Vintage Matchbooks

I don’t think it’s my imagination that matchbooks aren’t as prolific as they used to be. Smoking is banned from most establishments, so the need for matchbooks isn’t what it once was. While I’ve never really used matchbooks much, I do think the idea of them is pretty genius: portable fire…with advertising.

I’d Rather Hibernate Instead

Today is Black Friday (indeed, it is a dark dark day). The shopping frenzy has officially started, and although there were “pre-Black Friday” sales, today is when everything starts to really get into “holiday” mode. Everywhere you turn, you’re bombarded with sales galore.

I find it unbelievable that people go through the hassle that is Black Friday, but I guess they enjoy the hustle and bustle of finding expected (and unexpected) items at bargain prices. I have a friend who goes shopping every year with her mom; they wake up hours before dawn on Friday and drive to their destination and wait outside for the stores to open and then shop for hours. While to me that sounds rather torturous, it’s an annual tradition that they seem to enjoy.

I did try to shop at a store one Black Friday (hours after the store had opened), and I quickly realized that this was not a place I wanted to be. I wasn’t in the store for more than a few minutes before I couldn’t stand it any longer and left empty-handed. There were just too many people in too small of a space who were tired and grab-happy, and then there were the lines that were long enough to make Disneyland proud. [Pause.] Good times.

No, I’d rather hibernate at home on this busiest of shopping days. I’ve learned my lesson and I choose to stay inside and relax instead of dealing with the stress of shopping. [Pause.] Besides, if I feel the urge to spend, I can just order it online. 

Bingo!

Recently I went to a vintage store with friends and spent hours there (and it wasn’t hard to do). It wasn’t a cute little boutique of a vintage shop; no, it was a big old house with room after room that was filled with stuff in a haphazard way (akin to how you might find a cluttered garage). There were some attempts to organize things, but the shear volume of items made it a losing battle.

A Big Lie is Better than a Small Lie

Thanksgiving is next Thursday and I’m looking forward to some gut-busting food. (Mmm, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie—yum.) And while the food is tasty, Thanksgiving is also about being with family; I’ll see relatives that I don’t otherwise see during the course of the year. And there is one cousin in particular that never ceases to amaze me every time I see her.

While this cousin is older than me, she often times seems much younger (like the fact that she’s more interested in the High School Musical movies and Justin Bieber than her pre-tween daughter). And that somehow she convinced my great-aunt (probably through shear force of will) to read Twilight. She’s just very enthusiastic about pop culture that appeals to youths (to the point that sometimes I wonder if she had a Freaky Friday moment with her daughter and switched bodies). I find her obsession with youth culture pretty amusing (as I am at a lost at times to what she finds so fascinating).

It’s her thought process that astounds me the most because it seems so foreign to me; often enough we’ll be talking about a normal topic and then she’ll just state something that will take me aback. She of course thinks what she just said is perfectly normal and I’ll be sitting there with my jaw dropped in disbelief. In one conversation she was trying to convince me that a big lie was better than a small lie because then you know it’s a lie. And that’s just one example (out of the many) of conversations with her that makes me go “What?” [Shake my head in disagreement.] “No, I don’t think so. I don’t understand how you got from A to B. Your logic is not like my logic.”

It’s always entertaining to hear my cousin speak because she says so many unexpected things, and I’m hoping this coming Thanksgiving will be no different. (Please amaze and astound me…)

DIY: Paper Fan Flower

When I was a kid, I would use an accordion fold on a piece of paper to create a “fan” (as if that could help to cool me down against a hot summer day). But I thought I could use this simple fold to create a “flower” that could be used as packaging decoration.

The Back Burner

Time has been creeping up on me. I feel like I blinked in the middle of summer and suddenly it was November. Projects I meant to work on got put on the back burner as I worked on other things (like knitting and sewing). I thought I had more time, but time has a funny way of catching up with you.

And now with December around the corner I need to get back to my neglected projects (as the plan was create more designed items as Christmas presents). I’ve sort of known the gist of what I wanted to do for months; it was just being motivated enough to actually get started. And now with Christmas looming, I feel motivated (inevitable deadlines do that for me).

I have about month to design and put together things, which I think is pretty doable. Once I get some momentum, I think things will come together fairly smoothly (at least I hope so). So back burner projects you’ve now been relegated to the front burner. [Pause]. Congratulations, you now have my full attention.

Knitting Needle Case

Since the knitting needle set that I recently purchased did not come with a case, I needed to make one. (I suppose I could have stuck them in a mug and called it a day, but I wanted to be a bit more organized.) I had left over khaki material and some bias tape and thought that I could use them to create my case.

You’re Cute, but I have Cheap Fabrics Waiting at Home for Me

Recently I went to a cute little fabric shop and looked lustfully at the different fabrics there; most of the fabrics were very modern in design and color, which I liked a lot, but the prices were more than I wanted to spend (most being about $10/yard or more). I was good and I restrained myself from getting anything (other than one fat quarter). If I was talented and could expertly utilize my sewing machine, then I would be less apprehensive about buying nicer more expensive fabrics. However I am not, thus I just have to say “no” until I’m confident that I sew well and not waste any fabric.

Simple Shrug

I wanted my first non-scarf knitting project to be fairly simple and selected an easy pattern for a shrug from Mother-Daughter Knits: 30 Designs to Flatter & Fit by Sally Melville and Caddy Melville Ledbetter.