| Hello everyone, Valentines Day and the spring holiday | | | | Then the kids can decorate it with little jewels and or |
| season is closing in fast, and the pace is picking up. In | | | | figures that could be obtained at a yard sale, laying |
| case you missed it, the US (and the rest of the world | | | | around the house, or even at the "dollar store" Simple |
| for that matter) is in a little bit of economic recession | | | | right? Total cost = about 3 dollars worth of glue and |
| right now so this spring holiday season could be a lean | | | | decorations. |
| one for many people. | | | | This is far cheaper than purchasing a ready made |
| Here at our homestead we will be making many of | | | | copper wind chime. Also, the happiness that not only |
| our own gifts as we do every year, (I have given my | | | | someone will feel cause she or he has a one-of-a-kind |
| mom a home made gift almost every year since | | | | hand made gift, also the childrens happiness knowing |
| kindergarten) to offset the cost of the holidays. Not | | | | they made it all by themselves (OK, with a little help |
| only the financial but the environmental costs. | | | | from daddy and/or mommy!) This is worth far more |
| OK, I know what your thinking,"I'm not the crafty type" | | | | than you could ever pay for something out of a |
| or "I don't know how" | | | | catalog or retail store. |
| It is easier to do than you might think. If you have a | | | | Purchase modeling clay and make a flower pot for |
| wood shop available to you, chances are your already | | | | someone. If you can knit, crochet, or sew, maybe |
| a little mechanically inclined, so making a bird feeder or | | | | make someone a scarf or hat. Did you make some |
| small table from reclaimed wood is pretty easy to do | | | | pickles, preserves, or other goodies from your organic |
| and is not super time consuming either. No need to get | | | | garden this year? Try this, cut a few Hearts or other |
| too elaborate (sometimes simple is better) | | | | Valentine's day pictures out of a magazine, glue it to |
| So,you don't have a wood shop or work shop at your | | | | the top, put a bow around the jar, and instant holiday |
| disposal, (this kind of goes against the grain a little bit), | | | | gift. Baking some cookies to give as gifts is a time |
| but if you visit your local craft store they sell unpainted | | | | honored tradition and always a great idea. |
| simple wooden toys, shelves, bird houses and feeders, | | | | Hey, it's a busy world and there are many things in life |
| etc. for very little money, and you can personalize | | | | that constrain our time, this is understandable, but if you |
| them with paint and decorations to make them unique. | | | | substitute the time it takes to actually go shopping, and |
| Just going to the craft store could give you literally | | | | then stand in line, (not to mention the fuel you will be |
| hundreds of ideas you can make use of. Use your | | | | using), for an item, you could probably work on a home |
| imagination! It is like anything else, the more you | | | | made gift a few hours (or minutes) a day, and the time |
| practice using it, the better it gets! | | | | would work out almost the same. |
| Try this: get the family together, so everyone has a | | | | There is nothing that brings a family closer than |
| part to make, take an old pot lid and remove the | | | | working on projects like these together as a team. |
| handle and attach a 2 foot long piece of 20 lb. test | | | | The benefits are many, usually "greener", cheaper, |
| fishing line through the handle hole in the center. About | | | | learning something new, or better yet, teaching |
| half way down the fishing line attach a large washer | | | | someone, (like your children), something new, and the |
| on the line, it may take some ingenuity to make it hang | | | | happiness and good feeling of giving instead of |
| in a horizontal position, (I ended up just using 2 nuts and | | | | receiving all the time. |
| a piece of a drinking straw) but that's the fun of it. | | | | Maybe these tips will help, and motivate you to turn |
| Then cut some used copper water pipe at 4, 6, 8, and | | | | your unused study, or even your kitchen table into a |
| 10 inches long for the chime parts. Continue by drilling | | | | "quasi-workshop" this spring holiday season. |
| some holes around the perimeter of the lid for the | | | | Peace and Prosperity to you this Spring Time Holiday |
| chimes and letting them hang with fishing line so the | | | | Season. |
| washer in the middle hits them when the wind blows. | | | | |