Love Your Loved One's Ties

When my father-in-law died suddenly and unexpectedly, I collected up his silk ties. And though his children aren't quite ready for me to make anything from them (I'm thinking roses because they can be pinned onto a pillow or worn--and the process doesn't really end the life of the tie) I understand the impetus of the designer of these memory albums.

This was a fairly easy project, except that I developed the worst cough overnight and dragging my ass upstairs to work on this has been a daylong project. I can't sit upright for too many consecutive minutes.

Gotta go lie down.

Love Your Reader

I hope you haven't been despairing of me. Because of tonight's predicted weather event, we moved Sunday dinner up to Sunday lunch. We had Mongolian beef (which I like a lot better than the dude does. Make it with reduced-sodium soy.) and honey sesame chicken (awesome!). Rice and snow peas rounded out the meal. I joked after we ate that if anyone wanted dessert, we were slicing up an orange and opening up a can of pineapple and sticking toothpicks in. (You may have to be of a certain age and have gone to Chinese restaurants in certain parts of the U.S. for that to make any sense at all.)

For some cracked out reason, I thought this afternoon would be a good time to go to Joann's to pick up some supplies. I was thinking of you when I was wandering the aisles, but I forgot just what it was that I was going to tell you. I will say that the nicest person in the world let me go in front of her at the cutting counter. I was getting one yard of one fabric. She had at least 40 fabrics pulled. (She is some kind of works-with-fabric person buying stuff today so she could work tomorrow.) Contrast that with the woman who was making something but only needed 10 of the 12 fabrics she had chosen and when her number was called, with scores of us waiting, she proceeded to have a conversation with the cutting person about which 10 fabrics she should choose. Really? Haven't you been waiting for ages like the rest of us? Couldn't you have figured it out then?

But I digress. Today's project returns to the ties I collected from my thrift shop outings last year. My guy loves to read (he's reading even as I write this), so when I saw this bookmark made from a tie to look like a snake I was on board. Very easy. While the designer's upcycle may be more complete--she used the tie lining to make the eyes--I am happier with google eyes in this situation. (And I have seen some pretty nasty tie lining in my upcycling days.) What's not to love about google eyes? The original creator used that bit of a tie on the back of the wide end used to hold the narrow end (the whatchamacallit?) to make a tongue. But my tie had the designer's label used for that purpose, so I used a scrap of another tie to make the tongue. I just used fabric glue to construct it and secure it.

The dude is delighted. I'm pretty sure this March is going to be his favorite month!

Denim Vest

I am definitely stuck in the past when it comes to popular culture. We pretty much stopped watching television in the nineties, when I stopped listening to new music as well. I think I pretty much stopped being cool in 1997. But whenever I hear the word "denim," I think of this:

Recently, one of my oldest and dearest friends asked me if I had any recommendations for how to recycle denim. And while I think a denim vest (with snaps!) might be one option, I was able to find many cuter ones on a trip around the internet.

• Betz White is a mistress of upcycling and she made an adorable denim apron. 
• OMG this is a cute one: denim whale plushie
• And while we're on the topic of stuffies, stripey penguin. This link doesn’t have the pattern, but rather a link to the pattern. The original pattern maker didn't use denim; you have to see the one made with denim which I think is cuter. 
• You can make placemats for the kitchen.
• And your kid can have a coordinated denim bibs
• Quilts are always an option, whether they are Modern...
• Patchwork...
• or Rag
• If you made a promise to get organized in the new year, you might use this basket: 
• or this organizer
• This pattern is no longer available, but the photo lives on as a pinterest pin, and it's cute.
• Sometimes you get a hole in the thigh, and then you can remake your jeans into a skirt, like this one with the insert
• Or a Flirty skirt
• Cute tote

I hope this inspires those of you who have been saving worn denim (funny, I actually have) to make something fun. If you've come across a project or have other ideas, leave them in the comments, please!