"Walk Gently this Lovely Earth!"

People are so amazingly creative...I continue to be inspired and delighted by the ingenuity of the artists and crafters that make up the Etsy community! All of the items featured in this Etsy Treasury are made using supplies that were once upon a time something else. Bravo!

Vintage Riverbirds Fabric and Goodwill Hunting

Riverbirds Zabuton and Coordinating Zafus

One of my all time favorite activities to engage in is the adrenaline boosting "primitive hunt". You know... the kind where you go "Goodwill Hunting". Thrift stores are happy hunting grounds, too. Armed with just enough "ammunition" ( plastic will do too) you try to sneak up on the prey before another "crafty" hunter beats you to it! Sometimes, you act nonchalant - humming softly under your breath while casually pausing here and there to look at things you know you don't want. You don't want to seem over eager - but there are times when the spirit of the hunt simply  overcomes you. And you go with the flow.

All of the above fabrics came from my favorite hunting ground. I've been sitting on the Vintage Riverbirds fabric for some time now.  All of a sudden this morning, I realized how these different fabrics all coordinate with this interesting  birds print. Problem is, there is only one of the Riverbirds Zabutons...there was not enough fabric to make another two sided cushion. Enough for one more side, and a number of tote/book bags. Bittersweetly, you do the best you can.

Definitely not twins!

Just finished these two pillows today. They are about as different as can be! The round grey zafu is usually used for sitting meditation. The one pictured is stuffed with lots and lots and lots of plastic grocery bags. It could also be filled with bamboo, cotton, buckwheat hulls, or kapok fiberfill. Plastic bags are, ahem, very inexpensive, and even eco friendly, in a way.

The vintage embroidered basket pillow fabric came from a treasure hunt. I washed it in 20 Mule Team borax soap and Oxyclean. (That mule kick is pretty impressive!) I'm pleased with the improvement. The fringe is also vintage and I used a vintage metal zipper hidden on the back. The fiberfill is a polyester form. My mother had things made with that basket pattern. Even Fred says the pattern looks familiar. When a guy says that then I guess it was pretty popular back in the day! It's part embroidery and part candlewicking.