from scraps to doodles

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for the first time in the nearly 10 (gasp!) years we've been homeschooling, we ended the school  year with a stack of worksheets. i wanted an alternative to tossing them into the recycling bin, so turned them into doodle pads for elfling.

here is how i did it:

* make sure the papers are all blank-side up.

* cut them in half, across the middle.

* separate into manageable stacks. too thick & you could break your needle.

* cut covers for each (fronts & backs) from grocery bags.

* place a front & a back on either side of each stack.

* choose a short side to be the top, & sew a straight stitch 1/4 an inch from the edge.

* go back to the beginning, & sew (at the edge) a zig-zag stitch.

* repeat for each doodle pad.

i recommend that you do this when you are not bone-weary from lack of sleep. i was that, & the result is the worst sewing job. ever. 

i'm in love with the illustrations on trader joe's grocery bags, which is what i used to cover these doodle pads. if you want to see what else i do with the bags, read this tutorial.

i hope you are inspired to reuse paper that still has one blank side. if so, let me know what you come up with!

~peace.

the princeling of pestilence

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my sweet elfling prince has been sick for a few days now. he has had bursts of energy  now & again, but mostly his play has been quiet. (note :: i detest that toy he's holding. it is the loudest piece of plastic. it is crapstic.)

i haven't been able to enjoy that quiet however, because i have been too busy feeling my heart break. would you just look at that teeny red nose? & oh my - those puffy eyes make me want to cry. sigh.

my hope is that by the time you are reading this, he'll be back to normal. i am not getting much time to myself right now, so am writing this post a day in advance. that makes my today your tomorrow, and your today my yesterday. or some such.

~peace.

ps :: the crown he is wearing is one of my new smaller birthday crowns. whilst the regular ones can be adjusted to any head size, these new ones are scaled down for dinky heads. i'll get them in theshop... eventually.

pps :: that adorable shirt is by my sweet friend soap. i don't know if she has any in stock, but you can always ask her. here is the link.

gardening with found objects - the sequel

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elfling needed a bit of fresh air & vitamin d, (he has a pestilence) so whilst he was staring zombie-like at a line of ants, i snapped a few more photos of treasures to share with you.

that ladder is another curbside treasure found by thehobbit. it is from an old bunk-bed! i cannot tell you how peeved he was that i wouldn't let him use this in his bedroom. for what? i asked. dunno. was his reply. i am all for using objects in creative ways, but dunno is a bit on the vague side even for me. the ladder is only a few feet tall, so i have it propped behind a potted tomato. this variety is patio. a compact plant that thrives in containers. the fruit is round, about the size of a roma, & delicious. i've grown it a few years, & highly recommend it.

this is the beginning of elfling's play area. the found object is the base. i think it is an old metal shower bench. my friend pom found it, & knew i'd like it. the top is a new galvanized bucket that manlyman's mom gave to me a few months ago. i had planned on using the bucket for parties, but elfling had other plans. i love how they fit perfectly together. i won't attach them. leaving them separate means that elfling can take the bucket down, & drag it around the yard.

i love this little picnic table. i found it many years ago, in the ivy next to a whole foods parking lot. the whole thing is freakywobbly, so thehobbit & his friends have never sat at it. in the past it was covered in pots of flowers & herbs. currently we use it in the bbq area - that's our teeny camping grill atop it.

the stool isn't used in a creative way; we sit on it. i have no idea what it's doing in the bbq area, & didn't even think to put it away before taking the photo. i'm wild like that. in which wild means lazy.

thanks for visiting my garden - see you soon!

~peace.

gardening with found objects

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it's no secret that i love to surround myself with old things. i don't know what it is that draws me to them, but draw me they do. in thebelfry i try to keep my love of the shabbier things to a minimum. i do decorate with mostly old, thrifted, found, rescued, etc objects inside, but i save the more rustic treasures for outside. poor manlyman can only be pushed so far. he's a dainty thing ;)

thehobbit, aka my partner in treasure hunting, spotted the chair a few weeks ago. someone was actually throwing it away! it has no broken bits, & is as sturdy as can be. because it has lots of rusty metal fancies on it though, i opted to not use it in any of the seating areas. i'd hate for someones clothing to snag, or for elfling to scratch himself. it makes a fabulous plant stand, don't you think?

another recent curbside treasure was a pair of 8ft tall wooden shutters. we toyed with turning them into a headboard, but that would require actual time in which to get things done. instead i leaned them against the garage wall, & planted a tomato at the bases. this variety is indeterminate, so my hope is it will grow up the shutters, then onto the garage roof.

this area is thehobbit's pride & joy. please ignore the tall grasses growing through the nasturtium, & up behind the chairs. he wanted a shelf on which to display his succulents, but we didn't have anything that suited. i remembered that we'd used 2 kiddie chairs pushed together, as a plant stand, elsewhere, so thought i'd give it a try here.

luckily it worked! i had a pair of wobbly chairs that were perfect, except for their rush seats. well, to be  honest there was so little rush left that they pretty much had no seats. the top from a wonky table fixed that problem, et voila! a hobbity shelf.

what you cannot see through the tall grasses in need of pulling is on what that fern is sitting. it's an old metal stool that i rescued from a curb long before i had a partner in treasure hunting. wow. i almost wrote a tiny partner. sometimes i forget that at 13 thehobbit is now my height. not so tiny.

there are, to the bewilderment of my sweet husband, many more found treasures in the garden & on the farm, but those will have to wait for another day. have a lovely one, do!

~peace.
because i know some will ask :: the pretty glass things on thehobbit's shelf are his telephone pole insulators. my mother-in-law has a vast collection, & has lovingly shared a few with him.