darling petunia

Why?

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:50:00 +0000

Gratuitous picture of the girls, because I hate to post sans photo.

When I posted about the red scoops, I kind of figured I'd get some eye rolls for feeling guilty about buying them. Granted, the post was overly dramatic for a fifty cent transgression, but I did that to make a point. So what's the point?

As others guessed, it isn't about the fifty cents. The No-Thing New project grew out of a discussion about saving money. We are facing some financial uncertainty right now, so that definitely provided the spark, but there is much more to it than that.

Let's remember something: I am the woman with one hundred twenty three skirts. A huge percentage of those skirts were bought at thrift stores for five dollars or less, but let's be honest...it's still an embarrassing abundance of skirts.

I see addictive behavior in my shopping, and I want to change that. It doesn't matter that it's mostly thrift shopping. It doesn't matter that those skirts would have cost considerably more if I'd paid retail prices. The sad fact is that each of them provided a temporary lift--the thrill of the hunt, the excitement of having something new--and I don't want to encourage that pattern anymore.

An anonymous commenter said:

But is it really so bad to be addicted to the browsing if you do not overspend? Certainly there are worse things you can do that are relaxing and enjoyable...

Part of me wants to say, "Yeah! That's right! It's not like I'm gambling or ordering oodles of stuff from QVC or scoring crack in a back alley!" But another part of me recognizes that if I'm constantly thinking about what I can get next, I'm not enjoying what I already have.

I hope this has made the reason for my "crusade" a bit more clear. Please, if you have any questions, ask away!

Red Scoops

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:29:00 +0000

So, I caved. It wasn't a huge transgression, but I feel compelled to confess. I bought some plastic scoops.

Exhibit A.

Nevermind that I bought them in the "last chance" section of the thrift store. Disregard the fact that they were only fifty cents for the pair. And forget the fact that I'm going to use them for scooping my homemade laundry soap and dish detergent. When it comes right down to it, something else around here would have done just as well. And so I have sinned.

I'm starting to get itchy about not shopping. The first two weeks went by without a hitch, but now I'm wondering if it wasn't the thrill of the toaster-oven hunt keeping me happy. Well, to be honest, I'm sure that's the case. Now that I'm not actively looking for anything, I have this what-can-I-buy feeling gnawing away at me, and that's what lured me to the thrift shop.

The thrift shop is a real minefield right now. On one hand, there is "no-thing new" there, so I am allowed to buy stuff as long as it is something I really need. Browsing, which is what I did, really shouldn't be happening. Yes, I only spent a half a buck, but it's sort of like someone taking a few puffs when they're trying to quit smoking. If what I wish to do is break the shopping addiction, I need to learn how to resist this urge.

But, hey, at least I can recognize what's a work here, and that's progress. But I have mixed feelings about my red scoops right now!

S'more Books!

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:46:00 +0000

True Grit by Charles Portis: Very good, just as you'd expect. A nice change of pace from all the girly books I read! My library has none of his other books, but I'd like to give one a try.

Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout: The story itself is nothing new, but the book is packed with emotions. Worth reading.

Tinsel: A Search for America's Christmas Present by Hank Stuever: I read some cynical books about Christmas this year! This is a series of essays about the trappings of Christmas--outdoor lights, Black Friday, etc. Interesting in parts, but uneven.

Nice to Come Home To by Rebecca Flowers: Chick lit with a cute cover! Enjoyed it well enough, though.

Hector and the Search for Happiness by Francois Lelord: One of those small books with a big message. It was okay. It didn't change my life, but I wasn't left gagging! :)

The Soldier's Wife by Margaret Leroy: I found this book while searching for books similar to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Aside from being set on Guernsey, they aren't that alike, but I really liked this book. I'm surprised it isn't better known. Definitely recommend it!

There But For The by Ali Smith: This was on a "Best of 2011" list somewhere, so I gave it a try. Wasn't quite my thing.

The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly: I'm a bit embarrassed about this one, but I kind of loved it. It's completely improbable, but who cares? And it's the first in a trilogy, so I get to read more! Whee!

Pretty Ugly by Karyn Langhorne Folan: I had a young library patron ask about this series, so I tried one. I tried, really I did, but I couldn't get through it. There are so many better YA books out there.

