Using old Jeans

Denim is such a rich, heavy fabric. I never like throwing away old Jeans, thinking of all the possibilities they might offer, (and, usually, they also have a sentimental value) so, for the last year or so, I´ve kept a box with old pants next to my bedside table, pondering about what to do with them. I mean, I wear my Jeans until they´re really, really broken.
And then, last weekend, we finally got to work on them.


It´s important to spread wide. I mean, you need to see what you´ve got. You need to... ahem... give room to your creativity, right? Use the whole kitchen:

We tried around a bit, by cutting out pockets, and decorating them with varios ribbons:

A good thing is, you allready have many sturdy, good seams you don´t need to break.
You only need to get the sewing machine out for the extra seams you want to add.

We also tried painting with acrylic paint on it, mostly to engage the boys, but also because I had nice new acrylic paint in metallic colors. The twins used thick layers, and after they dried, they really have an interesting texture:

Finally, Eva made a small pencil case, with bells:

And Ronnie made a purse, well, not a really sturdy one, but we can still work on that:

And I decided on making sot of a toolbag to wear in school, a small bag to carry all my accesoires, like scissors, pencils, papertowels, band-aids, my keys and my super cool name-tag:

So, we finally got to sew something again, and something usuable - I´ve actually been wearing that bag around my hip all week long, and the kids liked it.

Other than that, I´ve been busy translating various appartement and area discriptions for a travel website - a job I find very pleaseant, since reading/translating the texts feels like being there again - I translate texts about Amsterdam and Barcelona, and the boss is friendly and the payment is nice.

Also, we´ve had two sick kids this week, which is annoying, but well, we´ve been healthy for so long that I guess it´s just fair, and I´m thinking about how to install tiles in my kitchen myself (should be do-able, right?) and planning Mehmet and Miro´s detective birthday party. Man there´s so much to do.

Since I´ve started working in school, we haven´t had any Couchsurfers. Also, I´ve maybe read about 10 books, which is almost nothing, and I feel like I really have to stretch to keep a social life. Earning money is surely nice, and I love my school, but maybe not that much - I´m considering going down to 10 hours a week after this year - or maybe quitting at all, if I feel like I can. To spend my time playing with my kids, writing and reading, meeting people, taking care of our bees and chicken and going to concerts. Because there is only one life :)
And now I´m going, preparing my schoolday tomorrow, because yes, there´s only one life, and I´m gonna use it well.

Leaving you with some gorgeous life music:

I like her name - it´s being prononced like my daughter´s name. I´ve first heard her play with her band Crooked Still, and she´s really, really good. I´m sorry I missed this concert, which was practically in front of my door last week - and I blame my job for that ;)