I don't keep up with music like I used to, but I thought I'd give Spotify a try. As much as I love my iPhone, I hate hate hate iTunes (why do they have to come out with a new version every other day? I don't have time to download and install software all the time). Plus, I don't have much room in my budget for buying music, so I like the idea of being able to really listen to a whole song or album before spending money on it.

So far, making playlists is nice and easy with Spotify. I don't know that I'll pay for it every month, but I thought it would be fun to post a monthly playlist, so maybe we can all discover some new, good music together! If you'd like a Spotify invite, let me know in the comments (be sure to include your email address), and I'll send one. I've got a half dozen to share, so the first six comments can have one! 

The first link goes to the whole playlist, and below are links to each song. It's a mix of old and new. I like it :) 

August

Matt Costa – Mr. Pitiful
The Virgins – Private Affair – Explicit Album Version
Aqualung – Fingertip
Pete Yorn – Precious Stone
The xx – Stars
Skepta – Rolex Sweep
The Avett Brothers – I And Love And You
Ben Lee – Gamble Everything For Love
Blakroc – Ain't Nothing Like You [Hoochie Coo] Feat. Jim Jones, Mos Def
Bright Eyes – Bowl of Oranges
Leagues – Haunted
Paul Simon – The Obvious Child
Mat Kearney – Hey Mama
Kathleen Edwards – Back to Me
The Naked And Famous – Young Blood
Eels – Fresh Feeling

I am not a jewelry maker. I don't even wear much jewelry beyond earrings and my wedding ring. Still, sometimes it's nice to add just a little something something to an outfit. And sometimes you just want to make something that won't take hours and hours or loud power tools. I've noticed little leather bracelets every where lately, worn in multiples. The lightness of them appealed to me, so I decided to whip up my own little girly take on them. 

I also had some fabric scraps laying around, as one often does when one likes to play with fabric. Somewhere in my internet crawling I saw some cute leather bracelets wrapped with stripes of floss, so I decided to try something similar with fabric. Once the fabric was on there (with just a dot of Fabri-tak at each end to hold it in place), I dug through my big jar of pearl buttons and pulled out some of the smallest ones I could find. It was easy enough to just stitch them in place. 

I had some cord ends, so I glued them in place and crimped the ends a bit to fit closer to the flat leather. I need to find some of those end crimpy thingies that are actually made for this sort of project, I'll have to find a bead store for that I think. I also used giant jump rings, but it's what I had. I want to do a few more, and maybe try some knotted closures so I don't end up with a whole bunch of metal bits. 

They are very sweet and I think I need three or four more. 

I had so much creative ADD this weekend, I just kept flitting from one project to another. There were hexi-puffs and leather bracelets and a trip to the thrift store where $9 worth of treasures were bought. I sawed down some boards to make a background for food photos, and made some fabric napkins out of a blouse from the aforementioned thrifted treasures. And then there was all the laundry, cooking, cleaning, and errand-running that I also squeezed in. I'm getting tired again just thinking about it all! I need some longer weekends to do everything I want to do. Anyway, there will be more on all those things as I finish them (except not the laundry or cleaning, that was all very boring, and it's never done, anyway). 

I did manage to finish a very little porch project, however. After my succulent in a teacup, which still looks as good as the day I planted it, I had a hankering for more succulents to dress up the dining table out there. I found this perfect little tin planter at my favorite nursery, and picked out some pink, green, and white succulents to fill it up. I probably could have squeezed in another plant or two, but I can live with a little space between plants for now. I'd write up a tutorial, except it would be very short: get a container, get some cactus mix, and get some plants, arrange the plants pleasingly in the container, adding cactus mix as necessary. 

Isn't it so photogenic? I could become a crazy succulent aficionado, I think. They are weirdly addicting. It's a simple little thing, but so pleasing to look at.

I want to do better with this whole blog thing, so I’m playing around with some ideas and design and improving my photography, and just generally figuring out how to make time to do more here. So please don’t mind random changes in the look of things around here, and I hope I don’t get too rambly with my posts while I figure all this out.

Today I give you some random links:

Why have I never heard of this before? Art Project by Google. High-resolution images of prominent works of art from the best museums in the world. You can even walk around the galleries, Google street-view style. When I lived in Northern Virginia, I spent as many of my days off as possible visiting the museums on the National Mall and all around town. I was pleased to see that one of my favorites, the Freer Gallery, was included! Although the National Gallery is missing, which was another favorite. The Sunday night concerts there were one of my favorite D.C. events.

The Princess from the Land of Porcelain, by James McNeill Whistler, The Freer Gallery

I think I need to start saving up for one of these bags. Is that yellow one not just perfect?

I just got this book (by this blogger/photographer/chef), and I love it. I can’t wait to work on my food styling and photographing. It’s a challenge, since during the week I’m not home during daylight hours long enough to spend any time taking pictures, and I do most of my eating at work. While I enjoy the spontenatity of iphone photography, I’d like to improve my regular photography (not to mention my food-stying skills, which are currently non-existent).

The first words out of my mouth when I saw this were HOLY COW. And then I bought the pattern. Three of my favorite things-quilts, knitting, and bees (or at least honeycomb), all colliding in one, enormous, clever, beautiful project. It may take the rest of my life, but I am going to start making hexipuffs whenever and wherever I can.

Photo by Tiny Owl Knits

It's too darn hot for outside projects, and I'm getting the itch to completely re-do everything in our house. I don't have the time or the funds for any huge undertakings, so I'm sticking with little bits and pieces for now. Sometimes small projects have just as much impact as big, is what I'm thinking. 

This corner used to have a big clock that didn't work. It was the sort of thing that we didn't even see any more and it was just a greasy dust collector. Meanwhile, I had a knife rack kicking around forever, and never managed to get it hung up. It's just a cheapie ikea purchase (they don't seem to have the same one any more, but this is similar). I took it to the hardware store, but for once didn't get very good advice. They guy sold me a pair of toggle bolts, which were complete overkill and I realized when I got home that if I used them the holes I would have to drill in my wall would be bigger than the spacers that came with the rack. 

It occured to me this week that I could probably just use some simple, little plastic anchors that I already had in my neatly organized toolbox. I also had a newly purchased hook from the Anthropologie sale bin that I could hang the same way, so I got out my drill and in about 10 minutes I had a knife rack and a towel hook conveniently located near the sink. It's so nice to just grab a knife when I need one instead of rummaging through the drawer where they used to be, with their ugly paper sleeves protecting the blades and making it hard to tell which knife was which.

Of course a new hook meant I needed some nice towels, so I rummaged through my scraps of linen, and found a few pieces that were appropriately sized and hemmed them up. It didn't cost a cent, and I they are just perfect. I added little loops of cotton tape to the middle of one long side on each towel, and they hang quite nicely for drying your hands. 

I think this will help my paper towel usage considerably. I'm feeling quite smug for using what I have and being so practical. Each towel is a little different, and I even found a piece of fabric with an edge bound in a cute 30's calico print. It's got a seam down the middle, and I have no idea what I was making, but I'm glad it found a new life as something useful.

Of course, I'm currently fighting the urge to completely re-paint my kitchen, but this new little corner will keep me happy for the time being. 

Next up I think I will tackle the front door. It needs paint and a curtain, and I think I might have come up with a good idea while I was rummaging through my fabric stash.