Thursday, September 23, 2010

Everyone wins!

These are a few of the projects I worked on yesterday.


These are pumpkins I am making from the pile of old discarded lumber the neighbor brought over after the storm took the roof off his barn.He knows I use a lot of wood.


This is a drain cloth I made from a receiving blanket and an old worn out tea towel. I have been using my home made dish soap, and staying away from the dishwasher as much as possible, so I found the need to drain my few hand washed dishes on something.I generally use several thicknesses of old tea towels, but since I had several of the blankets which I buy at yard sales,for tea towels, I got the idea to use up some of the older towels as batting inside the newer, prettier cloths.So I have made a few and enjoy making them and it uses up a lot of old raggedy towels.



These are dish washing cloths I have been making using up some small remnants of thread. I use whatever thread I have on hand. I don't buy any certain kind of thread.That would defeat my purpose of using up the thread I have. So far, the type of thread I have used, is working great.I love making them.



These are pumpkins I have been making from the old roofing we took off our hen house this Spring. It is aluminum and lightweight, making it easier to cut. I have learned I could make the numerous curly-ques easily by cutting a very narrow strip of the aluminum. It curls as I cut. Then I paint them to match my project at hand.I find it to be a very calming project.

And I might add, I cooked a pot of dried beans and made a skillet of cornbread, while I was working on my crafts.Not bad for a day of playing.

This is a comment I left on Ms.Lottie's post today. It gave me an idea for a post of my own. At least I will try to post, if the Internet stays up long enough.

(Ms.Lottie,I love your plan "not to buy" for a year.I need to make myself a similar challenge on not buying anything(other than food, and even that would be a good challenge)for a year. I bring home so many things to use in my crafting, it gets overwhelming at times.I spent the day yesterday working on half a dozen different projects trying to use up a few of my collection of supplies,but it seems the rate I bring them into the house is much faster than the rate I move them out.I suppose I could offer a craft workshop and invite folks over to use their imaginations on new projects and to help me to move my collections along.We could all contribute a pot luck dish and make a fun day of it.Everyone wins!)

I think that is a really good idea on the craft workshop.It is so hard to get my family together, and they are mostly all crafters of one sort or another. I have craft tools and supplies for any craft known to man, so surely they could find their medium to work with in one of my sheds or my basement, or one of the closets.They are stashed away in every nook and cranny.These are just a sample of my crafts. I could list 500 others I have lying around if only I had the time.Don't you agree, I need to start a Crafters Workshop? After all these years of wondering, that could be my niche.

5 comments:

  1. That sounds like a wonderful idea, sawn! And you would so enjoy the company of fellow crafters, plus use up some of your crafting "stash". I wish I lived closer so that I could attend, but I think Casey Co would be pretty far from you. Aren't you in western KY. Crittenton Co? if I remember right? It would fun and exciting to find your niche - that is so important, I think. take care, from Fayette Co - soon to be Casey Co.

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  2. mm inspiring sawn, youve just given me some ideas with an old worn out candlewick bedspread i was wondering what to do with.
    - and a year without spending, mm thats a good challenge

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  3. How are you making the dish cloths? Crochet?
    I have tried to teach myself to no avail.
    Your wooden box looks like a hive box, my husband has several that look like that.
    I have been reading the year without spending blog, very interesting, I have always tried to repurpose things instead of buying new.
    Good luck with your craft teaching venture, sounds like fun.

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  4. Hey, I showed my hubby your box & he says it's a brood super, retail about $16.99, good job on the stain.
    Maybe you could do an online tutorial with the crochet?
    Also, how are you making the dish soap?
    Thanks-Terry

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  5. I wish I had taken a shot of the original box. It was in real bad shape. If I had looked at it up close, before I bid,I probably wouldn't have bid at all.I covered it with wood inside, on the floor only, but the exterior, I covered the bottom and two sides where there were no handles.I used what ever wood I had on hand. It is much heavier than it was.I varnished it with some type of varnish/stain I had on hand. Didn't really care, what color. I just wanted to seal it. The different kinds of wood took the stain differently.Thanks.

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