Rebecca Homecca

Here’s Marvin checking out the striped sweater that sacrificed an arm for my Sweater Guy.

My two days back at work after vacating were horrible and a complete shock to the system. So when I got home from work on Friday, I made this little sweater guy.

I needed to make a new friend out of some cuddly materials.

I saw these sweater friends somewhere on the interweb, so I bought this striped sweater quite some time ago at the resale shop with the intent of making a little sweater guy.

It was really easy. I added a little heart shaped button that I had laying around on him for extra love.

Yesterday I thought I would bring my bookmarks, note cards, and a few matted paintings to work and try and sell them. We have a couple of people who make things and have brought them in to sell.

I thought maybe I could make ten or fifteen dollars. That would be pretty good.

So I set everything out on an empty desk. I had a pre-printed price list from my show and put the paintings on “sale”.

As people came by I told them my store was open, and they should feel free to browse. Two ladies bought almost $30 worth within the first 1/2 hour.

By the end of the day I sold over $100 worth of stuff.

I almost sold out of note cards. I just have a few bundles left (I sell them in packs of 4 for $5). I still have a ton of book marks left, but that is because I made a ton. I was really glad to have a couple of the paintings go too.

So, all in all, I would say it was a good day. I was quite a bit over my forecast and cleared out some inventory.

I wrapped all my presents today. If you look closely you can see a little grey secret santa behind all the gifts.

One of my favorite things to use for wrapping paper is plain brown paper. I usually get something a little more festive for the kids presents to mix it up. The framer wraps my paintings in brown paper, so I always save that and use it for presents too.

Over the course of the year I have been collecting plain brown bags. I keep any that don’t have printing, food stains, or are wrinkled up. Then I fold the top over and use a hole punch to put the ribbon through. Sometimes I use strips of fabric, which is really cute look and way to use up scraps.

Not only does it match my theme, but it re-uses something that normally would be put in the trash. The other great thing is I don’t have to spend any money on gift bags! I lucked out this year because in one of the things I ordered online was a bunch of thin brown filler paper. It was all crinkly, so not good for wrapping. However, it worked awesome to use instead of tissue paper!

I also recycle paintings that didn’t quite work out into tags.  I just cut them into small squares and write names on them. Then I use the hole punch to make a hole for ribbon and tie it to the present.

If you want to make your own gifts tags you could recycle Christmas cards. Instead of throwing them away, save them until next year. Then, cut the picture side into small squares and write the names on the back. It doesn’t matter what part of the picture you get, it’s fun to  be a little abstract.

Even though I am not quite done organizing my workroom yet, I’m doing my first project in there. As you can see I have my sewing machine set up on my desk. I am hemming my new pants that I bought. It is very tedious. I hate hemming pants. For one thing, I worry that I am going to wreck them so I am extra careful. The other difficult part is sizing them on yourself. It usually takes a couple of tries.

I have the most mismatched bunch of furniture in there. I have a small dresser that I am using to keep things in (the radio is on that). I have an old sewing machine stand that I bought for $15 with a broken sewing machine, that I keep my sewing machine on (novel idea). I have an old magazine stand that my mom gave me with a variety of supplies on and in. Then at the end of my desk there is a different kind of magazine stand that I keep art work in. It works for me and it’s better than just some boring shelves or bins!

Here’s the other side of my room that has my artwork displayed. You can also see my pants hanging out on the ironing board.

Well, so far I have one pant leg hemmed. Only three more to go! I need to get at least one pair done. I have a super important meeting at work next week and I would like to wear some new pants. It’s not quite cold enough yet for my fabulous sweater set to come out yet, so I’m not sure what I will do for a top.

Meanwhile I will be on the DL for a couple days as we are heading out of town! The weather is supposed to be awesome, so I am excited!!

My friend Em sent me this excerpt from the knitting shop newsletter:

“Well, our favorite appliance, the Felting Machine (i.e. the washing machine) took a brief leave of absence. Too stressed out over the holidays, I guess. At any rate, the spontaneous vacation was swiftly put to an end when Charley resuscitated it by way of a reverse Heimlich Maneuver. And that was the long-winded version of: the Felting Machine is fixed.”