Inciting Inspiration

So the year is almost up... but I've been reminded that although I've abstained from "new" things... I have found quite a few "old" things... maybe a few too many. But I think the thrift store has incited inspiration. 

I fell in love with that table I sanded down and eventually just sealed. It's beautiful and it made me really appreciate good craftsmanship and old pieces that just need a little love to bring them back to life. 

I have a friend who is expecting a baby. Ok, I have a few friends expecting babies, so I've been on high alert for cute baby things. Of course, buying "old" things for babies isn't typically "welcomed". Germs, and stuff I guess :) So I've stayed clear, for the most part of the baby section at thrift stores, but what about furniture? I saw this absolutely, ridiculously cute, high chair and got downright giddy at the thought of busting out that sander again, working some TLC into it and and gifting this cute chair to a very deserving, yet-to-be-born little person. 

But maybe not everyone loves "old" things like I do...

I walked away... only to find this...

If only it had been a few months earlier... Joey McIntyre could have really felt my dedication...

And if that wasn't enough...

If my puzzle hobby gets old... and I take up golfing... These sparkly little gems would definitely go well with my striped socks...

Just kidding! 

I know all you serious golfers are dying a quiet death imagining me showing up to play a few holes in that outfit... don't worry - I'd stay on the chipping green :)

But you can see my dilemma! When the thrift stores offer you so many possibilities - it's hard to walk away. Especially when you realize that for just $10 that high chair could end up amazing or an utter disaster... but I'm only out 10 bucks! I mean that's less than one woodworking lesson - 

ok

that's an assumption - i'm not sure how much woodworking lessons cost.

But... I should tell you about a new friend I met. I was in Costco a few weeks ago and saw a woman who looked very familiar. My first guess was that she was from Iowa. She looked at me funny and assured me she was not from Iowa. I couldn't place her, but I knew her. Finally she said she was on a home improvement type show. 

When I moved to Canada in 2002 I only got a few channels in my dorm room, and it was winter. I watched marathons of a home improvement show that was on one of the 4 channels I got. It really inspired me to take more risks, be more creative (big picture stuff) and instantly I placed her. 

She was Amy Wynn from TRADING SPACES

It's like it was meant to be. That table was all sanded down just waiting for my next move, and who walks into my life...  It's amazing how when you just "let go and let life happen" how it can work out better than  you planned. 

Anyway. I managed to walk away from all three of those fantastic finds... but it's amazing how much more inspiration I can conjure up at a thrift store than I can flipping through a catalogue... why is that?

Because out of desperation comes inspiration!

Putting the pieces together...

What do you get kids these days for gifts?

I've played the, "let's try and be the coolest aunt and somehow produce that elusive, all the kids want it, gift"... or the nice piece of jewelry to try and instill appreciation and value... I've even tried the "experience" of a water park or hike to see the majestic wonders of the world... and it seems kids these days would rather have video games and movies - at least until they've learned every line or mastered every level. 

Kids are hard to please, so I've stopped trying to construct what it is that will make them happy and decided to give them what I want to give them. 

I didn't get a choice as a kid. 

Christmas "lists" or Birthday "lists" didn't exist. You got what you got. If that meant new socks, or just a card, or newspaper clippings from your aunt who thought you'd enjoy them... - you smiled and appreciated that someone thought of you. Gifts were gifts... not requests. 

Well... my nieces first communion is soon and as her Godmother I will be flying home to Iowa to be there and of course I like giving gifts, and my first knee jerk reaction was that since it's not quite June 1st yet, I was going to be pressured to get her something "new" because kids are hard to please. And then - inspiration struck. 

Standing in the toy section at the ARC thrift store I saw puzzles. Lots of puzzles. 1,000 piece puzzles, 10 piece puzzles. When was the last time you did a puzzle?? Maybe you're a puzzle person, but I haven't done very many puzzles and I certainly haven't done one recently, but I like puzzles. 

I decided I needed a puzzle.  Someone told me recently I don't have enough "hobbies". So we're giving puzzles a shot. 

Then it hit me. I saw a really pretty Alice in Wonderland puzzle that has a lot of pinks and purples, just like my nieces bedroom and I thought maybe she'd enjoy putting it together with me while I was home and then we could frame it and put it in her room... 