This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper: Highly recommend this book. One of my favorites. How did this get past me when it first came out? Looks like they're turning it into a movie, so get it while it's still on the shelf!

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides: Aw, poor Jeffrey Eugenides. He isn't going to get top billing in my post. That's okay--he's had enough hoopla. I liked the book, but it was a little pretentious for my tastes.

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman: This was a pleasant surprise! It gets absolutely NO attention at the library, but I am going to try to put it in more hands. It's funny and touching, and I think it's going to explode once it's made into a movie. (I feel like I'm really twisting the knife on Mr. Eugenides now, sandwiching him between two books I liked better than his!)

Belated Books

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:00:00 +0000

I'm still determined to catch up with my book reviews! Look for a few posts over the next couple of days!

More Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin: I really took my time and savored every word of this book. Her style of cooking is just so down to earth--she makes it sound effortless and enjoyable instead of onerous and complicated!

Ireland Unhinged: Encounters with a Wildly Changing Country by David Monagan: I thought this was going to be a really interesting read for me, having visited Ireland during its Celtic Tiger days and then after the economic collapse. I feel like I could do a better job describing the atmosphere than he did, and I only visited! I kept reading, hoping something would really strike a chord with me, but I was disappointed.

American Boy by Larry Watson: Watson's Montana 1948 is a perennial favorite pick for high school reading lists, but I've somehow never read it. Now that I've read American Boy, I'll give it a try, because I really liked Watson's writing.

The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian: This is one of my favorite authors, so I was excited to get my hands on the new book! I don't think it was his best, it was a bit too predicatable to me, but it was a fun read. It reminded me so much of a Jodi Picoult book, so if you enjoy her, I think you'll like this!

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff: As a friend of mine pointed out, this is one of those titles that is always showing up on "You Might Also Like" or "Customers Also Bought" lists, so we both gave it a try! It was pretty neat, and I enjoyed it, but it's just a little amuse-bouche type of book, not something you really sink into.

The Call by Yannick Murphy: This book is written in a style that takes some getting used to, and I had one or two false starts with it before I really got into it. I'm not usually a fan of books that make me work, but I'm glad I stuck it out with this one, because once I got used to it, the style was very effective.

Comfort and Joy by India Knight: I like to read a few Christmas books every holiday season, and Scroogenomics wasn't going to cut it on its own! Unfortunately, this one fell short as well.

Murder at the Painted Lady by Barbara Warren: This really got some poor reviews, but I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Certainly liked it better than some of the wacky series that are out there!

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch: Didn't like this at all. It took me a few tries to get going, which should have told me something!

Uh Oh, What About My BIRTHDAY?

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:08:00 +0000

Right after we stared the No-Thing New project, Gerry asked me what he was supposed to do about a gift-giving occasion coming up soon: my birthday. "That's an exception, right?" he said. "Of course," I said. "I will send you links to things I like. Pick out about $300 worth of stuff." I mean, it's my BIRTHDAY! It only comes once a year! And I didn't get everything I wanted at Christmas!

Okay, I'm kidding. Here are some ideas for birthday presents that don't break any rules:

1. I really want a birthday cake that looks like a big doughnut with pink frosting. I'm confident Gerry can pull this off.

2. We can go out to dinner. I can even get a free birthday meal at a nice local place if I print out an email and take it with me!

3. If he really wants to get me something, tickets to a show or event would be fun. This is something we always enjoy but rarely spend money on.

4. If he wants to give me something to unwrap, there's always secondhand!

5. I'd be amenable to a month off from scooping the cat boxes. Just sayin'.

Do you have any other suggestions for a No-Thing New birthday?

Bought a Thing

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:54:00 +0000

Ooooh! Aaaah! Isn't it a beauty? Yes, we bought our first thing of the year: a toaster oven. Isn't life great?

I had a feeling this was going to be our first purchase, because I've been wavering about getting one for a long time. Practical me wanted one, because I know they save energy, but every time we got close to buying one, I'd tell myself we already had an oven (in the stove), so why clutter up the kitchen with another appliance? Ah, there's that aesthetic thing creeping in.

And what about wants vs. needs? Do we really need a toaster oven? In a strict sense, no. We have the oven in the stove for reheating pizza or making toasty buns. But what if we want to use less energy? Yes, for that we need a toaster oven. Ordinarily, I don't have much patience for people who are constantly spending money to save money or spending money to be more green, but this seemed like a sensible move for us, considering how often we will use it.

