Happy Halloween!

Ah, it's my favorite holiday, Halloween. Time to get dressed up and beg the neighbors for candy.

The weather looks to be beautiful here in Minnesota and the whole family is looking forward to going out tonight. (unlike last year when it was 15 degrees)

If you're not quite up to hiking around with a bag of sugar, here are a few treats that I've had my eye on that will be a bit easier on the dental work. Enjoy!

This super cool piece of woollen art was made by Woollyfabulous. It's made from felted wool sweater material and is utterly amazing.

Felt brooch

One of my favorite indulgences is this wonderful sugar scrub by Skinandtonic. Her scents are amazing and the quality of her products is comparable to your high end department stores. This is the treat to pick if your poor skin is suffering from dryness. You'll love it.

Not Yer Average Hipster Sugar Scrub 8 oz

These magical little pumpkins are the perfect seasonal decorations, by tizib. Lovingly needlefelted they look at once earthly and ethereal. I can see these on a nature table from fall through Thanksgiving.

Magic Pumpkin

Small things

There are "small things" we can each do in our lives to live a thriftier, more earth-healthy life. In looking at my own habits, I've identified some things that while not earth-shattering, have simply become a way of doing things for me. I thought perhaps I'd share some of these things weekly and hope in turn you'll share some with me.

Today's small thing is... re-thinking tissue paper. I haven't used tissue paper in a few years, that is, of the traditional sort. I happened upon the idea of using the tissue from sewing patterns while browsing my local thrift store. I like the way they look, they allow me to reuse, and I can find them affordably.

The extra paper from the pattern is used for envelopes, cards, and tags, with the excess paper being used to create handmade paper.

I'm sure there are other great ways out there to wrap without using new, bleached tissue paper. Perhaps small bits of fabric would be an option? Newsprint? Magazine pages?

What else are you crafty beings doing out there? I'd love to hear.

Wordless Wednesday

Small things

There are "small things" we can each do in our lives to live a thriftier, more earth-healthy life. In looking at my own habits, I've identified some things that while not earth-shattering, have simply become a way of doing things for me. I thought perhaps I'd share some of these things weekly and hope in turn you'll share some with me.

Today's small thing is... making your own stuffing. I work a lot with felted wool sweater material and after I've cut my designs, I'm always left over with small bits and odd shapes of wool. Some of these are large enough to save but there are invariably bits that are just not big enough to reuse. I cut these bits into even smaller bits and use them to stuff all of my stuffed projects. The wool makes a fine stuffing for projects large and small - even though large projects get a little heavy (great if you want to win a pillow fight the dirty way).

By using what we have, we eliminate the need to buy new and also help cut down, literally, on some of that inevitable "crafter's clutter".

You all have crafters clutter too, right? :D

Wordless Wednesday

Small Things

There are "small things" we can each do in our lives to live a thriftier, more earth-healthy life. In looking at my own habits, I've identified some things that while not earth-shattering, have simply become a way of doing things for me. I thought perhaps I'd share some of these things weekly and hope in turn you'll share some with me.

Today's small thing is....thinking "repurposed" for your envelopes and tags. Let's face it, we like pretty papers, and there are a lot of pretty papers out there to choose from. There are many offered now that are made of recycled content with earth-friendly dyes, but many more that aren't.

If your aesthetic runs like mine, however, you'll be inevitably drawn to vintage and repurposed papers. See, I love the slightly yellowed look of old paper, I like its texture, and I love its history. Instead of buying new, I make my envelopes and tags out of old book pages, vintage sewing pattern instructions, and vintage sheet music. But hey, why stop there? In the photos below, I'm using a 1933 shorthand textbook that I found in a free pile at a yard sale, but you could use phonebooks, catalogs, junk mail, your kids' endless supply of take home information sheets from the PTA, whatever you have around. How about paper shopping bags or old holiday cards?

Last week, Kelly from macaroni and glue, commented that she saves "...little bits of kraft paper, snippets of patterned paper, etc. It's amazing how often you can avoid buying something new if you're not wasteful in the first place!"

Impact? Depends. If you use a lot of paper, opting for a free source such as a catalog or saving those snippets of paper, could save you a fair amount of money and make you feel good too. What's better than that?

And if you don't have the time or inclination to make your own, a quick search on Etsy will yield some beautiful results.

Repurposed envelope set - The Golden Shore from maidenlove's etsy shop.

Stop those unwanted catalogs at: http://www.catalogchoice.org/

Wordless Wednesday

Small things

Today I'm considering the "small things" we can each do in our lives to live a thriftier, more earth-healthy life. In looking at my own habits, I've identified some things that while not earth-shattering, have simply become a way of doing things. I thought perhaps I'd share some of these things weekly and hope in turn you'll share some with me.

Today's small thing is...saving strings. I use a lot of embroidery floss in my work and am often left with short tails or pieces I've split into thinner threads. Instead of tossing these, I save them for when I only need a little bit of thread and I've been surprised at how often these come in handy. Impact? Teeeeeeeny tiny, but if every little bit helps...

Wordless Wednesday

Comfort

We lost a loved one this past weekend. She had been ill, and though she'll be missed, her passing comes with comfort knowing that she is no longer suffering. After the busy-ness of the week has passed, family gatherings, the funeral services, etc., it's back to the business of life. No time to curl up and feel sad, there are children to feed, obligations to complete, and stalled projects to continue.

I do find myself creating comfort in small ways these last few days; baking bread, mending clothes, checking off to-do lists... Tasks with purpose and completion. Necessary tasks, humble tasks, comforting tasks.

I can feel that familiar pull towards the spontaneity of creating however and I'm eager to get back at it.

And life goes on.