But I wanted it to mean more. 

So I ran home and put the puzzle together, flipped it over and wrote a message to her on the back. Then, I took it all apart and put it back in the box and wrapped it up. Now, she HAS to put it together in order to get the secret message! 

I could have stopped there, but as I mentioned I also bought one of these $2 puzzles for myself. 

The 1,000 piece kind...

It made me think. 

As I opened the box it smelled like a campfire. 

Not smoke, like cigarettes, but a campfire. I imagined the people who had it last, sitting at their cabin on the lake (just like the picture) putting away their cell phones, and their computers, TV's, video games, and putting a puzzle together.... together.  

I liked imagining that setting. The conversations that probably took place as they ate popcorn, or drank wine, and everybody mindlessly enjoyed a simple pleasure of a puzzle, with the complex pleasures that each person added to that table. The camaraderie and competition and fun they had, made me want to share this puzzle again. 

When I was in Kindergarten my mom ripped down the wallpaper in our basement and to our surprise the people who had put the wallpaper up about 10 years before had written on the walls. The messages were about what was going on the world at the time, how much gas prices were, and a little about themselves, where they were from and what they liked to do. It was so interesting and unexpected. We left messages of our own just in case someone wanted to tear down our wallpaper someday too!

As I unloaded that puzzle I thought... what if I put this puzzle together, flipped it over and wrote a little message in one corner... then, donated it to another thrift store (best case scenario in another city or state in my travels) and it could be like one of those dollar bills you can check online to see where it's been... 

http://www.wheresgeorge.com/

Or maybe I should leave a riddle or a "puzzle" for the next person to figure out, and then they can leave one for the next person!

My dad used to write riddles in my lunch as a kid - addressed to our lunch table he called "the lunch bunch" We loved it!

Anyway. I'm going to give it a shot. 

It might take a little while to get the thing together, but I'm going to do my best, leave a message or a 'puzzle', and like the movie Serendipity.... send it out to the world, and see what comes back. 

And to think it's all because I decided to pick up a hobby... and couldn't buy anything new :)

May Day!

It's one of my favorite days of the year. 

As a kid I remember coming home to a dixie cup on our front stoop one day. Inside was popcorn and raisins and M&M's. 

It had a pipe cleaner for a handle and that was it. No note. No clues. 

My mom's eyes got big and said... It's May Day! I was still perplexed. 

We ran inside and frantically began digging through our cupboards to see what we could find. It became a trail mix of sorts. Some cereal, with popcorn, whatever nuts we had and marshmallows. We didn't have dixie cups so I vaguely remember using coffee filters or something! lol

Either way I was so elated with the idea that for no reason other than the fact that it was the first of May, we randomly got a little basket of goodness on our front steps! And it wasn't the only one... The moms in the neighborhood must have all realized or at least caught on that this is what we did. So as we headed out the door armed with our own little "May baskets" to deliver, we stumbled upon a few more baskets sitting on our front porch. 

I learned that the idea is not to be seen or "caught" giving away your May baskets. So my mom and I carefully snuck around the neighborhood leaving our little goodies. I still didn't quite understand why we did this... but let's be honest - who cares!? :)

As I got older of course, May Day became a little less important... especially since it falls during Prom, graduation, First Communion, mowing the lawn... life I suppose. But when I went away to college it hit me on the first of May one day and I ran home and made the most elaborate May Baskets I'd ever made. 

They were peanut butter Rice Krispie treats with Peanut M&M's shaped like hearts and tied with little bows that I delivered to my college girlfriends. They laughed... and then the next year when I was living in Canada and nobody got a May Basket - they started to appreciate the little things. 

I eventually went back and year after year, I've tried my best to remember to keep the tradition alive. 

Eventually it became an expectation at my office. Popcorn balls were a big hit one year and I had 4 of the most beautiful rose bushes outside my apartment building... that each May Day everyone also got a rose... We all know the problem with that though - man did expectations - even from myself,  get high! ha ha

Well... no roses this year - but a lot of little kids live in my neighborhood and I hope if I start out easy with some popcorn, cereal and marshmallows... they'll have something to aspire to just like I did...

Happy May Day!