Small treasures

I love browsing flea markets and second hand stores. Most of the time I am not interested in anything special. I just really enjoy looking at all those things that once were cherished  by someone. But sometimes I come across something I like so much I just have to get it. Or because my husband fells in love with it, as in the case of this little candle holder.

I think he secretly dreams of a situation where we lose power and he will lead the way around the
house carrying this with a burning candle stick - just like in the good, old 18th century. 

I have been looking for an ice bucket. I want one that at least looks like it is mid-century, made of crystal and with a square pattern. I haven't found the ice bucket yet, but at the market in Covent Garden I found the perfect ice tongs.

Look at the chicken feet! 

I  have no clue what kind of style it is, or when they were made. There's no stamp on them to help me identify them. I'm just happy I found them and that they now are cherished by me the way they (hopefully) were cherished by their previous owner.

Now all I have to do is to find the ice bucket to go with them. Any tip on where I should look?  

Make-do and Mend: Torn jeans

Inspired by the mended doily I bought in London this summer, thought I decided to do something I haven't done in a long time.

Growing up, I wore jeans every single day. Mending my jeans was among the first things I learned how to do on a sewing machine. Today I barely own a pair of jeans. The pair I own, I wear so rarely that I don't think I'll ever need to mend them. My husband, however, has a couple of jeans that has been laying around for a while just waiting for me to be inspired enough to fix them. 

You need a pair of jeans in need of mending, some jeans fabric you can use for the mending
 (I bought a pair of jeans for NOK25/$4 at a second had store that I cut fabric swatches from)
and some blue thread that more or less matches the blue color of the jeans.

Pin some of the jeans fabric on the inside of the torn jeans.

I own exactly 3 sewing pins, but that's all what's needed. 

Then just go crazy with the zigzag seam on your sewing machine. 

I don't know if zigzagging is the technical term, but that is what I am doing along the frayed edge. 

The zigzagging I do from the outside of the jeans, and when I'm done I cut off any excess fabric on the inside.

No, this is not the neat backside of my grandmother's embroideries. 

This does require a sewing machine, but it doesn't require much skill when it comes to using it. The results will always be good unless something is wrong with the machine. The best results are of course in the crouch of the jeans, it can practically not be seen that you've mended them, but I also fixed the frayed leg hem on a pair of jeans.

I'm pretty happy with the result. It can barely be seen when the jeans is worn. 

My husband is happy, he now can wear his favorite pair of jeans outside the house again.

Do you have a tip for clothes or other things that you mend instead of throwing it away? 

Project Meat Loss: Intro

I am your average person. Maybe a little above average interested in food, maybe a little below average interested in healthy food (I cannot say no to cheese). Maybe a little above average interested in having an electric car instead of a regular car, maybe a little below average when it comes to paper recycling (there just isn't enough space in my kitchen for that box).

Here I should have a picture of me in a Tesla eating cheese, but since don't have a Tesla (yet),
you'll have to settle with this picture of a cheese dish I ate the other day. 

I like meat. I love Parma ham on my sandwich and on my pizza. I appreciate a nice steak the way my husband cooks them (very red). Philly cheese steak might be my favorite dish ever.  

Philly cheese steak. Taken by Terence Ong in June 2006.

But here's the thing. I know that both from a health and from an environmental standpoint that it would be beneficial to reduce the amount of meat we are eating. I don't think I will ever go completely vegetarian, but I want to substantially reduce the amount of meat I am eating. I don't think this is something I will be able to do over night, but I want to share the process of doing this with you. 

My first steps in this process will be to implement Meatless Monday. Stay tuned for updates on how this is working out! And if you have tips for good vegetarian dishes, please share them with me! 

Make-do and Mend

I spent a few, intense days in London this summer. 3 days filled with sightseeing and a little bit of shopping. Among others, I visited Churchill War Rooms. The place is like frozen in time - the rooms look the same as they did when the war ended in 1945.

I bought this poster in their excellent museum shop. Clothing rationing was introduced in June 1941 in Britain, and this was part of a campaign to offer innovative ways of making the best of people's clothes. 

I do my fair share of shopping (with a special weakness for shoes), but there is something very appealing with the re-use and mending of old items. Which made me totally fall in love with this little doily I found at the market in Covent Garden. 

You never see this any more! Someone carefully mended this little doily instead of throwing it away. I wonder who this person was, but I imagine that after making the beautiful laces around the doily, the owner did not want to throw away the doily. 

I have no idea yet as to what to do with the little doily, so if anyone has a suggestion, I am open minded!