mud pies in the making

*

last week i stumbled upon mud stations on pinterest. i saw  fancy mud kitchens, simple mud kitchens, mud bars, & rustic mud pie stations. by the time i was finished looking, i knew we needed a mud station at thebelfry.

of course, in typical kat-fashion i decided this had to happen a) that very moment, & 2) whilst manlyman was away & the rest of us were down with a (to quote a friend) bad-ass cold. thehobbit, being the least bad-assificated (real word), was put immediately to work sweeping & hauling.

for a back-splash we are using an old headboard that i found on the side of the road a few years back. i had intended on making this, but ended up leaving it at the mercy of the elements instead. the work surface itself is our old coffee table, which had been dragged outside one year for a party, then also left at the mercy of the elements. (yes, i see a pattern.) right now the table is the perfect height for a toddler to stand at.

after things were swept & hauled, it was simply a matter of gathering tubs, bowls & cups from elsewhere in the yard, & some wooden spoons from thehobbit's old kitchen set. oh, & hanging a mini birthday bunting, of course.

there is still much to be done: shelves to house things, hooks for the back-splash, a thrift shopping expedition for kitchen tools, & so on. i think, however, that we have the makings of a wonderful mud station.

elfling got busy straight away, making pretend mud pies for me. i was too ill to deal with the aftermath of mud-play, so had not told him that he would be able to play with actual mud here. if the joy at puttering away at his little pretend mud station is any indication, cooking real mud pies is going to be mind-blowingly awesome.

~peace.
(i shall post photos when the mud station is complete!)

updated :: we've added an old crate, & more kitchen items.

making the mundane pretty since 2012

*

photo :: property of ormolou

this gorgeous old tray reminded me of something about which i'd been meaning to chat - my trash station. 

after too many years spent complaining that something liquid found its way into the trash, causing a leak that i (of course) stepped in, i did something about it. 

i took an old rectangular tray that had barely any silver-plate left, jumped for joy that it fit the spot where i kept the bags, then jumped even higher for joy that two paper bags fit perfectly on the tray.

the lip of the tray keeps any leaks contained, & is easy to wash/dry. that should be the best part of this, but it isn't. the best part is that it looks ever so pretty.

i would photograph the trash station for you, but that would mean i would have to first clean the kitchen. or that part of it, at the very least. 

how do you make the mundane pretty?

~peace.

before you yell at me for using paper bags - for most shopping i use cloth bags, however, i re-use the paper bags from one shop to make shipping envelopes. i also use them for collecting trash in the kitchen. i know it's best to use cloth bags for all shopping, but this way i am getting a second use for the bags, replacing the need to buy things that would get only one use to begin with (trash bags, shipping envelopes, doodle pads).

what would you do?

*

i bought this summer blouse at a thrift shop a few months ago. originally i was going to alter it to fit, but now i'm not so sure. if i removed the top bit, the rest would make an oh-so-kat skirt.

here is another view of the blouse. look at the gorgeously faded fabric! the ruffles! the embroidery! swoon.

well? what would you do?

~peace.

new shipping envelopes

*

i ran out of the smaller, padded envelopes. since my time for errands is limited these days, i didn't want to waste it on shopping for boring supplies. i'd much rather squeeze in a short trip to a thrift shop!

i've long wanted to create envelopes out of something i would recycle anyway. i tried magazine pages a few months back, but they looked sloppy. the other night i was walking around thebelfry, looking for something that would suit, when i spotted paper bags from the grocery store.

now don't get on me for wasting trees, please. i use cloth bags (heck, i make cloth bags!), i just don't always remember to bring them. so when i do bring home my shopping in paper bags, i reuse the bags.

i try to find uses that take the place of something i would have to buy - that way i eliminate the cost, & waste of another something. in the past i've used them for gift tags & wrapping paper (before i began using cloth bags & metal tins for prezzies), & made many hobbity sketch pads.

back to the envelopes: so i put the sets of shakespeare people into their cloth bags, wrapped them in (previously used) tissue - hahaha not tissue for blowing noses, for wrapping! - then measured the packets. i added 1.5 inches around, & cut out 2 pieces of bag for each set.

from there it was over to sewlie: a zigzag stitch on 3 sides, slide in a packet, & zigzag the whole shebang closed. because my market has fun designs on their bags, i slapped an address label onto each.

the first two:



i love them!

this isn't a permanent answer to my envelope quandary. after all, i am still working on remembering to bring my cloth bags to the market. for now though? i have the most fabulous envelopes that ever there were :)

for fellow bizzie owners: what to you re-purpose? let's share ideas, so we can get closer to a greener way of doing things!

~peace.