Recently, my husband and I went on a summer trip to California. Our first stop was Malibu. I always wanted to go. It was early one Saturday morning when we found ourselves wandering through the nestled neighborhood by the Pacific. Of all places, we started to see garage-sale signs. I was curious. We decided to stop at one of the sales. I am glad that we did. To my excitement, I found a small cache of beautiful leather belts. The homeowner told me that one of them was once sported by the actress, Alfre Woodard, kind of a fun story that you would only hear in Malibu. Even though I didn’t need five belts, I bought them all. As I was making the purchase, I struck up a conversation with the owner. She told me that there was a really big garage sale at Our Lady of the Lake, a church in Malibu. Evidently, Martin Sheen had just dropped off some things there for the sale. I got caught up in the celebrity of it all and went straight to the church. The hunt was fun.
When I finally returned to Houston with my Malibu belts, I wondered how I was going to wear them all. During a moment of inspiration, I adorned some of my favorite silk and velvet pillows with the leather belts. The rest is history. It turned out to be a smashing combination. I am really pleased. If you want to breathe new life into your old pillows, take a peek into your closet. Do you have some woven, embossed, or hand-tooled leather belts that you aren’t wearing? I love to find new uses for treasured accessories. Belts are beautiful cinched around pillows. Perfect for adding panache.
