I would have perished as a bedouin

or: Sanch-teo: I can certainly commiserate.

Ahhhh.... stuff. I do love my stuff. I tried (I really really tried) to downsize and gave away or threw out a bunch of my stuff a few Octobers back. But then all this new stuff was out there tempting me no end.

I did attempt to keep my consumption of the practical and useful kind (functional - not just pretty, sturdy thrift store finds instead of cheaply mass-produced goods made in some overseas sweat factory with no labor regulations). Oh but then I kept finding so many pretty things that I just couldn't pass up. I've even begun collecting again. Oh dear.

From yesterday's rummagings:

A Blue glass mason jar?? Are you freaking kidding me?Who knew? And that wooden bowl is perfect as a sink-side catch-all for the soap pump and dish sponges. The blue ceramic container is actually from West Elm, but I loved the color and it felt plenty sturdy. And that green box has a hinged lid and a stamped motif on the bottom that I just couldn't pass up. I'm sure functions will be found for these guys soon.


From top to bottom: I've become fascinated with hand-embroidered or hand-appliquéd handkerchiefs. But it's a particular kind of hand-embroidery/appliqué that I just can't describe in words, but I know it when I see it.

Then there's this new thing with doilies. Circular hand-made ones. Again, who knew?? I used to mock my mom for her obsession with doilies. No lie, the woman covered EVERYTHING in doilies including electronics like the VCR and stereo speakers. But I've got sort of an art project in mind that I need these doilies for. More on that as progress warrants.

And that coil of white lace in the upper right hand corner? That's hand-crocheted lace. Holey-mazoley! Over two yards and I got it for like 2 bucks! That's such an amazing score I can barely speak of it.

And all of these lovelies are sitting atop vintage bedding that I can't stop scooping up either. Then there's the baby blue (it looks a little drab in the photo, but I assure you it is anything but drab) linen fabric all the way at the bottom. Kind of a coarse linen, but still quite nice.

And if that wasn't enough loot, I hit a hand-made apron goldmine. Unfortunately another woman zoomed in on my section of the thrift store which got me feeling all woozy and territorial. Fortunately she was a different size than me and picked up a few aprons that I probably would not have been able to comfortably wear. Unfortunately, they were really cute and I experienced covetous thoughts for the rest of my time browsing there. Fortunately it was my first stop so I felt better as the day went along and I kept finding so many cool deals. But here's what I ended up taking home:

Are you freaking kidding me?? A chicken apron?


And then a sweet little apron (possibly child's apron? but I think I could still wear it) with pockets (at top) and a little linen number with orange trim and orange embroidery. Whew.

Which brings us to the confession part of today's post. I'm embarrassed to to admit that I have been slowly starting a new collection (just two pieces so far) of... um, baby clothes.

Okay, what kind of weirdo collects baby clothes when she doesn't have any babies? Discuss.

It started with this guy down here in all it's amazing red and white hand knit glory. I knew I had no need for such a thing. So it didn't make sense to buy it. But I couldn't put it down. So I photographed it, thinking that I could always enjoy it by looking at the photograph. But then it came time to pay for my stuff and I hadn't put it down.

So I bought it.

Even though none of my friends have babies. Or have girl babies. Or have my sense of style and would put something like this on their kid. I'd thought I could save grace by putting it in a frame and hanging it up as decoration, but then that yellow jumpsuit + shirt number popped up yesterday and I knew I was doomed. To my weaknesses. Gods, I have no will-power. In my defense, I wasn't even shopping in the kids section (why would I?), these were hanging around in linens and lace. See? It's as though it was meant to be. Or at least that's what I told my husband.