Since the day she blogged about it back in August, I've been meaning to make Soulemama's handkerchief bag. I loved what she said about crafting utilitarian objects and making ordinary things just a bit nicer. And it made me see a way to use all those vintage handkerchiefs I'd collected "just because." Really, they've only every dabbed a tear here and there or cleaned the rain off my glasses; I keep one in my purse because they're pretty, but I don't use them, because I'm a bit squeamish about the idea of blowing my nose on a hankie and then using it again. A soggy mass in my purse? No thanks. But hankie use at home, now that I can see. Use it, toss it in the laundry. We use a crazy number of tissues here (6 kids every day, bringing germs from all their houses, equals a lot of runny noses!). I buy the environmentally horrible kind--it's one of my hypocritical shopping habits--because they're so much kinder on the nose. But oh, boy, do they pile up! I'd guess they're most of our trash. And the dust they create! Seems every surface is covered with white powdery dust. So, the handkerchief bag seemed like it would solve many problems at once, as well as simply being pretty!
But it got added to that list of things I want to make but never get to. And the hankies sat in a closet, unused. And the tissues kept piling up. Now really, how dumb is that? Don't do it, because you can't do it oh-so-bloggy-beautifully? One day, disgusted with myself, I just grabbed an old rice bag, stuffed in the hankies, and hung it on the doorknob. Done. I still plan to make the beautiful one, one of these days. But now I'm not waiting to do it until I can do it perfectly.
I'd also planned to add to my collection at tag sales this summer. But why wait, when I have way-too-many baby washcloths in the house? The extras are in there, too, and they're just as soft on the nose as the decadent tissues. And there are also some super-soft new hankies that were a gift from a friend.
The tissues aren't gone, of course. We're using the hankie bag just for the family; the kids and other visitors get tissues. But we're using far less. And isn't that better than doing nothing?
What have you been waiting to do until you could do it "right"? Is there a good-enough way to get started now?
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(We've been outside this weekend, of course. Forgot the camera each time! Will resume Great Outdoor Challenge photos tomorrow.)
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