A Time for Everything

What is it? Lincoln logs? Tinker Toys? Linker Togs?

I'll give you this much:  it's my next project. This piece was the first thing I saw when I walked in the door at the recent local historical society's annual garage sale. When I brought it home, my husband gave me that "you're crazy" look. Until I told him what I plan to do with it.

Stay tuned . . .

If you're a regular follower, you may have noticed I haven't posted as much this summer as I have in the past. That's not because I didn't have good intentions. Intentions to share photos of our lovely garden. Intentions to share a variety of craft and repurpose projects. Intentions to share what I hoped would be countless enviable garage sale, estate sale and thrift store finds.

But, as our beautiful spring gave way to the hottest, driest summer in half a century, my dreams of a gorgeous garden were scorched. And, well, life happened. So, most of my intended projects are still waiting in the wings and only I catch a garage or estate sale once in a while.

In the past few months, we've packed up our youngest and seen him off, master's degree in hand, to his first real job several states away. And, we've packed up my husband's parents'  household and overseen their transition to more senior-friendly and care appropriate surroundings.

Yes, this summer I've grown to understand the meaning of the sandwich generation. I've grown to appreciate how well my parents-in-law planned for the inevitability of their aging and how gracefully they did so. I've grown to realize that we, too,  have an obligation to our children to be so well-prepared and thoughtful of what they will face as we age. I've grown to savor each moment, each experience just a bit more than I did even just a few months ago.

Meanwhile, the projects are piling up and I'm looking forward to digging in. Maybe the fall will be my time.


Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense

This Space Leaves Me Speechless

Source

Old books. Discarded paper. Less-than-perfect linens. Blemished furniture. Chipped china. Grungy glass.

I hunt and gather imperfect vintage and pre-owned goodies for the sheer pleasure of making them whole again. And, to keep them out of the landfill.


But, TerraCycle is literally turning trash and into ecological treasure. This international upcycle company specializes in creating new products from hard-to-recycle materials. Case in point is the wall in the above photograph, which is made from recycled candy wrappers. The list of their products includes bags, totes and backpacks, garden supplies, home decor and cleaning supplies, pet products and toys, and more.

If you want to see the coolest office space ever, take a gander at the photos of TerraCycle's office facility in Trenton, New Jersey, as featured on Earth911. Conference room walls of clear plastic bottles and candy wrappers. Other walls of recycled wood panels from the 1900s. Recycled vinyl record albums that function as cubicle dividers. How's that for getting a groove on at work?

If you want to be a part of this exciting movement, you can join one of TerraCycle's collection brigades and contribute a designated type of trash to this cool recycling effort. Learn how at www.terracycle.com.

Reduce

Reuse

Recycle

Reclaim

Repurpose

Respect

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop
Cowgirl Up!

Crazy About Crazing

We've had a small break from the 100-degree weather here this weekend. For the first time in several weeks, I felt like being out and about, taking advantage of the garage sale and estate sale scene.

I know I've said this before, but church rummage sales are my favorite. A church not too far from us consistently has the best sales in town. Best organized, best variety, best volume of items, best antiques and vintage items, and best prices. I look forward to it every year. This weekend was the weekend and it did not disappoint. In fact, I did my part to help the cause two out of the three days of the sale.

Among my favorite acquisitions is this vintage green pitcher. It's a bit dinged up, but it has incredible character.

The crazing is the best part! There's something wonderful about those deep, dark lines--the roadmap of its long and full life.

The Valier's Dainty Supercake Flour sack is a brand I haven't seen before. Love the name Dainty Supercake Flour.

Dainty is dandy, indeed.

This pretty cross-stitched Christmas apron is one of several I brought home. Look for it and a number of others in my shop in the coming days. 

The vintage wood rack the apron hangs on is also a bargain from The Best Church Sale. It folds up like an umbrella. A gal can never have too many drying racks (for me, they're display racks).

Not to be left out of the treasure hunt, my husband acquired a 1970s avocado green cake carrier. It has a pie carrier on the bottom.

Fun weekend, great weather. Back to hot temps this week, weatherman says. 

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
Be Inspired at Elizabeth & Co.
Cottage Style Linky Party
Vintage Thingie Thursday at The Coloradolady

A Toast to Vintage Handwork

Vintage handmade linens and aprons have a way of casting a spell on me. I swear I hear them calling my name at estate sales, garage sales and thrift stores.

During a recent attempt to sort through my stacks of linens and better organize them, decide which I wanted to add to my Etsy store and which I wanted to put out now to try take my mind off the summer heat, I came across this adorable hand-embroidered toaster cover in my stash.

Is this cute, or what? My husband, who has a reputation as a punster, understandably loves it. The play on words is simply wonderful

I have to confess, we don't have an old toaster this will fit on, so I stood a stack of four books on their spines to properly display this charming toaster garb.

And, yes, I finally opened my Etsy store (http://www.etsy.com/shop/onceuponafirefly), featuring vintage and handmade items. Some sweet handmade aprons called my name this weekend and I'll be adding those to my initial offering in the coming days.

In case you're wondering, you won't find the toaster cover in my store. This one definitely stays in the "keeper" pile.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Flea Market Finds at Her Library Adventures
Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop
Potpourri Friday at 2805
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Cottage Style Linky Party

Share the Love Wednesday
Primp Your Stuff Wednesday
What's It Wednesday
Vintage Thingie Thursday at The Coloradolady
Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

Re: The Shirt Off His Back

For this week's installment of my (semi-regular) feature Re:, I want to share how I repurpose men's long-sleeve shirts into a number of useful items.

