In case you've ever wondered what 1134 sheets of Letraset looks like...

...now you know.  I've got a couple of weeks off of school right now, and have been trying to use my time productively. I've had varying degrees of success with this, but one of my self-directed projects has been to organize the Letratype pictured below. 

Courtney and I found this mother lode on one of our scavenging trips last year, and this pile of letter transfer sheets had been sitting in the trunk of my car in a huge, embarrassing, messy pile for weeks longer than it ever should have. I wish I had a "before" picture to share, because the haul's next home was a wild, haystack shaped pile in the middle of our second bedroom before I set about the task of sorting them by font and size (and creating an accompanying inventory spreadsheet).

I love that we now have a lifetime supply of this stuff, though!  Each of the sheets is in its original packaging and is perfectly usable. I used some of the lettering to make Christmas cards and to label presents.  I've also rubbed some letters on to vintage wallpaper to make thank-you cards.

I'm trying to think of some new projects to make with Letratype. If inspiration strikes, I'll be sure to share. In the meantime, any suggestions or ideas are much appreciated!

The Little Crooked Christmas Tree

Oh, hello.  It's been a while!

I thought that if enough time passed I could get away with not sharing my little Christmas tree project.  It was something I had high hopes for, but I ultimately ran out of time and literally threw something together at the last minute.  Story of my life at that time of the year.

So, I decided to whip this project up at about midnight on the 23rd.  We were leaving in the morning for several days of family affairs and I still had a couple of hours worth of sewing to complete.  We had decided to exchange gifts that night and I felt the need to do so in the presence of a tree.

Oh yeah, I forgot that the reason we have this ladder living in our corner is because it was rescued from a pile of garbage in our back alley.

Obstacle 1: uneven legs

I thought I had an abundance of lights but discovered to only have one short string (obstacle 2).  It looked a little bare with only one string of lights, so I threw up some greenery.

Here's what happened:

I snapped this photo with the intention of it being a rough draft, but immediately afterward I threw in the towel, realizing that I was too tired and too busy to make another attempt.  I discovered there's a fine line between impromptu decorating and art installations.  We had a good chuckle about it while opening gifts.

On a more positive note, I picked up these two little guys at an estate sale last week.  They are sure to step up my holiday decor next year, which I've promised myself to begin as soon as December hits.