Upcycled Gift Bags

In order to justify all the time that I've been spending on Pinterest lately, I am making a concerted effort to take action on some of my pins.  That means creating the projects, practicing the lettering, trying out the tangles, and making the recipes.  You might remember that I recently created a tiered organizer based on one of my pins.

Yesterday, I made upcycled gift bags out of food boxes that were headed to the recycle bin.

All you have to do is select your box, punch two holes at the top of each side, and tie on a ribbon.  Add some tissue paper and gift, and you have a unique, upcycled gift bag.

So, my question to you is this:  If you received a hostess, birthday, or Christmas gift in one of these bags, would you think, "Wow, what a clever idea, and so kind to our environment!"  Or, would you think, "Wow, why is this lady unloading her recycle bin on me with this trash?"

I could see opinions going either way, and would love to know what you think!

My little girls thought they were a great idea, and wanted one right away.  I told them they would have to wait for their birthdays or Christmas!  

My five-year-old asked a very good question:  "Are you going to leave them like that, or decorate the sides?"  That gave me the idea that the boxes could be embellished with decorative paper, paints, and other collage elements.  I suspect that if I did that, though, it would just look like a food box that I glued a bunch of paper to!  I think some of the charm is in the original packaging.

Garage Sale Days

Every year, I look forward to this weekend in September, when the neighboring town of Media, PA, holds their Garage Sale Days.  We park our car anywhere, and find ourselves within walking distance of scores of garage and yard sales throughout the community.

My husband and I can measure the changes in our lives by the Garage Sale Days:  we started out going on our own, then moved on to pushing our babies in strollers, and now we find ourselves grabbing hands and calling out "wait!" and "just look...don't touch!" and "move over; let those people by on the sidewalk!"

But the efforts are worth it, for the chance to see all kinds of great loot--from junk to kitsch to vintage.  Most people price their things to sell, though some clearly mis-take their garages for antique shops and attach hefty price tags to the items they are supposedly trying to unload from their homes.  I picked up two little baggies of buttons to purchase, nearly missing their $12 and $25 price tags.  Needless to say, they went right back into their basket.

Another great side benefit of the Garage Sale Days is a chance to get a good look at the interesting architecture around town.  My husband and I have daydreamed about living in Media since before we settled in our current home.

And what is the nearly universal appeal of doorways and gates?  It must be some primeval symbolism that we are all innately drawn to!

We were hoping to teach our children some principles of money management by taking a dollar from their piggy banks that they could choose to spend however they wished.  That would have worked out great, but people ended up offering them most items they showed interest in for free!  The girls each came home with a bag of loot that they spread out in the family room to inspect.

And what about Mommy?  I did not come home empty-handed, of course.  I am the happy new owner of a small, wood shadow box, purchased for a dollar, and ten new glass bottles, a dollar apiece.  Score!

I hope your weekend is as sunny and gorgeous as we are enjoying around here!

Back in the Groove

I took an unexpected blog break this past week, and I thought I would catch you up on what I've been doing all this time.

For starters, I had the great good fortune to attend a reunion of my cousins in Michigan.

My cousins on my Dad's side of the family.  I got to hold the newest
member of the family!  (We're at the bottom of the steps.)

Several of our aunts and uncles came by over the course of the weekend, as well, so it felt more like one of the old-fashioned family reunions I grew up with.

I mentioned on Facebook that the gathering was exactly what I was hoping it would be.  There was plenty of small talk and silliness, but also lots of time for heart-to-hearts to really catch up on each other's lives.  I have a cousin in the Foreign Service, serving in Afghanistan, who happened to be home on a three-week leave, so she was able to share her absolutely astounding experiences in that country.  I have another cousin who recently went on a three-month vacation to South America, which was so interesting to hear about.  There were recently-ended relationships to discuss, and recently-beginning relationships to celebrate.  Everyone had jobs to discuss and explain.  Old family stories were rehashed.  Much beer and wine was consumed by the bonfire each night.  Getting to bed by 2 a.m. was considered early.

I had a couple stolen moments for doodling around.  I didn't expect to fill too many pages in my sketchbook, but I came away with one Zentangle (while folks were watching football) and one lettering experiment (sitting on the sun porch before others had woken up for the day):

Once I got back home, I faced another milestone:  my little girl, my first-born, my five-year-old, headed to kindergarten!  No doubt about it, I can feel the roiling layers of anxiety beneath my calm and confident exterior.  I am experiencing significant disbelief (as is she!) that she will now be going to school every day for years and years and years!

Here's Katy, taking that first step into kindergarten.

Back to school is also the season for taking care of all those annual doctor and dentist visits.  I splurged on a new pair of glasses, since the ones I had been wearing are now about 18 years old!  Here's a look at my new frames:

Hopefully now, with the school year underway, I can get myself back into a steady routine of blog visiting, art-making, and posting.  I hope you'll come along!