Of course, the No-Thing New project says we must try to find the things we need for free or buy them secondhand. I started watching Freecycle and craigslist and mentioning my quest to friends and family, hoping one would turn up. I wasn't having much luck, so when I saw small appliances were on sale at the thrift shop for half off, I made my move. Unfortunately, the only oven on the shelves was a bit of wreck, and Gerry didn't think he could clean it up. Instead of giving up, I summoned my nerve and asked one of the shop's employees if there were any others in the back room and a few minutes later, she emerged with this one!

Price, including tax: $7.95

You Might Be a Tightwad If...

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:54:00 +0000

You might be a tightwad if this is looks familiar. We like to use up every last bit of things around here, and I am very good at folding up tubes to squeeze out as much as I can, but there comes a time when the only way to get more out of a tube is SCISSORS!

I do like to get as much use as I can out of things, but I'm always a little afraid of "frugal clutter" taking over my house. There are so many ideas out there for reusing and repurposing things to save money and resources. Some of these ideas can be quite elegant: I always love the look of pantry staples in plain, glass jars. Other reuse ideas can be...dare I say...less aesthetically pleasing.

We'll see if we need to make many aesthetic compromises as the No-Thing New project goes on. This could be a sticking point for me!

Yum

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:06:00 +0000

Oh. My. Goodness.

Would you look at what my friend made?

The details are amazing!

And the cookies are quite delicious as well!

I think even I could handle these simpler ones.

The spool cookie cutter is available through Foose Tinsmithing.

Foose is a local company I love to support!

I found the button-shaped cookie cutter at Fancy Flours.

Oh my. There are some VERY cute cookie cutters there that are made to perch on the rim of a mug.

Spending

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:58:00 +0000

I haven't taken up cooking--this is homemade dishwasher detergent!

Last night, we went out and spent some money.

How did that feel?

Weird! After just one week of no spending at all, we were both seemed very hesitant to let loose. We got what we needed, but we were much more aware of what we truly did need, even though our stocks are somewhat depleted after the fiscal fast. For example, the frozen waffles looked like a welcome alternative to the English muffins I've been eating every morning, but then I remembered the box of baking mix in the cupboard. We'll just have a marathon waffle-making session one day this week and freeze them ourselves!

Did we follow the No-Thing rules?

Absolutely! Other than food, the only things we needed were toothpaste (I was down to the trial-sized tubes from the dentist's office), allergy medicine, and dishwasher detergent. All of those are allowable things, because they are necessities, but even so, I decided to give homemade dishwasher detergent a whirl.

Homemade dishwasher detergent?

I'm late to the green cleaning thing, but I'm giving it a try. I've been testing out homemade laundry detergent for a few weeks now, and I'm generally happy with it. I miss the lovely fragrances of my commercial detergents, but I'm getting around that by putting bars of soap in my dresser drawers! The dish detergent uses almost the same ingredients as the laundry mixture, so we're going to give that a try too. Click the links to read about ingredients, instructions, and a breakdown of the savings--I figured the internet didn't need another photograph of the ingredients lined up!

As we run out of other cleaning products, we'll try some more natural concoctions as well. Do you have any favorites?

Fiscal Fast Report

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 01:43:00 +0000

Tonight marks the end of our week-long fiscal fast! I'm happy to report that neither Gerry nor I feel like it was much of a struggle. We had plenty to eat, and were able to clear out a bunch of odds and ends from our freezer and pantry. When we finally ran out of bread this morning, Ger took care of that by making a loaf from scratch. I came home to house fragrant with the smell of fresh bread. This is a pretty cushy fiscal fast!

Because we were spending NO money at all, we had to seek alternatives a few times. I wanted to photocopy a few pages from a library book before returning it, but I settled for taking down a few notes instead. At one point, Gerry mentioned needing to buy some speaker wire, because we had rearranged the furniture a little, and the existing wire didn't quite reach. I felt a bit weird saying, "No, you can't buy speaker wire. Even when this week is over, we're not supposed to buy stuff," but Gerry took it well. I asked if maybe one wire was longer than the other, so they could be switched, and that turned out to be the case!

