Inspirations: Besançon restaurants

This week I intended to add another batch of zipper pouches to my shop - the fabrics have all been cut out, the perfect zippers, trims and buttons chosen for each colour; but when I started sewing, my machine made a weird noise and all the stitches came out crooked. I tried changing the needle, oiling the machine, I checked the screws and the settings over and over again, but nothing helped. After I unravelled the stitches a few times (oh, how I hate doing that!) only to realise they will not look any better the second time, I gave up.

I will have to take my machine to a repair shop (I have to find one first) before I can list any new bags. In the meantime I can show you a couple of interesting crafting ideas and inspirations I came across on my walk around Besançon last week.

This metal frame for a restaurant menu board is covered in old pieces of cutlery - odd spoons, forks and knives can be always found in flea markets and once polished they make great accessories. There are many shops on Etsy specialising in finding new life to silverware, I especially like SpoonerZ.


And I like this wall display (also in a restaurant - it was lunch time, what can I say), made of simple wooden boxes, painted on the inside with cheerful colours and attached to the wall. The boxes contained leaflets, tourist guides, books and other interesting information to leaf through while waiting for the table.

I will be on a lookout for some more creative inspirations next week - I might even make it a regular blog post...

Chewing gum disposal - there's nothing sticky about that!

I'm enjoying a relaxing week in France visiting my husband's family (at this point in life not having to shop for food and cook for a whole week counts as five star holiday).

Walking along the warm summer streets of Besançon with mon chéri last night I noticed the city's new dustbins and the inventive way they decided to fight chewing gum poluted pavements. They have placed these colourful "targets", printed on heavy paper, where passers-by can dispose of their chewing gums rather than throwing them on the floor or sticking them just anywhere. When one paper target is full, they simply tear it off and throw it in the bin.

What a great idea, I do hope it sticks!