Clearly this is staged because my mug is never empty. ;)

I just wanted to show you a potholder I made last week.  Things have been kind of quiet here with sick-ish babies and a sad documentary on our minds and hearts (Please be aware that this documentary is the most tragic thing I’ve ever seen.  If you watch it, be forewarned that you will weep.  And weep.  And weep some more.  And then get angry.  And then do something.).

So it feels a little strange to blog about a potholder after that.  But sometimes you just need to get your mind off the serious.  Right?

The pattern is from Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts: Lacy Crochet (From the awesome library here that ordered it upon my request).  I had to modify the pattern when I realized my potholder was going to be Huge if I did any more rounds.  I then lined it with white muslin to give it more structure.

The tablecloth was thrifted with the tray I showed you recently.  It was less than $3, and very much awesome.  It has branches with birds and flowers on a very large repeat.

And the mug was thrifted in the summer.  For 48 cents.

Another piece of happiness: I got my 12 Square fabric from Turkey Cookies on Saturday.

The theme is simply “Autumn.”  Hmmmm.

As much as I’d like for my children to cherish and enjoy old books, past experience has taught me that it’s better to save the nice ones for later or find creative things to do with them.  So, I now present another project for your old books.

I spray painted some inexpensive standard frames and simply searched through some of Evan’s old (as in falling apart) books for pictures that went nicely together and fit inside the mat.

This is an old project, but yesterday’s blocks made me think that you might like this idea.  I find classic Little Golden Books to be an unending source of inspiration.  And they’re also very cheap!

Also, if you have a book that has already been decimated by your child, you could try to salvage any nice illustrations for decorative purposes.  I’ve been trying my darnedest to do this since Emily now shamelessly rips into her books right in front of me.  Yep.  It has come to that.

Every time I visit, I walk away with something that makes me happy. Last night I scored (what appears to be) a brand-new teakettle, the perfect little needlepoint, and an old, floral suitcase for Emily.

I actually went on Wednesday night, found the suitcase, and decided to sleep on it and ask Evan (since you can’t get refunds at thrift stores, ya know). Having been to the QTS two nights in a row around closing time, I observed something rather odd for any business: at 8:45 (15 minutes before closing) they turned off most of the lights in the store. Not only did I feel a bit anxious about hurrying and getting myself out of there, but I really couldn’t see to shop!

But really.

I shouldn’t complain.

It’s probably for the best that they rushed me out of there.

Emily’s wrap/kerchief/thingamajig is coming along swimmingly. It will go great with her outfit of unsnapped pajamas, blanket on the head, butterfly hairclips on her fingers, and peanut butter in her hair. She’s a stylish kid.

EDIT: Does anyone know a great recipe for chocolate chip cookies?

(a day late) you’ll find the latest Living magazine, grapes, an Anthropologie catalog for inspiration, and a collaborative piece of crayon art.  I think I effectively taught Emily to layer colors.  It’s kinda pretty, don’t you think?

And on the floor this week are my favorite buttons.

Some are old, some new, some borrowed (or handed-down, rather), and some blue.

I really love the blue ones.  They were thrifted almost 2 years ago in the cute little antique-filled town of Dewey, OK.

And I’m also loving this golden-yellow and grey color scheme.

Speaking of color schemes, I found yet another addiction.  And this one has many practical purposes.  So go ahead.  Click.  You know you want to…

Today I signed up for it.  We’re talking 6 months of making new stuff from old stuff.  I’m game!  I got a head start this month as I tried my hand at sewing my own clothes for the first time.  Here’s one shirt I made from an old skirt I bought at the Gap several years ago.  I wore the skirt on my graduation weekend.  It was a size ZERO!!!

I can’t believe I ever fit into it…although, I’m remembering, it smooshed my internal organs quite a bit.  I must have found it on sale.  Anyway, I used Simplicity 4589 for the yoke and kept a lot of the fullness of the skirt.  I suppose it can double as a maternity shirt at some point (but not yet, for goodness’ sake!).

So I may be dressing like a dork for the rest of the year, but I will be a handmade dork!  Somewhere along the way, I hope to acquire a sense of style.  I can tell what’s fashionable when the clothing stores put it on the racks, but I’m not sure that I can make it from scratch.  We’ll see.  Everything I’ve made so far smacks of the country side of “Town & Country.”  I’ll attempt to make more “town” looks in the future, since I don’t actually live on a prairie.

Oh, and expect to see more pictures of me gazing awkwardly out of this window. :)

The Pledge

I, Kristena Derrick, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of “new” manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 6 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovated, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftyness brings! Signed Kristena Derrick.

Here is something I’m pretty sure you’ll love if you’re female and have babies.  And if neither of those things are true of you, you still might enjoy it.  But no guarantee.

We got a package in the mail today.  Yes.  Another.  Because we have so many kind and generous people in our lives.  Evan’s parents are packing up their home and moving, so a few neat items were passed on to us in the process.  Mom D also made Emily a dress, but I have to do a little something to it before it’s finished.  Then I’ll share.

Aren’t these plaques adorable though?  The first one reminds me of Emily and Jacob.  The second reminds me of my niece, D’Lorah.  I never see her, but I imagine she looks something like this.

