Kitchen Towels

My mom gave me these adorable kitchen towels for my birthday this year, but they're too nice to use for drying our hands. I'd love to make them into pillows or sachets or something. Anyone have any ideas?

In The Garden: Front Yard

We bought our townhouse in the fall of 2005, and the following spring I started the arduous task of cleaning up the front yard. A task that I continued working on for the next five years. To be honest, I'll probably never really finish the front yard. It seems to be a constant work in progress. Today I was looking back over my blog posts, and I ran across a post I did back in 2006 about beginning the clean up process. I can't believe how different the yard looks today compared to five years ago. Check it out.

This is what the front yard looked like in the spring of 2006 before I started digging.

And this is what it looked like after about eight hours of digging. See those little green plants lining the rock border I created? Believe it or not, I actually dug those out of the lawn. They're violets and were essentially weeds growing in the lawn. Nothing like a few free plants to make the garden look nice.

And this is what the front yard looks like today. Holy crap, Batman! Pretty incredible what a few plants and some time will do to transform a space. My cousin gave me the yellow and purple irises and one of my dear college friends gave me a few of the other plantings. Check out those bushy green plants lining the perimeter. Those are the same violets I dug out of the lawn back in '06. Amazing, huh?

In The Garden: Peonies

Every spring the most gorgeous peonies burst through the earth and envelop the light post outside our door. Everything about them makes me happy.

Sewing Projects: H&M Avocado Green Blouse Refashion

I found this top at Goodwill a few weekends ago. I love the overall look and color of it but I'm not a fan of the sleeves. So I cut them down and created a modified tulip sleeve. Sorry about the before shot. I had basically just rolled out of bed.

Sewing Projects: Balsam Sachet

Nothing beats a handmade sachet filled with balsam fir needles. Okay I can think of a couple things that might win out, but still sachets that smell like a Christmas tree are lovely. And make the perfect gift.

Work in Progress: Linocuts for Spring

I've been working on some new linocuts. So far I've only done one so I guess I should say "linocut," but I have plans for a whole series of spring flowers. The one pictured below is a forsythia branch. I just love forsythia with its vibrant yellow popping up all over the place in the spring, beckoning me to trespass on strangers' lawns to cut its branches and use them in fabulous floral arrangements in my house. But alas, my momma taught me not to trespass, so I just dream about such arrangements and sigh.

Several people online have talked about how fun and easy it is to sew paper, so tonight I decided to try my hand at it, and they're right. It is fun! And super easy! So far I've only sewn the card shown below (one of my linocuts), but I've got plans baby. Oh boy do I have plans. Maybe I'm overselling it. I've got a couple small ideas.

I've also been experimenting with handmade paper envelopes. I made the one shown below out of paper from an old font book.

Sewing Projects: Polka Dot Shirt Refashion

Like many sewers, I have a huge pile of clothes waiting to be tended to. Some need simple repairs, but most are items I plan to refashion, so they will require a bit more work. For some reason this pile seems to grow instead of shrink (I can't image why that is.), and some days I wonder if I will ever be able to see my sewing table again. Well, I'm happy to report that I tackled my very first refashion yesterday and I think it turned out great! Check out the before and after shots below and let me know what you think.

One down. About ten to go. Baby steps.

In the garden: spring cleanup and planting

Well, I finally found time to get in the garden and clean things up to make room for all the new growth sprouting away in my yard. Every year I am amazed by the shear number of weeds that pop up EVERYWHERE. It seems like I never get ahead of them. Last Friday, I made some major headway and I think my front flower beds have never looked better. I still have a lot of work to do, but I see real progress here. Here's a couple shots I took two weeks ago of the flowers I bought and one of the planters I placed some of them in.