fresh fruits and veggies from the farmer's market too.

There! And, besides attaching the bias tape, it's literally two cuts, two seams, and sewing two additional straight lines to make the bottom flat. That's my kind of sewing project, believe it.

A few months ago, I bought this wool blanket at the thrift store for $5. It was big and ugly, but it had a nice texture and it was 100% wool. When I bought it, I knew I wanted to cut it into useable chunks and dye it different colors. I got some regular old Rit dye from the grocery store and that's where my efforts stalled until just now.

I set up a little station on the stove, where I heated the water to a boil, added the dye, and then stirred in the wool patches for the recommended 30 minutes. I had no idea what would happen, but if it didn't work I'd be out nothing more than a few hours and a few bucks, and I thought it would be fun to try it out.

Using the laundry line that I have set up in the garage to try to cut down on drying sheets and a few loads of clothes every week, I let them air dry.

And at the end I had this beautiful stack of amazing wool felt! Wool felt is actually very expensive, and if I were purchase this much it would cost me over a hundred dollars. I was so pleased with my experiment! The colors came out so vibrant and so extraordinary! I even threw in a wool shawl that Erik accidentally turned pink in the washer. Unwearable until I dyed it a deep red (it's on top there).

I told Erik, "Look! Look what I did! Isn't this just amazing? I mean, all this wool felt, and look at all these great colors!"

And he said...."Couldn't you just buy them like that?"

*sigh* Yes. Yes I could.

I bought this pattern from Leila and Ben on Etsy. It was the sweetest transaction. They were so quick with sending the pdf pattern, I swear, I bought it around dinner time, they sent it, and I had one made before I went to bed! This is the third or fourth one I've made, and by far, it is my favorite.

I made this "capelet" for Dana's daughter, Cassidy. Cassidy will be five soon, and she is very appreciative of my handmades. First, I've been Frankensteining her favorite blankey together for over a year. It's....hideous. But, every time there's a new tear she tells her mom to not worry, "Mia can fix it". I don't really have this status with many people, so she has a special place in my heart.

Also, her pre-school was doing a unit on clothing, and she happened to be wearing a little swing coat/sweater I had made her last year. So she was telling the entire learning circle about how her "friend Mia" made her the sweater. I guess she got some attention for wearing handmade clothing, and now I am cemented in her mind as "source of good things".

Nonetheless, I'm always nervous to give people anything I've made. Her parents are really supportive of my handmade efforts, but I have to say that it can still be nervewracking. I really like this cape. It's easy to make. This one is made with a K hook from two 100g skeins of 100% organic cotton, and oh! it's sooooo soft!

For buttons, I use two of my grandma's clip on earrings from the costume jewelry I've saved that was hers. I think it's so precious, and I know my grandma would approve.