finished

supplies

will and i are expecting a porcelain teapot (with infuser!) in the mail soon.

that lovely new teapot, along with these pretty little thrifted teacups, will help support our enormous tea habit.

  

also from the thrift store.  i thought these purses had some potential.

i don't know what to do with them yet.

  

from my mom.  a giant jar full of buttons and some clothespins.  thank you. :)

  

also from marcy - a 45s box from the record store. 

take a peek at the inside.

  

this year, i want to paint more,

learn to knit and crochet,

use my sewing machine lots,

take beautiful pictures,

and keep writing.  i've got to always keep writing,

because it's how i stay sane.

molly.

no one else has them

when all of the fun, artsy blogs i've been following insisted there would be owls at the thrift store,

they weren't kidding.  look at this fun one i found.

robinson crusoe + jane eyre = owl pedestal

his new home.  i wonder where he's been before.

an inexpensive assortment of fabrics. 

the men's shirt and the yellow floral bed sheet are my favorites.

front and back of pillow number 1

pillow number 2.  spawned from a delicate pink pillow case.

i'd like all of this to result in an eccentric gang of living room pillows. 

a conversation between me and will.

-do you like them?

-yes.  no one else has them.

i was blog surfing, as i often do, and came upon this one.  this woman was once working with orphans in haiti, and while what i did in chicago doesn't come close, what she said in an interview really tore me open.  she's placed glasses over my blurry eyes.  this is how said blogger answered the following questions.

1. Why did you start your blog?
-I went to Haiti to work with orphans for the first time three years ago. When I got home, I remember sitting on a closed toilet seat in my house and bawling my eyes out because I felt like I couldn't make a difference anymore. My life since that night has been a process of learning how wrong I was. That trip was the beginning of my whirlwind - three years, six transfers and five moves later, I've come to believe that you can make a difference from wherever you are, no matter who you are. This blog is 1. my way of blooming wherever I am planted and 2. my way of celebrating normal people making a difference from where they are at.

2. What do you hope to achieve with your blog?
-I hope to notice the little things. I hope to think less about myself, and more about the causes other people are promoting. I hope to tell the stories of people who don't tell their own, whether that be the orphans I've met, the friends I have that are devoting years to working with human rights overseas, or the way my grandfather makes me laugh, every single day.

3. Describe your blog in one sentence.
-I think I could better describe it with a quote. "This is the urgency: Live and have your blooming in the midst of the whirlwind." - Gwendolyn Brooks

pillow + garland

will drove me in horrible weather to walmart so i could pick up some supplies for my first project, which was so nice of him.  i was feeling ready to tackle the pocket pillow. but no doilies at walmart - so sad.  and too much snow to go to the craft store.  this horrible "lace" had a plasticky sheen to it, but i had to get creative.

a close up on my button closure.  i loved that brown fabric.

my pocket.

i was starting to get a feeling that there's too much fabric when i was stuffing the pillow. 

will claims to have noticed, too, but didn't want to say anything.

and it turns out i was right.  that evening i ended up with a "manute bol" pillow. 

the next morning i woke up and fixed it before i went to work. 

[just don't look at the blanket stitch on the bottom.]

here is my thrift store suitcase and its contents.

following katherine's tutorial, i tried some finger garland.  lots of imperfections,

but then i've got a lot of practicing to do.  it's the fattest yarn ever and this bright yellow caught my eye.  i made it while watching it's always sunny in philadelphia, which i think is appropriate.  :)

today i'll be making some things, but they're meant to be christmas gifts,

so i'll post them privately until after they're opened!