there is a lot to look forward to this month.  we'll finish up school...and a road trip is on the horizon.  in the mean time, there are projects to work on and jobs to finish well.  sweet may is a month of beautiful weather and we plan to enjoy that too.  hope you have good things in store this month as well!

love,
jane

this installation of 'multifunctional in the kitchen' could perhaps be more aptly named 'nonfunctioning in my kitchen'...or something like that.  i'm listing a few things i don't keep in my kitchen at the moment and why.  :) the fact that i mention these items shows that i understand their appeal...and the desire for others to own them.  i've just chosen not to own them myself.  a common thread among these pieces is that most of them are not multifunctional.  most of these items have a single purpose...and i've just found ways to do without them.  i choose to share these posts not as a guideline or advice, but as inspiration for creative, individual thinking in our spaces.  :)  we each get to mindfully decide what to have in our kitchens.  so here goes...

i have never owned a salad spinner.  there are times when i think one could be nice, but the space it takes up deters me.  a kitchen towel works just fine, and washing and patting dry greens provides a great job for a helper. :)

we don't have a vegetable peeler.  scrubbing carrots and potatoes with our hands works well.  we happen to like mashed potatoes with the peels included.  edible food and vitamins are lost in peeling vegetables...so we just don't do it.  :)

place mats and tablecloths aren't used around here.  while they can look pretty, these items mostly just seem like more laundry to me.  without them, it's easy to just wipe down the table...and done.  

along the same lines, we don't use cloth napkins.  our kitchen sink is a few steps away, if we really need it. somehow, this just works for us.

we don't have a waffle maker.  pancakes in a cast iron skillet are the same thing...just a different shape.  we don't have them a ton, so no one minds if we always have pancakes at home...and waffles are just for when we eat out occasionally.

panini makers, george forman grills, bread makers, crock pots, and rice makers don't reside here either.  our cast iron skillet, pot, oven, and stove top work just as well for preparing the same items that these single use pieces prepare.  

no doubt each person's list of haves and have nots is different.  we all have our own preferences.  use what you love!

​others in this series :: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09 

love,
jane

last week's re-alteration was the first in a pair of alterations meant to result in some summer pajamas.  i envisioned two liberty tops that i loved having more potential as other pieces.  since my favorite hot weather pajama pants bit the dust last summer, pajamas were on my mind.  the two thoughts collided and here are the results.  

this project makes me smile in more ways than one.  i had thought that this top could be lengthened into a dress for some time.  i hesitated for so long, because i felt the that resulting dress would need a slip.  not sure that i would relish wearing a slip on very hot days...it remained a top...a well-worn and therefor well washed top.  so when the extra fabric needed to lengthen it came, at first i thought that the dye lot was totally different.  then i realized that my top had probably started out the same colors as the new fabric, but much fading had occurred.  so...it's sort of funny in that way.  it is obvious that the fabrics are not perfectly matched.