I almost slipped once, when I opened an author's e-newsletter I found in my mail. She has a few short stories available for download for 99 cents, and I found myself thinking, "Oh, that's cheap. Maybe I'll check them out." Then I realized I couldn't remember what the author had written, so chances are the short stories weren't going to be that memorable either. I won't miss them.

Really, though, as I said, our week without spending went by quickly and easily. I told Gerry I felt like I could go another week, but things are getting pretty lean for him in the meat department. We're also out of flour, and our fruit situation is dire, so I guess we'll be doing a little grocery shopping tomorrow.

Would you ever try a fiscal fast? Why or why not?

Coupon Liberation

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:20:00 +0000

Now, a little anecdote about an A-HA moment...
On New Year's day, I was consumed with "clean slate" zeal. I wanted to start the year on the right foot by having the house all tidied up, the laundry done, paperwork filed, etc. One thing that always foils my attempts to have everything done is coupons. We don't get the newspaper, so my coupons come from my mom, who saves them up until we get together. As a result, I get several weeks' worth of coupons at a time, and it always seems like a huge chore to go through them.

We don't even use that many coupons, especially for food. Health and beauty products and cleaning supplies account for most of our coupon usage. Even so, when I page through the coupon supplements, I'm constantly thinking, "But what if so-and-so goes on sale REALLY cheap? Then I'll wish I had a coupon." So I dutifully clip the coupons for Ritz crackers and Chunky soup, even though I can't even remember the last time we bought either product. I also keep all the coupons for shampoo, lotion, deodorant, etc. even though our bathroom closet is fully stocked.

So what happened on Sunday? I sat down with the coupon pages with the No-Thing New challenge in mind. Any coupon expiring within the next week was automatically out, because we're not spending ANY money. Any coupon expiring within the next three months had to be for something we might actually buy within the terms of No-Thing New. Out went all the coupons for shampoo, lotion, and deodorant. We have plenty to last us and no reason to buy more. Ah, I felt liberated.

So liberated, in fact, I was able to, for the first time, get past that "What if?" mentality while clipping coupons. If it's not a product we usually buy, why keep the coupon? We buy all of our cereal at either Aldi or the salvage stores, so what's the point of having coupons for Cheerios or Honey Bunches of Oats or Special K? I've never felt compelled to redeem any of the coupons I've clipped for Pom juice (and there have been many), so why have I kept doing it?

The result was that I kept about five coupons. I think one was for yeast, another was for potato chips, one was for frozen vegetables, and I kept some cold remedy coupons even though the store brands will almost certainly be less expensive should we be unlucky enough to need them.

I know this sounds like a lot of ado about nothing--duh, use the coupons on products you would buy anyway. I just think we need to be careful about coupons creating a need. After all, these companies aren't offering coupons just to be nice. They want to sell their product, and by showing you a picture and sweetening the deal a little, they have a lot of influence. They are advertisements. I'm not going to allow them to convince me to buy things I don't need or spend more on name brands, and I'm not going to let that pile of coupon fliers make me feel guilty anymore. I am in control here, not the advertisers!

The Genesis of No-Thing New

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:58:00 +0000

Today I thought I would explain how the No-Thing New challenge came about.

Oddly enough, watching Extreme Cheapskates was one of the sparks that lit the flame of frugality. Yes, it was sensationalized (Hello, TLC!) but both Gerry and I felt motivated by the show. We aren't ready to give up our toilet paper or take home other people's leftovers when we dine out, but we saw past that stuff and saw value in each of the segments. Viewing the show is also what inspired us to start the fiscal fast I mentioned in yesterday's post. Did you watch it? What did you think?

Next, my husband and I had a talk about saving money. I've been wanting to kick our savings up a notch, but our discussions hadn't been very successful. The morning after we watched the cheapskate show, I asked if he would be willing to come up with five money-saving ideas to be shared later that night. He agreed, and when we compared notes that evening, we found that some of our ideas meshed nicely.

Finally, after having our talk, I threw out the idea of doing something more radical. I had a friend mention a possible ban on all clothes shopping in 2012 and thought we might do something similar. Gerry, rightly, pointed out that a clothes-shopping ban would be a lot harder for me than him, so I upped the ante and proposed we buy nothing. I think the minute the idea was spoken, we both saw how profound the experiment could be. We quickly hammered out some details and put the challenge into effect!

