This page of Grit Magazine caught me in my tracks today.  It  completely reminded me of this discussion last summer. I’d love to hear what your thoughts are on this Irish Proverb.  It says:

A dog owns nothing,

yet is seldom dissatisfied.

We’re charging into 2011 with the same goal we’ve had since May 2009:

NO NEW CLOTHES!

The No New Clothes Challenge is starting to get harder and harder as our clothes get worn.  Favorite jeans are going to need to be replaced this year.  Extra socks and underwear were already purchased.

And okay – I admit that I bought some new clothes for a huge family photo.  (It feels a bit awkward to wear the same sweaters you wore for Christmas photos the years before, you know?  I searched through everything I had, and sure enough, I’d also proceed to find a very well loved family picture with me in that exact same top.  So there.  I’ve come clean!  I didn’t go totally no new clothes.  But the whole idea of this challenge is to be conscious and stop buying new clothes that we DON’T NEED.  I’m going to say that I needed that sweater.)

So there’s a little challenge for all of you:  can you resist buying clothes that you don’t need?

We’re going to keep trying.  With that, I’ve definitely had to kick up the mending a notch.  This is my mending basket.  You know I’m a sucker for fabric baskets.

I try to keep it relatively empty.  Obviously, I did not do so well.  Last night, I found myself mending the following:

• 2 pairs of pants – fallen off buttons (too much holiday consuming??)
• 1 pair of pants – one huge butt hole worn through (yeah.. these just became house pants!)
• 6 socks – here’s the tutorial for that one
• 1 sweater – a hole under each arm (don’t ask me how I managed to do that)
• 2 fabric shopping bags – several burst seams (again – too much holiday consuming?!)

I used a darning stitch for the socks and pants patching.  Here’s a handy tutorial for that.  Zig zags and straight stitches were all it took for my sweater armpits (that sounds lovely) and shopping bags.  All easy peasy.

Sewing buttons with a machine is really easy, too.  My machine has a button stitch.  (Check your manual to see if yours does, too.)  Now I guess you’re supposed to buy a special Button Sewing Super Sewing Foot.  But I’m cheap.  I didn’t do that.  Plus I decided to sew my first button on a machine on a Sunday in Germany when everything must be closed by law.

So I just use a freehand quilting foot.  (This one is Bernina #29.)

All the foot needs to do is:

1. hold down the button
2. provide unblocked space for the needle to puncture the fabric, not the foot

Super easy with a quilting foot.  So everything at our house is patched and ready to go for the new year!

Oh wait.  Almost everything.  (sigh)

How about you guys?  Are you menders and darners or more of the “Oh darn!” and into the trash can kind of family?

In case you’re wondering, yes.  I am going for New Year’s Resolution brownie points.  I spent a chunk of the holiday break filing papers and all those totally yawn-worthy tasks so we’ll be ready to roll for a year of organized living.  Yippy yippy.

First up, remember how my desk used to look?  Everything was super simple.

The view was amazing.

But the function?  Not so much.  Over the last few months as my shop has been expanding, my work space has been in some serious need of expansion, too.  It certainly needed to go from “desk” to “office” and fast.

Here’s where I’m at.

Catch that piece of tire trim in the lower right part of that shot?  The entire wall is tire that was covered in cement and then stucco.  The exposed tire for trim cracks me up every day.

The biggest problem with tire walls is that they’re not exactly nail or screw friendly.  So the walls around here are pretty bald.  (Get it?  Bald.. like an old tire?  Ahh.  You find yourself using tire terminology way too much in a house of tires, I have to confess.)

But that’s okay!  A couple of eye hooks were already screwed into this wood border that runs around the house where the tires end and the roof structure begins.  Here’s where the new year of organizing comes in.  Now our photos and letters have a home.

No more photo and card pile.  Now we’ve got a spot for all that fun mail.

Thanks to a sweet student deal, Martin and I were able to swap my old laptop for a Mac Mini.  It’s just as easy to slip into my carryon bag for our next return to Germany as my old computer.  I wasn’t ever pulling out my computer during travels, anyway.  I’m definitely a computer at home kind of gal.  Books and magazines were my travel friends.  So my old, slow (but lovely) laptop just didn’t make sense.  Plus a free iPod touch was included in our swap… and became a sweet (free) birthday gift.

The pumpkin, while maybe not so seasonally appropriate, stashes all the cords and adaptors that I’m constantly reaching for.  I love having them plugged into the computer but completely out of sight.  And you remember my little owl friend?  He plopped himself at my desk.

On the flip side, I obviously had to get a monitor.  We found a factory refurbished one to the tune of $200.  It’s hanging with my ancient desk lamp from high school on the right (it’s been saved with super glue on several occasions) and my Gadanke Christmas journal on the left.

We’re a happy little family.  But I’m pretty sure that’s only because of this quick little sticky note I hung on the wall.  Yes – tire walls are totally okay with sticky notes.  It doesn’t seem to be budging any time soon, which is a good thing.  I constantly need this message:

Have you ever had to completely transform your work space to suit your new position?  Is there something you still need to do?  Is 2011 the time to get rolling?  (Sorry, sorry – I paused for a second and caught a glimpse of that tire trim.  It’s a sickness, I tell you.)