#436...cloud cushions

I came across some throw pillows made into the shape of clouds here and here and I knew I wanted some puffy pillows of my own. First, I made a small cloud out of this cashmere armless, turtleneck sweater that I never wear....(because I live in Texas)

Next, I made a bigger reversible cloud out of scraps from my stash. Here they are floating across my bed.

#435...tyler's desk

I got this old Ethan Allen hutch top at a consignment shop for about $30. I think it was so inexpensive because it had no base, as it was in pretty great shape.

After sitting in my garage most of last year, I finally decided to turn it into a desk for Tyler.

I ordered 28" steel hairpin legs from this website, and we cut a platform base for the hutch top to mount to.

Next, I painted the platform base and some of the interior boxes of the piece and we moved it into it's new home in our front entry room. (This required some rearranging of furniture of course.)

Tyler drilled a hole through the bottom of the cabinet so that it could have a plug inside for his laptop. It seems to be serving as a good office for him on days he works from home. The best part to me is being able to close his papers away from view.

It has some nice drawer space for storing office supplies. In the display cubbies I've arranged some of my hand made pottery collection. (The lighted snowflake atop is my one hold-out holiday decoration that I've not wanted to put away yet)

#434...mango salsa

We really love this mango salsa recipe. We like to put it on fish tacos. This week we forgot to buy tortillas, so we tried using iceberg lettuce leaves as a tortilla substitute. The crunchy lettuce added something really tasty to the taco, but it fell apart in two bites, and was pretty messy to eat.

#433...amy butler's pad

I really love the textile designs of fabric maven Amy Butler, and I really love her 1960's home. Seen here on Apartment Therapy.

#432...knitted potholder

Over the holidays, we took a short car trip to Dallas, and I decided that the ride would give me a good chance to pick up knitting again. I did not knit one thing during 2011, which is pretty sad. I found three random leftover balls of thin yarn in my yarn bin, and decided to practice knitting by turning them into a potholder. I reacquainted myself with the purl and knit stitches with the help of Knitting Pretty by Kris Percival.

Knitting three yarns as one may have not been the easiest or quickest knitting practice I could have chosen. It also gives your hands a good work-out and a cramp. But, I persevered and now have a pretty potholder/hot pad thing, and am ready to start a more advanced knitting project.....this time using only a single yarn though. I'm thinking something really pretty like this. Here's my potholder acting as a giant coaster for this tasty hot drink that I sipped all day yesterday. (Yes, I'm looking for any excuse to use this knitted masterpiece)

I'm really starting this year of blogging with a bang...books, weeds, now potholders....my life is going to get more exciting I promise.

#431...indoor weeds

There is a very prolific fern-like weed growing at the edge of our sidewalk. I have been meaning to cut it down all holiday season. 

While cutting it down, I decided to bring a few fronds inside and try the weed as a table-top arrangement.

As hearty and unwanted the weed is outside, after about a day indoors it started to wilt, even though I clipped it and gave it water. I guess the moral of this post is that weeds really do grow best in spots we don't want them.

#430...new year, new reads

"Read more" always lands near the top of my resolution list, as reading is one of my favorite guilty pleasures. The books I read in 2011 were good, but none made my "favorite books ever list". I've been lining up my reading list for 2012, and I made an effort to peruse book reviews, hoping to read some great fiction this year. I put a bunch of books on my Christmas list, and I'm excited to get started reading what Santa brought for me.

Read in 2011

The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Snow Flower and The Secret Fan by Lisa See

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee

The Sweet Life In Paris by David Lebovitz

The Catwalk Cats by Grace Coddington

An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin

To Read in 2012

Queenmaker by India Edghill

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw

Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff

The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt

Catherine The Great by Robert K. Massie

The Wilder Years by Wendy McClure

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

Wildwood by Colin Meloy