I found a similar plaque at the QTS a while back.  These two were made by Mom D.  And the potholder was made by her grandmother.  It’s destined to go on the wall too.  But I might frame it first.  Hmm.

Welcome to our home, sweet little sentimental things.

(The “Sugar” and “Coffee” needlepoints were thrifted from the Salvation Army a few months ago.  I just never got around to sharing.)

B, a friend of ours who we haven’t seen in nearly a year, stopped in Tulsa over the weekend to liquidate her belongings. It had all been in storage for at least 9 months while she traveled throughout Europe. B decided to take a one month French immersion course this summer, and then I suppose she will go wherever the wind takes her.

Meanwhile, she more or less gave away everything she owned on Saturday. As a result, we got our very first dresser (yes, we are pushing 30 and have never had real bedroom furniture).  It’s beat-up, but I like it that way.

And we scored several small kitchen items, including lots of cookie cutters.

Not only is B a free spirit of sorts, but she is incredibly generous. I’m at a place in my life where I cannot be a free spirit per se. I have a family to take care of. But her generosity is convicting. She didn’t care at all about making a profit off her stuff. I actually felt uncomfortable–as though I was robbing her. Have I ever made anyone uncomfortable because of my generosity? I mean, that takes some skill.

B, we’ll miss you!  Hope your free spirit wanders back to Tulsa soon.

Like I said before, we had a fantastic week with the fam. Here’s a meager list of stuff that rocked:

• Taking the ladies to the Quality Thrift Store (I’ll show you my new treasures later this week… And I haven’t forgotten that I promised to share some other thrifting finds a while ago. I will! I have my trusty blog to remind me.)
• Seeing Speed Racer with the siblings (I love this movie and don’t care what old fogey critics think! It’s pure fun. I especially love monkeys who wear little boys on their pajamas. Watch the music video and try to pretend you’re bored. I dare you. :) And here is Evan’s very very very positive review.)

• Getting some of Evan’s old things from when he was a kid, including an old birth announcement and a super-cute quilted wall hanging (I’ll share that later too.)
• Emily in the pool

• Emily calling her Uncle Collin “Tony.” There’s a story we’ll be telling when we’re 80… It started out sounding like “Collin” and quickly devolved (video footage to come)
• Praise reports such as Dad getting tenure and the family’s house selling
• Playing Mad Gab for the gazillionth time and Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture Edition for the fourth time
• Losing both games
• Beauty salon time with the ladies (new styles all around!)
• Jacob looking like an old man

• Enjoying The Office and Lost together while eating 3 kinds of ice cream and chocolate chip cookies
• Bibi making a dress for Em
• Just being together, if only for 4 days

And I can’t not mention this: Today, Jacob is one month old. I really can’t believe it! Has he already been with us that long??? What a sweetie. He seems to be moving to a 3-4 hour schedule too, which is a nice change. I’m pretty sure he slept for about 5 hours last night, so we’re getting closer to a full night’s sleep! Woo-hoo!!!

And what a wonderful month to get back on the blogging bandwagon! I decided that 2 weeks was a long enough break. Indeed, today is Jacob’s 2 week birthday, and I can’t believe it. I’ve hardly done anything creative over the last two weeks. That’s really OK, but I think I need creativity in my daily life. I believe this is a God-given urge, and I suffer when I ignore it. (But I am so thankful to have a husband who reminds me often that feeding our children and taking care of them is far more important than any crafty thing I could do.)

So yesterday, during a brief “alone time” outing to Barnes & Noble and Michael’s, I picked up some cheap watercolors. Painting is like instant gratification when compared to needlework. I still haven’t used my set, but I’ll share when I do.

On other similar outings, I’ve acquired more neat stuff from Quality Thrift Store:

And some cute shoes (because shoes don’t have to fit around my waist…):

I’m generally not in praise of “retail therapy,” but I recently found that hanging out alone at a coffee shop is too quiet for me. I used to do it all the time, but now I need company. I need these wonderful people:

Even if 2 of the 3 cry often in public.

In other news, my Flickr is bullying me into getting a Pro account, or so it appears. Free accounts can only have up to 200 photos. And I have 201. And I plan to keep uploading. Admittedly, I didn’t pay any attention to these fine details when I signed up for an account. It would be worthwhile to be able to upload larger files…

Thank you for the reading suggestions!  If you have anything else you’d like to share, please do!

Yesterday was another “thrifting Saturday,” and I just want to share this little bit of awesomeness with you.

Since it’s not the clearest photo, here are a couple close-ups.

I paid $3.98 for these pink carnations at the Quality Thrift Store.  And I almost didn’t go yesterday.  I went to the Salvation Army first, where I found a few things I’ll share later.  Then I ran a few errands, and on my way home–at the last moment–I decided to stop in at the good old tried and true QTS.   Whew!  I’m glad I didn’t miss this one.  (By the way, if I seem addicted to the thrift store, just remember that I won’t be getting out much after Brother arrives.  So I’m tankin’ up while I can!)

Late yesterday evening, Evan screened his short film, The Box, here at our house.  He invited all the cast and crew, and it was really neat for everyone to see themselves all polished up and edited together.  I’m so proud of him.  If you saw the raw footage of the film, you’d never suspect that it could transform into a professional-looking production.  Filmmaking astounds me.