Friday, January 6, 2012

New Year, New Blog

I love the internet. Type a few words in the Google search box and a whole wide world of information and inspiration pops up for your perusal. So I thought, "I get so much help from other people's blogs and such, why don't I give back a little?"  Thus was born the Make Do blog.

The title comes from an old saying, "Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without."  My 91-year-old grandmother came of age during the Great Depression.  She embodies this concept.  She rinses out and reuses Ziploc baggies for crying out loud.  These days they use the phrase, "reduce, reuse, recycle" to describe what my grandmother did as a matter of survival her whole life.  My grandmother taught this way of living to my mother, who also lived through lean times.

I have to admit, I've grown a little careless growing up in affluent America.  My family of four generates so much garbage it's embarrassing.  We have to keep getting rid of the "stuff" that overflows our home.  In this new year (2012) I hope to be more deliberate about my spending.  Do we really need it?  Is this just going to end up being "clutter" in a few month's time?

As a stay-at-home mom, I have more time than money. So I am resolving to use my time and my money more wisely in an effort to make the most of both.  Why buy something new when I can craft a similar item from things I already have overflowing my closets?

On this blog, I plan to share the projects that I make and do.  Some will be done in an attempt at frugality.  Some will be just for fun because Mama needs a creative outlet.  I have a lot of hobbies, so my posts may be somewhat random.  I can't commit to just one hobby.  I get too bored.  But all my hobbies have one thing in common: they can be done relatively quickly.  I'm not one to spend months piecing together a giant quilt or knitting an afghan.  I make smaller things and then check them off my list.  (Checking things off my list is a big deal for me!)

I'll label each post so it should be easier to find the things you are interested in, but here are the major categories:
PAPER - I  make scrapbooks and cards, tags, banners, and random other things with paper.  I'm a big fan of my Cricut and of Close To My Heart stamps and paper.
FABRIC - I see so many cute things on Pinterest that are made from felt so I play around with that.  I've also been known to sew some costumes for my kids and I like to make bags.  I want to learn needle felting.
KITCHEN - I spend a lot of time in my kitchen.  I hate making meals, but I love to bake.  I've come up with a few ways to make meal time less annoying.  But my real loves are cookies and cakes.  Well, any dessert really.  This is unfortunate because I am reaching that age when one's metabolism wanders off and I can't eat anything I make unless I want to keep it forever on my hips.  Plus I have a son with type 1 diabetes so we try to not overload him with sugar.  But I can't help it.  Making desserts is just fun.
PARTIES - When someone has a birthday, I get a little crazy.  There has to be a theme and everything has to match.  I get to make things out of paper AND fabric AND there has to be a wonderful cake, of course.  So I will be posting about parties because they combine all my hobbies into one event and they are a great opportunity to be frugal.

As this blog grows, I hope that my posts will inform and inspire other people out there who spend a bunch of time on the internet looking for information and inspiration.  Enjoy!

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