I was at my wit’s end figuring out how to carry my needles around safely. Then I realized I had some empty Burt’s Bees containers lying around. And they were the same size as my needles! Wrapping the thread around the tube makes for decorative portability! Super easy to do, and would make a nice last-minute gift for a crafty friend. Here’s the pictorial guide, and the specifics are further below.

Prepare. Make sure your pins fit in the tube. Peel the label off.

Gouge the very last portions of lip balm out of there! I used the wrong end of a spoon. It’s not a big deal to leave some wax in there. Especially if you like to wax your thread.

Gather the thread colors you wish to use. Wrap each color thread around the tube. I didn’t wrap it to the very edges because I didn’t want risk pulling the thread off when I opened or unscrewed the tube. Tie each one off with a simple loop.

Looking good! Now put your pins in there. The beauty of the lip balm container is that you can raise and lower the pins and needles to get to them, just like you would do with the lip balm.

Now you can bring your sewing kit with you in your pocket. Enjoy!

With the great big shift on the horizon, it’s time to think about how we connect with each other and the world.

Let’s visualize our connections today.

Girl on the left from ETAM CRU, the fractal circles visualize data, and the cell-and- crystal-like structures are from this artist.

Yesterday I saw Owl high in a tree. We are supposed to shoot him, because he is so big he eats our cats. Last night, I dreamed of him and a deal was made.

Throwing a pretty scarf over a lamp is a nice touch – but customizing it with elastic to hold it in place offers the scarf a new home as a sweet lampshade.

It’s so lovely to wake up to the sun glowing through icy prisms high in the trees. Little wintry flower pods encased in glasslike bubbles… even the cockleburs were rendered smooth and harmless. Walking through a briar patch with nary a scrape. Little redbuds covered in ice became tiny scepters fit for a bird king and queen. Isn’t ice the most wonderful crystal of all?

It was just a matter of time.

Growing up, my favorite book was My Side of the Mountain. I read it and re-read it until it was in tatters. I would make a sandwich, stuff it in my backpack and tell my mom I was going to go live off the land. Then I would go into the woods behind our house and work on my lean-to. In the book, Sam found a large tree with a hollow that he made into his home. When I think of a treehouse, I think of such a place, situated in the heart of a tree, rather than something up in the branches.

It was in a recent google search for ‘tree hollow’ that I found a tree that really can be a home, and is in fact such a large tree, which such a huge hollow, that one has been made into a pub. Be still, my heart.

Despite my determination to fend for myself in the wild, I was only ever out for a couple of hours before coming back to the house. But in my mind, I lived there – foraging for wild edibles, chatting with the squirrels, and wrapping myself in tree fronds, curled under the solid embrace of a friendly oak.

Ever feel like you need a fresh perspective when you look in the mirror? All you need are some fabrics and trims. Drape, tape, or pin them around the mirror. Voila – you look dreamy!

One of a kind clothing up for grabs at thimblescratch.etsy.com