In upcoming posts, I'll go over our lists and tell you about my first, big A-HA moment associated with the challenge. I also plan to check in about once a week or so to run down any roadblocks we faced and share solutions we found--a progress report, so to speak. I hope you'll come along for the ride!

P.S. The name No-Thing New grew on me over the course of the day yesterday, but thanks for the suggestions!

Not a New Year's Resolution

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:01:00 +0000

Awesome card from an old friend!

We aren't usually big fans of New Year's resolutions around here. I can remember making exactly two. One year I resolved to always have fresh flowers in the house. That lasted until about April, and then I decided to save my money. Another year we resolved to have "table time" every day--either have dinner at the dining room table or play a game or something. That only lasted until about mid-February, because our schedules are all over the place. Neither one of us was wild about compulsory table time at 11 pm, and sometimes that was the only time we had to do it.

So this isn't a New Year's resolution. Yes, it started on January 1st, but that is just a coincidence.

Simply put, we are buying "no-thing new" for the next three months. For now, I'm not going to get into a big, long-winded explanation about how this came about, but I will share about that later. The parameters:

We are starting with a week-long fiscal fast, as championed by the Ultimate Cheapskate, Jeff Yeager. We will spend no money. None. Well, okay, if one of us needs cold medicine or we run out of kitten food or gas, we will make allowances, but other than that, nope, those wallets are staying closed. We are looking at this as a kind of detox. Instead of cleaning out our colons, we're purifying ourselves for a new approach to spending...or not spending.

Once this week is over, we will enter what I think of as the "no-thing new" zone. I'm using the words very deliberately. No-thing means we're focusing on things. Buying food is fine. Paying for entertainment (as I'll explain later) is fine. But things? Those we'll try to do without. And if we decide there is something we really want, we will not buy it new. We'll check thrift shops, craigslist, freecycle, or ask our friends, but buying new is not an option.

Notice I said "something we really want." Anything that's a true necessity (toilet paper, toothpaste, tires for the car) is exempt. And, trust me, we are not going to be loosey goosey about calling things necessities!

The purpose of all this is to be more mindful of our spending. The rules probably aren't comprehensive and could be open to interpretation, but we're counting on our consciences to keep us in line. As long as it gets us actively thinking about what, when, and how we spend, it will be a success.

Here is my first little success story! We usually receive several free calendars, and we use one to keep track of gym visits with stickers. I know it sounds really juvenile, but it works for keeping us accountable. This year we didn't get a single calendar. Ordinarily, I would have bought one. I wouldn't have spent much, either a dollar at the dollar store or even less at the thrift shop, but this year even that was out. An alternative would have been to print one, and there are a lot of very attractive printable calendars out there, but our printer is not working right, and I didn't feel like fighting with it. So, I just got out a piece of paper and a ruler and made one! It isn't a groundbreaking achievement or anything, but it is a nice little symbol of the project. :)

Speaking of the project...any suggestions on what I can call it? No-Thing New is the default right now, but it doesn't really have a ring to it. Anyone?

Late Homework Assignment

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:14:00 +0000

I just found a half-written book post I started ages ago. Without further ado, here is what I had done!

The McCloud Home for Wayward Girls by Wendy Delsol: I liked this book, but it's been so long since I read it, I don't remember much about it. I guess that says something, hmm. Okay, it was a perfectly good time-filler, but not outstanding.

1105 Yakima Street and 1225 Christmas Tree Lane by Debbie Macomber: I ~~should be~~ am ashamed of myself for wasting time on such drivel.

The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine by Alina Bronsky: Now this book is different! Really quirky and sort of disturbing, but a compelling read.

The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins: I had to see what all the fuss was about. Surprisingly, I liked The Hunger Games enough to read on in the series, but Catching Fire didn't seem to break any new ground. Suzanne Collins has a really unimpressive website considering how successful she is!

Mrs. Tim of the Regiment by D. E. Stevenson: Enjoyed other Mrs. Tim books much more than this first one. I'm glad I read those first or I'd have never continued!

Who was Changed and Who was Dead by Barbara Comyns: This is an older book that's been re-released, and boy is it strange! Good-strange, though.

Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson: Speaking of strange... This one didn't do it for me. Managed to finish it, but just barely.

The Faithful Place by Tana French: I picked this up when I felt like I needed an easy read, and it fit the bill. I got a kick out of the dialogue, as it's very Irish, with plenty of colorful expressions!

Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos: Couldn't wait for this to come out, as I usually like her books. Very disappointing. Had a hard time finishing.

French Leave by Anna Gavalda: I was trying to think of how to describe this. Instead of it being like reading a book, it was like reading a piece of writing. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it's the best I can do! Not unpleasant, just nothing to sink into.

Scroogenomics: Why You Shouldn't Buy Presents for the Holidays by Joel Waldfogel: This isn't a funny, lighthearted book about consumption. It's very economics assignment, so beware! The premise is that the utility of presents received is never going to approach the utility of things you buy for yourself, thus presents are ineffecient. I agree, but it makes for a boring book!

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan: Hillary Jordan is the author of the amazing Mudbound, so when I heard she had a new book out I was excited. Then I read about the book and thought it sounded way too science fiction-y for my tastes. I finally gave in and tried it and loved it.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris: On the other hand, I am not much for vampire books, and this did nothing to change my mind. I read it purely for the sake of doing readers' advisory at the library, and I hated every page.

Changing Focus

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

So I thought I'd write a post about what's been going on for the past little while and why I haven't been posting very much.

The short answer is that the fan went out in my laptop, and it was off being fixed. Word to the wise: If your computer makes a sound like a buzz saw, stop using it, even if the sound stops and it continues to operate. It took me until the next day to realize the fan wasn't running, and it was just dumb luck that saved it from overheating. The tech was amazed it was even running. Oops. Another word to the wise: Keep your eye on your battery when you send your laptop off to be fixed. Mine came back sans battery, and they have not been in a big hurry to replace it.

The longer answer is that I didn't feel motivated. I don't know if it was seasonal affective disorder or depression or just general malaise, but I didn't feel like doing much of anything, besides take naps. Add to that the lousy light in which to take pictures, and a bunch of little projects I couldn't splash all over the blog because they were meant for gifts, and the result is sporadic posting.

But the more difficult answer is that I feel like my focus is changing, and I'm not sure how to approach that on here. I'm becoming so much more interested in simplifying, scaling back, and improving my quality of life rather than adding yet another cute skirt to my wardrobe or bringing home adorable but useless things from the thrift shop. Now don't get me wrong--I have projects I want to tackle, and I'll always be susceptible to lovely thrift shop discoveries, but...I don't know. I don't know how to put it into words. I guess I'm a little timid about moving forward, because I'm not sure anyone will be interested in that sort of thing.

So for now I am going to move forth and just let things evolve. Gerry and I brewed up a whopper of a New Year's resolution last night which could make things interesting around here. We'll see how it goes!

Parsnips with Personality!

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:18:00 +0000

Here is one of those top-secret craft projects I was working on for Christmas: parsnips with personality! This year I was determined to gift my husband with homemade gifts. Between the things I made and etsy, he only ended up with one commercially manufactured gift: a hat. And now that I think about it, I'm a little upset with myself about that one, because it's something I could have made!

Why parsnips? Because Gerry loves parsnips like only an Irishman could. We even grew our own parsnips from seed this year, and we are not enthusiastic gardeners! One night I was checking etsy to see if the same seeds we grew this summer were available (not yet) and spotted a cute parsnip Christmas decoration from tazzyb on etsy.

Inspiration Parsnip

One change I made was to make the greens a little less antler-like. Unfortunately, that also meant I didn't have such a great place to attach a hanger. To solve that problem, I added some structure to the greens with floral wire--just bent it into shape and stitched it onto the felt. The stiffened felt they sell would have worked as well, but I was determined to make do with what I had!

I just asked Gerry to contribute a comment to the blog about his parsnips. Here is what he said: I was surprised, and my heart was warmed by them!

Health, Harmony, and Balance

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:16:00 +0000

So enough with the teasing...I was making miniature prayer flags!

I've always loved the images of prayer flags in the Himalayas and the meaning behind them, so I thought it would be neat to make a little mini version for my Christmas tree. I ended up going in a different direction with the tree this year, but still used the idea to make gifts for my friends at work.

