lace and trim

so yes, i am estate sale addicted, but you know that already, don't you? so much so that in the hustle and bustle of christmas countdown, i headed out last thursday to my last sale of the year. it was advertised as a man's estate, so truthfully i wasn't expecting much.

it was pretty picked over by the time i got there, but i did uncover a small manila envelope filled with lace trim. i actually didn't venture into the envelope to see what it contained because the smell was so, so very bad. but at $1, i figured, why not.

when i got home, i soaked the trim in some very hot baking soda water overnight, then ran it through the washer on delicate. this is kind of my made up recipe to get smells out of scrap vintage pieces. obviously, you wouldn't want to soak an entire sheet in hot baking soda water, but for small things, it seems to work pretty well.

then out of the washer came these beauties! i couldn't believe the envelope contained all this. i think they were cut off of old pillowcases because most of the pieces are complete circles. any other idea why there wouldn't be a beginning or end?