At the beginning of the fall semester, I decided to spiff up my office a little.  I was gifted with a new desk, and some other improvements, and a colleague gave me a nice chair to add to my arrangement.  It looked so much better that I was inspired to do something with the big, old, odd-sized window.  I looked in the stores, but I couldn’t find curtains that would fit the window.  So, I went to a fabric shop I go to for quilting supplies, and picked out some fabric in a print I fell in love with.  I got a piece big enough to make a half curtain for my window.  That evening, I used my rotary cutter to make two panels.  Then, I hemmed the curtain and sewed a loop for the curtain rod.  I did not do very exact measuring, but I had enough excess fabric, that I don’t think my “thrown together curtains” are very obviously uneven.  They really improved the look of my office, and when I see them, I am reminded of the joy of finding something that just fits my style.  Happy and simple creativity!

I love to crochet, even though I have not become very accomplished at it.  I have made a lot of afghans and scarves, and I don’t usually do very well with patterns.  One problem I ran into consistently is that I could never find enough skeins of the yarn color I wanted in stock at the craft stores.  Then, a friend referred me to www.lionbrandyarn.com and I found a solution to my problem.  Now, I order my yarn directly from the company, and I get exactly what I need.  I also like this site because it has a pattern finder.  That means I can put in my specifications, for the fun fur purse you see pictured here, I specified what I wanted to make (a purse or tote), who it was for (an adult), whether I preferred to knit or crochet (crochet), and the skill level (beginner).  Then, I selected this purse pattern and ordered all of the supplies to make it.  The project went quickly, and when it was time to sew on a button for closure, I searched through a bag of buttons I’ve saved (extra buttons come with almost every item of clothing you purchase, and I have been saving them for a long time) and picked out a large red one for contrast.  I’d originally thought to use the purse as a Christmas present, but my husband told me that he can’t imagine any of the girls/women we are buying for using a fur purse.  I think he meant, “Honey, you are very unique, and you should keep your purse.”  The only modification I made to the pattern was making the shoulder strap a little wider than the directions suggest.  Check out the site I reference above for other fun projects.