Pinterest fail = easy win :)

Time has it's way of sucking me in. I've been known to hide out and read an entire book in one day, even if I should be doing other things. An entire season of Downton Abbey also hooked me and there went one day,  and the next day (you can't stop after just one... hello season two). 

So it's no surprise that when I hear people talk about Pinterest and how easily they lose track of time looking at the cool things you can make, I even hesitated putting that word in my vocabulary. 

But like all good things, eventually, curiosity got this cat. 

The next thing you know I was convinced my house "needed" a wreath made of old book pages. I may have also known my mother was coming to visit and if you know her, you know that if you don't give her something to do, she'll either iron everything you own, including napkins, pajamas and always the center pleat down ALL of your pants... 

So... I tend to have projects ready for her... hoping my underpants don't end up starchy and stiff. 

A wreath of Rosettes made  out of book pages sounded like a good task.

 Fairly time consuming and yet relatively simple and easy. Well... you should also know that we both have a little attention deficit problem. So after a few hours of making these, several burnt fingers on hot glue and the fine print that read we would likely need 200 of these things... the 50 or so we did get made... got put in a box and put away. 

Bleaching something, anything, was more gratifying for her and felt more productive... 

And so the roses sat. 

And sat.

And sat. 

Until... several months (maybe a year + later) when the Pinterest bug got me, likely thanks to someones Facebook post, and a huge FAIL at the original Pinterest project...  a use for these roses was born. 

Glue a magnet on the back. (also in a box waiting for the right time)

and Voila...

Mental Shift

I was unpacking from a trip about a month ago, when I realized that almost every hanger in my closet was already doubled up. Looking at the baskets on the shelves, they too were at capacity.

 Thinking back, it dawned on me that I had recently purged quite a few items, sending a box to my nieces, and a big bag to the Goodwill... and I'm not even a big shopper, in fact I think most people wouldn't call me a "shopper" at all. It seemed however, I had accumulated more than my closet could hold. Upon unpacking my 4 oz liquids from the clear plastic bag, it was overflowingly clear that the basket under my sink was also busting at the seams with half used bottles of lotion, hairspray and various other toiletries I had accumulated during travels, trips to Target, as presents, etc. Like many people, I hope, after half of a bottle of one kind of lotion, I wanted a new scent. Unfortunately, or fortunately I also hate to be wasteful so I just pushed the old one towards the back, surely I would like it again and use it up... those were my good intentions anyway. 


Well, enough is enough. I recently saw a video of a family who strives for "zero waste". They bring glass jars to the grocery store for meat and cheeses, they even make their own toothpaste! I'm not sure I can go that far just yet, but I definitely need to do something.  Growing up in Iowa I was raised to be resourceful. Not living near a big city, it just wasn't always an option to go out and buy the things we needed or wanted and so we were resourceful. Want a slip and slide?... head out to the garage, find that tarp and turn on the hose! Looking back on those days it makes me glad that we didn't have a lot of money because it forced us to be innovative and resourceful and not so wasteful... something I've lost sight of...


And so it has begun. 365 days of no new purchases. Use up the lotions sitting under the sink, and the grocery items before they go bad. Repurpose the stack of wedding cards, extra swim caps, paper bags, and ribbons I have so diligently "saved" for years. And more importantly, resurrect the creative spirit that comes when you challenge yourself.