Friday, October 23, 2009

Jumble Sale

After a stressful morning I deserved a little pleasure. Thrifting was the pleasure that ticled my fancy, so I detoured past every charity shop I could thin of between the kids' school and home. I was looking for linens, but came up empty handed. Then I remembered the church jumble sale that is open until midday on Fridays. It was 11:15, so I leapt into the car and made a mad dash across a couple of suburbs to get there in time to have a browse. I found a couple of very pretty aprons, but the real treasure was this tablecloth.


Hand embroidered, smothered in exquisite flowers, in immaculate condition.

And the cost? Five dollars. I cannot imagine how many hours of work went into this tablecloth, but I promise the stitcher, whoever she was, that I will cherish it.


Wednesday, October 14, 2009

This sweet little thrifted wooden kitty found his way to our house recently. He's currently lurking with my most recent batch of soap - coffee flavoured.
Soap making suddenly got easy when I discovered hot process soap making. It's perfect for a family with a tiny house, with no real room for the long curing times required for cold process soap making. I made this batch in the crock pot, and it was an absolute breeze. It seems to have set nice and firm, and passes the tongue test, so, after a couple of weeks sitting on the cake stand, it's ready to hit the showers. Now that I have found my favourite way to make soap it's time to start perfecting the scents I use.

My current knitting project has received the Bella Seal of Approval. It's particularly soft and squishy, and has been a fun, fast knit. I'll be showing and telling more when the time is right.