One of my favorite things about this project is it allowed me to use up some of the small pieces of fabric I've been saving! I keep all my scraps sorted by color in big ziploc bags.

I rooted through the bags to find the five colors I needed: blue, white, red, yellow and green.

I cut the individual blocks without measuring. I wanted the finished product to be kind of loose and free and organic, so measuring or using a rotary cutter wouldn't have been appropriate!

I used both solid and print fabrics. If you are going to do the next step and rubber stamp on the flags, just try to use subtle prints so the words show up. I think the flags would also be effective sans words, in which case you can use more busy prints, but for the ones I was giving as gifts, I wanted their meanings to be clear.

This little set of rubber stamps came from JoAnn Fabrics, and I bought it with a 50% off coupon. It is a handy little thing to have around.

Each color represents one of the elements. Blue is sky; white is air; red is fire; green is water; and yellow is earth. You are going to want to do these assembly-line style!

Make yourself a pile of each color so you can just sit down at the sewing machine and fly through them!

Again, I'm not being very precise here. I didn't want the finished banners to come out too perfect. Just fold the top bit over a length of hemp cord...

...and sew a little channel in the flag. Be careful not to catch the cording in the stitches!

I didn't clip the thread after each flag, because that would a) waste a lot of thread and b) take longer. I just moved a little ways down the cording and continued with the next color.

It's sort of reminiscent of when I made my first quilt ever!

Once you have all five colors on there, you can cut all those threads at once.

Nice and neat.

Then slide all your flags together and tie a knot at each end so they don't slide right off the cording!

And there you have it!

I am including a little explanation with the flags, explaining that my simplified version of prayer flags is meant to be a wish for health, harmony, and balance in the coming year.

In the Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 18:30:00 +0000

Can you guess what I'm making?

Tom Terrific

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 03:10:00 +0000

This year, I am involved in an ornament swap with a group of online friends. My swap buddy is an avid fan of the Boston-based sports teams, so I knew immediately I wanted to make something related to the New England Patriots. Initially, I tried to recreate their logo in felt, but that didn't go too well, so I tackled (ahem) Tom Brady's jersey instead.

Now I'm not normally a fan of that stiff felt, but it was the perfect thing for this project, because the cuts come out so crisp and neat. I will keep that in mind for future crafting!

Wee Gifts

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 17:41:00 +0000

wocka wocka

Been working on some little gifts for Christmas!

Some I can't show, but here's a little sample.

As I was making these catnip mice for other people's cats, one of mine came sniffing around and gave me the big eyes.

Guess I'll consider her quality control.

Who Won?

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:36:00 +0000

Don't bother counting--this isn't all of them!

Yes, the results are in. I have culled and counted.

I have 123 skirts.

The closest guess came from Crissy, who guessed 112.

I was surprised by how LOW the guesses were!

I told you guys, I have a LOT of skirts!

I started with 170 skirts, so I reduced their number by about 25%.

Not too bad. I really didn't expect dramatic results with this category.

The good news is that I don't have a ton of clothes up in the attic anymore.

My off season skirts (fifty of them!) are hanging up there, but that is all.

Certainly not a minimalist wardrobe, but not as out of control as it was!

Once Crissy chooses her prize, I am going to put the other three prize packages up on etsy. So if you didn't win, but there was something you had your eye on, stay tuned!

Last Call for Contest Entries!

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 15:51:00 +0000

Strike up the band: I finally tackled the skirt portion of

The Great Closet Clean Up!

(Eloise helped.)

Because skirts are my thing, all conventional wardrobe wisdom goes out the window. I hoard skirts. I am a skirtaholic. Skirts are my kryptonite.

I began by heaping every single skirt I own onto the bed.
I won't say how many that was just yet.

And then I tried on every single one.

Whew, that was a job.

Grounds for expulsion?
1. Doesn't fit. Too small or too big, and too much work to alter.

2. Too similar to too many others. If there was something similar I'd reach for first, out it went.

3. Not really my style anymore...or was never my style to begin with! Yes, I had skirts I'd never worn.

Results?
Mixed.

I feel like I could push myself a little more, so I'm going to run through them one more time to see if I can make more cuts.

This is a lot of fuss and bother over what's in my closet, isn't it?
But more on that at a later time.

