What's an Accessory to an Accessory Without an Accessory?

I love sewing. I'm not super great at it, I have a somewhat difficult time following patterns, because I don't understand all the terminology that comes in those packages. But I still love to sew, freestyle sewing I guess you can call it. I began sewing when I was around 7 years old. Whenever my mother was hemming or mending or making, I would sit along side, and watch, and do an occasional stitch. Then sometimes when I was left alone, I would get out her sewing machine, hope the thread was in place cause I had no idea how to thread a sewing machine without a GPS, and I would start creating things out of scrap fabric or my old jeans.
this is a talent that comes in handy. For example, lately, I have had this desire to repaint my living room. But then today I realized that I maybe just a change in curtains is needed. so right after work, I headed over to another of my favourites, Ikea, and bought some fabric. I always LOVE the fabrics they have. it's very sturdy and has very fun prints. Occasionally though, I will find a fabric that I love, but then there is one tiny little thing in the print that bothers me. For example, take a look at this print:

why does the rabbit have to have red eyes? and what is that squirrel going to do to that bird?

kitchen curtain

Anyways,I was in Ikea, and then I was stuck in a predicament: do I choose the same fabric as my small kitchen curtains since my living room and kitchen are partially "together" if you know what I mean. So I ended up asking the textiles lady for an opinion, cause I can't make those big decisions on my own. Now if it was a simple yes no answer and either one would look equally as good, I would have simply brought out my yes/no coin and flipped it. But this was a which looks better question and assistance was required.

 As soon as I got home, I cleaned out the dishwasher, and filled it with the dishes on the sink. I was planning to start my curtains right away, but the dishes had to be done first. in two hours, maybe just under, I completed the curtains, and had them hung on the rod, after which I decided an accessory was necessary to bring the curtain colour and print to the other side of the room....

BEFORE (please excuse the
 Christmas tree and the fact
that curtains are pinned up...
it's to prevent curtain fire
from baseboards..it's temporary...
winter only)

AFTER sooo much better!

I love it! look at the bow!!

...So  I decided to make little pillows to match! I know  that many of you are probably thinking " sheeeesh Jelma, don't you have enough pillows??!!"  well don't you worry, I recycled a pair of the ones I already had. I opened them right up and gutted out the stuffing , secretly hoping to find a million bucks or a treasure inside them, but due to a lack of such, continued to place the stuffing into my new pillows. Now what's an accessory, without and accessory? I attached a little bow to each pillow. Now what's an accessory to an accessory without an accessory? I attached a little blue button to each bow. This brings out the blue in my rug.
Total time spent: 4 hours...ish.

Thaaat's STUPID!

disclosure: the following is merely a rant based on an ugly sweater. all content is merely the opinion of a thrift shopper (not a stingy shopper) you may continue to have your own opinion if you so choose.

Today at work, i was hanging some womens active wear shirts. In the mix was this ugly grey thin fleece hoodie. There was nothing special about it, but it did have an oddly shaped hood. as I was hanging it I caught a glimpse of the price tag and thought to my self.." that has to be a mistake" the sweater cost $17.99!! I put down my handful of sweaters to examine this rag only to discover a teeeeny little lululemon logo. 

This should be Lululemon's ad

I was thinking about this sweater for the last 20 minutes or so, and thus headed to the lululemon website to check it out. I swear I see the same things at walmart. 

I think the world has gone crazy. I mean the stuff there looks mighty nice, and I've examined the clothes in person. But I really don't see the hype.

I could never ever ever spend that much money on a pair of spandex pants and the company should be ashamed of itself, it's just plain rude to ask that much money for spandex. 

I don't really care that other people are buying their stuff. it's their money to spend, but frankly for me,  I think it's money well wasted. I don't mean to sound stingy, but it irritates me that big companies think they can charge so much for an item like spandex pants. I don't really care if its high tech fabric. It's still just a pair of pants. I'll think about buying a pair from a thrift store but never from the retailer. 

Walmart: nice and cheap. I like the blue ones :)

Lulu's: $108... and i am pretty sure walmart carries a pair almost identical  for $17.
according to my calculations you could buy 6 walmart pants for one pair of Lulus. or 2 complete athletic outfits for the price of one of these lulu's. 

108 bucks for pants...pppffft! for 51 bucks you can get an entire outfit. Now that is (somewhat of) a deal. at least its a better deal.

That's my rant, thanks for reading.

blue box

Nope. Not the one you put at the end of your driveway every week. Not that one.

Yesterday as I was waiting at the dentist, I was reading a home design magazine. I LOVE these magazines. I see all these beautiful rooms in them with amazing ideas. Every time I flip a page a feel the desire to do the three R's: redecorate or renovate or refurbish .

 R  R  R

Anyways, this is going somewhere. so after the dentist, I drove to work. As I mentioned before I work at Value Village. I love working there because I get to see all the treasures daily and I have amazing hours (11am-3pm...I know awesome hours!). I'm only part time which I like because it gives me time to also do my tutoring after work.   Yesterday as I was rolling out my first rack of clothes, I was taking a peek at the furniture section to see what was all brought out. I don't stop and look, I just glance as I roll by.

There, sitting on top of a coffee table was this light teal wooden crate. I was beautiful! As an employee, we are allowed to purchase items after they have gone out on the floor. But only during our lunch break.... I don't have a lunch break.

I kept my eye on this crate, all day. Every time I rolled by I glance over to make sure it was still there. When I saw customers walk by it I would say a little prayer. When I saw customers pick it up I would pray a little harder. For 4 hours I watched as customers walked by, touched, picked up and admired MY crate. It was a stressful day.  However, all day I thought about the places in my house that I could put this crate, and the ways that I could redecorate my room around the crate.

After 4 hours of rolling racks and fantasizing about rearranging my living room to accompany this crate, my shift came to an end. I signed out, ran out of the staff room to push my way between customer in the furniture section.  I was so worried that someone would  purchase this item just as my shift was over.

Well at the end of the day the crate was mine. And now it stands on it's end beside my couch filled with some books and holding a wedding picture on top.