If you're new to my blog, I hope you'll check back on Mondays for Re:, a little feature I do to extol the virtues of the six R's--reduce, reuse, recycle, reclaim, repurpose and respect--and offer tips for an earth-friendly lifestyle. I really do have good intentions of posting on this important topic each week, but admittedly, I've been lax lately.

Now, on to the projects. Earlier this year, a dear friend of mine became a Silpada jewelry rep. Much to my delight, as I love that gorgeous stuff. She wanted to find a simple and inexpensive item for a giveaway for her jewelry parties.

I recalled a cute idea I had seen on Pinterest. It involved cutting the cuffs off men's long-sleeve shirts and sewing them into little pouches that can hold jewelry, thumb drives, lipstick, your iPod Nano, and so on.

So, my friend bought color-of-the-week shirts at Goodwill, and I made the pouches for her.

She didn't want what was left of the cuffless shirts, so I set out to make use of all that nice fabric. 

Another borrowed idea is to make pillow covers out of the body of the shirt. They're easy to make and a snap to remove and launder. They can certainly be embellished, but I like the simplicity of just the shirt for use in kids' rooms, dorm rooms or just for casual use around the house.

Not to stop there, this is what I have up my sleeve for repurposing another usable part of the shirt. The sleeves are the perfect size and shape (with a few minor alterations) to make gift bags for wine bottles or other similarly shaped items.

Another option is to repurpose the breast pockets. These could be used to decorate a child's door or as party favors. I made this one for National Poem in Your Pocket Day and filled it with some of my favorite whimsical poems.

I'm also collecting the shirt collars for a future project.

You can view Off the Cuff pouches, Stuffed Shirt pillow covers and Up Your Sleeve gift bags in different shirt patterns in my shop.

As I dissect these shirts, I keep hearing my grandmother's voice in my head:  Waste not, want not. I hope grandma would be proud.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

The Cure for the Common Monday
Cowgirl Up!
All-Star Block Party
Wednesdays Adorned From Above
Link Up With Me, Liz Marie

A Step Into a Stranger's Past

The past few weeks have been challenging and disorienting for our family, as we work to deal with the changing health of my husband's elderly parents. They live two states away, making our accessibility less than ideal. We've put a lot of miles on the car.

Spending time with my mother-in-law has been both rewarding and fascinating. She needs extra help and support right now and, in turn, she's shared many a family story that I haven't previously heard. Some are funny, some surprising, some quite poignant. All are, oh, so special.

On the car ride back home this past weekend, I was thinking about the stories she's shared and was reminded of the wonderful treasure I had picked up at an estate sale a few weeks ago. I posted about the stamps and cards here.

At that same sale, I found a brown paper envelope imprinted with the words, "Kodak Finishing from Keith County Studio." The envelope bore the same name that was on the cards I featured in that previous post. On the spot, I shuffled through the first few of about 50 vintage photographs and thought I could use them in my journal-making. I paid $1 for them and headed home.

At home, sifting through this wonderful collection of family photos, I was captivated--pulled, willingly, into some other time and place. A beautiful family home, young families, grandparents, children and babies, dogs, rose gardens. The character and composition of the photos made me feel almost a part of the family, while at the same time, a bit like a peeping Tom. 

Someone hand wrote elaborate descriptions on the backs of about half the photos, which bore dates from the mid-1930s to early 1940s.

The photo of the little boy makes me smile every time I look at it. The above description on the back of his photo is priceless: "This is Gordie--May 1939. Taken in our back yard. He was calling the kitten, but I missed the cat when I took the picture."

This looks like a mischievous bunch!

The women on the right are proudly displaying a string of fish. Do you suppose they caught them and then had to clean and cook them, too?

Daddy and his little guy in January 1938. From the looks of it, they must have been in a warmer climate than the Midwest.

I've looked through these photos over and over again. I can't help it. I don't know these people, but the photographer was so masterful at capturing a range of settings, family interactions and memorable moments that I feel as if I could step right into one of these snapshots and blend right in.

I admit, now, that I've had a change of heart about the fate of these snapshots--no journal material for these treasures. They may chronicle a small piece of the lives of people who, in reality, are strangers to me, but I've grown accustomed to their faces and places and kinda like the idea of keeping them all together as a family. With the cards they sent one another so long ago.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:
Thrift Share Monday

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
Knick of Time Tuesday
Cottage Style Linky Party at Lavender Garden Cottage
Whatever You Want Wednesday
What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

Crimson Glory, Scorching Heat

Is anyone as sick of the blast furnace summer as I am? When I step outside, my skin feels as if it's on fire. The lawn is now browning and heading into dormancy. The flowerbeds  are still green, but blooms have been pathetic.

Except for  my two hibiscus, which are in shade from late morning on.

The water droplets look so cool and soothing. How deceiving.

The shadows showing through the back of this dinner-plate sized bloom add a spectacular dimension.

And, to think, these gorgeous blossoms come from alien-looking pods. Isn't nature marvelous?

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Flower Art Friday
Flowers on Saturday
Weekend Flowers
Shadow Shot Sunday 2
Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer