zzzzzzzzzzakka

Speaking of Pinterest, I actually made something I pinned! Well, kinda. Well, I did but I didn't realize it. Kinda. Confused? Me too- let's back that thang up.

I'm la presidente of a pretentious four member organization called Green Club. Basically, you have to love the color green, love noodles and be fantastic in order to join. Ok, maybe it's not thaaaaat pretentious but we are indeed both fantastic and fancy. :) We get together every couple of months for lunch and catch up time (we all used to work together 5,000 years together) at Noodles & Company. Hence the you have to love noodles to join Green Club. :)

Last month our Enforcer-in-Chief, Brooke of Drunken Monkey Knits, made us all prizes! Isn't she the sweetest?! She gave the three of us each a set of tea towels that fit our personalities oh so nicely. She put weiners weiner dogs on Kimbo's (do you have any idea how hard it is to not say anything inappropriate about that?  hehe... hard.), vintagey looking mushrooms on Leserlie's set of tea towels and ridiculously cute bunting on mine from the Reunion line by Sweetwater.

Brooke knows how much I love bunting. Remember this bunting I made for my nephew...

that Jodi in turn made into this beautiful painting for me?

Anywho, that's where Brooke got the bunting idea. Isn't that nice- one present I made for my nephew turned into two for me. SCORE. ;)

What I didn't realize was that Brooke made the tea towels from one of my long ago pins-

Source: coatsandclarksewingsecrets.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

And since I've done way too much pinning and not enough DOING, I decided to make some of these tea towels myself! Except this time I'd make a set for that lovely girl from Australia, Jodi. :)

These were pretty dang easy to make. I bought a pack of four plain white tea towels at Target and went through my scraps bin looking for the fabric for them. Jodi has given herself a two month challenge of not buying anything new which has really encouraged me to look around too and try to use more of what I have before immediately running to the store. I was so pleased to find some of my favorite fabric with leaves on it which I thought would be great for Ms. Jodi, as she's a big lover of trees and their symbolism as am I. :)

Anywho, feel free to click on the Pinterest link above for the proper tutorial but basically I cut two pieces of fabric 18" x 6"ish, folded over just a bit on all four sides, pinned them to the towels so that there was around 2" left on the bottom and just a bit on both sides and sewed around all four edges using a decorative stitch. Bada bing, bada boom!

This was a super easy project and one that I am definitely going to re-visit MANY times in the future. Wouldn't these tea towels be great as a housewarming gift along with coordinating pot-holders and coasters?!

Though I was feeling super warm and fuzzy because of the tea towels that Brooke made for me, what inspired me just as much to start making for others MUCH more often is a lovely new book I downloaded a few weeks ago by Rashida Coleman Hale called Zakka Style.

Ok, fine- here's a better picture:

source

According to Rashida,

the term zakka... has grown to mean a style that embodies a kind of simple charm and uniqueness- something handmade that is useful yet pleasing... In my world, zakka style is not only an aesthetic but also almost a way of life. Making handcrafted gifts for friends and having handmade items in my home to share with my family make being able to sew such a wonderful thing.

And ain't that the truth?

I love sewing big time but sometimes I get overwhelmed feeling like every time I sit down at Elna, we have to produce an amazing looking king-size quilt. Friends, this book has helped me see the light and since purchasing it I have become ADDICTED to this zakka loving way of life. It is so nice to sit down at the end of a work day and be able to produce something that is usable, pretty, that I can bless someone else with and that is satisfying for me to make. Seriously- it's an effing gift after a long day at the office sometimes. :)

So, along with Jodi's tea towels I decided to embrace my inner zakka queen and also made her a drawstring bag to hold her on-the-go art supplies and I also quilted a fun little blanket for one of her daughter's dollies.

I made this bag using Jeni's tutorial.

I was so pleased to see that she's getting good use out of her little bag!

livin' it up down under and on Jodi's blog

And that her little girl loves the quilt. :)

So, YES- my new style is zakka style. I am officially the girl to become friends with if you'd like something handmade for you. Entrance fee for my friendship, bee tee dubs, is $20 in cash.

You're welcome. :)

xo,
Kara