make it - mend it

I have finished reading my most favourite Christmas present of the year. It was something on my list, that my husband bought me, which is a miracle on to itself, and it is is fast becoming my favourite book of the year.

It is about a man (and his family) and his search for a more DIY-life. It is about keeping chickens and bees, and making a "guitar" out of a cigar box, and it is about growing plants, and making a better cup of espresso and it is about falling in love with making things with your own hands.

And that is something I can really appreciate.

In addition to my regular on-the-fly Friday DIYs that I usually throw together at the last minute to post, I will be attempting to tackle some of the projects mentioned in his book, and on some other DIY websites I am getting into the habit of reading.

here is the short list:
- "MacGyver" some chopsticks
- Make scented, organic body oil to give as gifts (this one was my own idea!), and some moisturizer while I'm at it
- Car freshener the non-gross way
- Take my old, "done" candles and make new ones
- Re-vamp my garden trying this technique and this one as well (I'm thinking for the second one, I will have to enlist help from my "tech support" slash "electrical engineering technologist", although I am also hoping I can find a less complicated and less technical blueprint way to do this!!)
- make ceiling lamps out of these wire things I bought ages ago at HomeSense that did not work for the DIY for which I had originally purchased them (my plan)
- make a box out of old puzzle pieces (this one's mine too)
- make a guitar out of a cigar box (I am getting really excited about this one!!)

As part of this, I also want to hold some home workshops, like, in my home, and invite some of my loyal blog readers over to "make it" with me! I will try out some of the above do-dads and get back to you on that one.

I will also take workshop suggestions...from the list above, or any of my past DIYs! There would be a materials fee, and I might have to make it a potluck-food affair, but we'll see. Excited!!
*****

And I leave you with a quote I ctrl+c'd off a ReadyMade post: "when you make something with your hands and give it to someone, it’s full of magic no matter what it is." -Lily Kane (click here for the whole article, which for all those handmade-lovers out there, is a great read! and this post as well, which gave me eyesore from reading all the comments, but was well worth it)


All this talk about integrity and handmade has made me think twice about some of the decisions I`ve been making around Lime Door. Will re-think and re-boot. Not that I think I`m lacking integrity or anything, but I would like to be more mindful and purposeful in what I create and why I create.


For the same reason I ignored a request from a big shopping website to `sponsor`a giveaway on my blog. It`s not my style...not at all.


gosh...it's almost bedtime...boy howdy, talk about a time suck. and my keyboard just went french on me, so what a perfect time to stop.


later skater alligator