Fun Finds Can Turn into Fun Projects

I went to the annual Cabbagetown Arts and Crafts Fair last weekend. I love this event - both for all the great booths and DIY works, as well as this neighbourhood. It's a lovely place with a clear history in Toronto. It's called Cabbagetown because Irish immigrants were forced to live there after surviving the Potato Famine. Pigs, improntu gardens, and wagons all shared the roads during this time. And of course cabbages were part of the staple diet. Close-by is Regent Park, a neighbourhood with various low-income housing programs. It is going through a much publicized, controversial, and political face-lift. One thing that is popping up everywhere is the gentrification of neighbourhoods and the contrast between Cabbagetown and Regent Park is an especially good example. Nonetheless, there is a great sense of community here. A weekly farmer's market is based in a great farm and park called Riverdale. There are also beautiful historic homes, great restaurants, pubs, local coffee shops, and a great health food store. One other great thing about the arts and crafts fair is the neighbourhood-wide yard sale. This is where it's at!

Anyway, i digress. While at the fair i came across a great booth that sold purses and purses made from old hardcover books. I rememberd that i had a similar project in The Crafsters Guide to Nifty, Thrifty, and Kitschy Crafts book. And then i walked by a random yard sale, i saw that it was full of old books. I digged around and picked 6 books - mainly children's textbooks from the 60s. The inside pages were as sweet and colourful as the cover. But, it's the cover i want. Now i can try and make the clutches from the book. Yea! And this books were just a $1 so i can definitely experiment. I will share with you my work soon. Keep your fingers crossed for me!