sustanable origami....lol

so i ran across something on the internet & thought it was rather interesting. it was a picture of some very happy little seedlings in a sunny window safely ensconced in happy little pots made of what appeared to be newspaper.....   hmmm.
so off i went to see what i could find.

there's this method.... which requires a little tool.  cool.

there's this method...which just uses a can. sweet!       cool *and* easy.

and then there's this method... which *i* personally think is the way to go. one video was labeled "sustainable origami pots"...i love it!

but then i am an origami lover. actual origami where you sit down with a piece of paper & create something by making all those folds. they say that if you fold a thousand paper cranes you will be granted a wish. now i don't know about that, unless your wish is for resolve & tranquility, but i do know that it is therapeutic...really it is. and it's a wonderful resource... this last winter i "origami-ed" a replacement envelope for a bill with a piece of junk mail from my car. and voila! my check was safely tucked in with no danger of becoming separated from the bill it was meant to pay whilst floating around in the nether regions of the payment dropbox. (now *that* is peace of mind!) and it's handy. i learned how to fold a box with dividers & a lid & i make them now for all kinds of things. storage & drawer dividers & gift boxes. oh my!  children (and some adults) are thoroughly fascinated when, at a restaurant, you turn your placemat into something for them to play with...a paper balloon perhaps? how bout a jumping frog? a crown...or maybe just the old stand-by, the paper crane. you could get really fancy too like this rose . ...or this lotus.  
the list could go on & on....lol

and... it's pretty to look at once you've done all the work of folding it.

i turned some origami cranes, some 3D cutwork & a handful of german paper stars (some of which i made of overhead transparency sheets) into a wonderful mobile for my baby nursery.

so anyways, to sum it all up....origami is cool and practical and fun!

go learn some here ---->  go.foldsomething.com <----

well.... go fold something!!!
go on....shoo!  :)

gotta love volunteers!

this is a wonderful dill plant that is growing, unsolicited, in my backyard. a volunteer. 3' tall. beautiful & fractal.
*each little flower cluster looks just like the bigger flower cluster that it is part of*

this is a 6x6 postbound scrapbook that I altered yesterday...
it was just a plain olive green fabric cover & i hated it so i did this to it!
now i love it & can't wait to put stuff in it!
*the clock here is actually a copper color with a nice sheen to it (not as pink as it appears to be) but i can't seem to get it to photograph properly.

I may still take out the plastic pages & replace them with paper pages ala vintage scrapbook style.

I showed it to Josh & when he saw the back he said it looked like it was stained lol
i told him that i did that on purpose & that was the look i was going for.
he just looked at me funny & said ...oooookaaaaaaaay.
boys.
geez.

this just in....

the ridiculously adorable shirt we got for Lars on Monday...
and his new piano...
the boy loves music!

my "bootie" from the hardware store...

...and the bead store...

...and the scrapbook store...
*I am totally in love with orange lately...it's weird...always before I associated it with pumpkins & candycorns....now all I want to look at is orange! {and maybe some purple for contrast...oh, and some teal or baby blue to make it all pop....lol}

Our stockings were hung by the {microwave} with care....

the only acceptable spot in the house to hang stockings...
please disregard the patch of subfloor showing....lol
didn't get the floor refinished before winter set in & now we have to wait till spring to get it all finished off...

*Mom*
remember the stocking I had 2 years ago that I made in the dead of night right before we came to your house for Christmas?
the one that I hated rather badly?
well, I dragged it out this year & revamped it.
now I love it...
raw edges...vintage trim, beads & velvet...wool...polka dots...odd usage of usual materials...
and
the recently ubiquitous Tim Holtz laundry pin!
yay!

totally Jenn!

My super-fun new pots my Mom gave me for Christmas.
They came yesterday & I was so stoked I took them all out & lined them all up on the counter, each with its little lid on...
Orangey, shiny, stainless steel happiness!
Yay!

even Josh was excited...he made an egg sandwich for supper last night just so he could try one out!

A bunch of origami birds I made on Saturday...
I am going to make a mobile out of these for my friend Katie...
I made a little one for the babys room & she loved it.

My fabulous butter dish Josh & I got up in Fargo.

The brown bag of goodness.
I brought this bag home one fine day about, oh, 4 or 5 years ago.
It arrived home with high hopes & even higher aspirations...
and for 4 or 5 years now I have occasionally pulled it out
and looked longingly at its contents,
sighed
and put it back on the shelf.


Until today!




Ah... the alpaca fibers from the oft-remembered trip to the alpaca open house with Josh...
*sigh!*
Now THAT was a glorious day!
Not only did Josh go with me to an event that he had no desire to attend
(just for me)
He indulged me & let me buy this fiber so I could handspin some yarn...
knowing full well that this day, 4 or 5 years hence, would come and see the fibers yet unspun.
Yes, sometimes Josh is my personal saint.

So...anyways...
fueled by the much more recent accomplishment of,
dare I say, superb homemade oatmeal raisin cookies....
the desire to try my hand at the age old technique of wet felting...
the impetus of a very limited Christmas fund
AND
the complete brain gap that comes when I try to think of something
(anything)
to give the afore-mentioned teenaged daughter for Christmas,
the gears begin to turn...



*the imagination runs wild with possibilities*