For now:
The end of the Guess the Number of Skirts contest is nigh!

Today is your last chance to enter!

Remember, there are four prizes to choose from:

Lots of cute things in there! Remember to leave your guess in the comments of the original post.

The Sweater Slog

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:18:00 +0000

The Great Closet Clean Up marches on...slowly. I'm finding it was a lot easier to get rid of a tee shirt than it is to get rid of a sweater. How come? Well, because most of my tees are bought at regular retail stores, while most of my sweaters have come from thrifts. If I need a new black tee, I know I can walk into Target or TJ Maxx and replace it for a few dollars. On the other hand, if I need a new brown turtleneck sweater (which I do), I'm either going to have to be patient until I find a good one at the thrift shop, or it's going to cost me. Result? I'm reluctant to part with the less-than-stellar specimens I already have.

Today I bit the bullet and worked on another batch of these darn sweaters: the pullovers and turtlenecks. I started with eighteen and culled six, including the brown one in the top photo (I loved that sweater) and the red one, a beautiful Ann Taylor...but it's scratchy. Once again, trying everything on in quick succession really drives home the differences between the good and the bad.

Another "tough cull" was this pair of shorts from prAna. They were a clearance rack purchase, but still pretty spendy. Problem was, I never felt completely comfortable in them. They were always sliding down, and they have some awkwardly placed pockets. No use hanging onto them, no matter how much they cost. Out! Overall, I did well on the shorts front. I started with twelve pairs and purged half!

What are the hardest things for you to part with?

Fourth and Final

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:38:00 +0000

Did ya hear the one about the snowstorm that hit two days before Halloween? I wish it were a joke, but it wasn't. We were hit pretty hard here and lost power for about 72 hours. No lights, no heat, no water. Thankfully, they restored power well before their estimated target of Thursday at 11 pm.

The funny part was that my husband and I were just talking about how much more leisurely our lives will be now that a) soccer season is ending, b) my mom's birthday party is past, and c) our CSA blog is back on hiatus. Guess somewhere out there in the cosmos, someone decided we needed one more roadblock before we could relax a little!

So today I'm basking in the cental heating, catching up on laundry, and clearing up all the messes we made in the dark. While I'm waiting for the dryer to catch up with the washer, I figured I'd pay some attention to the poor, neglected blog.

The fourth and final choice of prizes in the Guess the Number of Skirts contest is the vintage kitchen prize. This prize package includes a linen tea towel, apron, cookie cutters, and cookbook--all vintage! It will be Lincoln's birthday before you know it, so don't get caught without a recipe!

If you'd like a chance to win this prize or one of the other three prizes up for grabs (sewing, kids' stuff, or global) just leave your guess on the original giveaway post!

Project Runway, Holiday Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Darling Petunia) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 23:46:00 +0000

Before I begin, I want to say that I have NOT forgotten the giveaway, nor have I abandoned my closet project. Both are still in the works, they've just been on the back burner for the past few weeks. See, there's the little matter of my mom's 75th birthday, which is this Sunday. We're having a party, and I've been preoccupied with getting things ready for the big day. I'm making a scrapbook of her childhood photos, creating a trivia quiz, and curating mom artifacts to put on display. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to share!

ANYWAY, what you see above is another one of my entries in the Project Runway contest. We each randomly chose a holiday-themed bandana from a bag, and our challenge was to create an outfit to reflect that holiday, using the bandana as part of the design. I ended up with Valentine's Day. At first I was happy, because the bandana was one of the prettier ones, but then I began to wonder, "What kind of outfit is typical for Valentine's Day?" Well, all I could think of was lingerie. For twelve out of the fourteen days we were allotted to finish this challenge, I joked about making lingerie and tried to think of something else. On the thirteenth day, I faced facts: I had no better ideas, so I really was going to make lingerie.

Lucky for me, I had a pile of stretch lace on hand, from previous experiments in making undies. Even luckier for me, the pattern on the lace leant itself to forming a bustier-style top for my doll.

The bandana became her dressing gown, embellished with appliques, lace, pearls, and ribbon roses. Unlucky for me, I had none of that on hand and ended up spending $11 to add a few frills!

Tonight is the finale of the real Project Runway. Have you been watching? I am not happy with the final four. I think my Barbie clothes are better than some of the stuff they're showing!