Over the years I have grown more dissatisfied with the way in which I was raised to live. This is not a dis to my parents and what they did for me: I'm talking about the way everyone in my town was raised. We all work hard to buy a house, go grocery shopping, and buy enough food and toiletries for the week, or for some, the whole month.
Then the holidays come around and we all buy each other a lot of expensive gifts. Someone asks you what you want, and you try to figure out what to tell them. The result is a home full of clutter, and once a year or less we clean out the closets, the junk drawer, and get rid of things we don't want or need anymore.
On top of the excessive amount of "things" we own, there is the money spent. It doesn't feel right to have a grocery bill so high, or to set aside SO much money for birthday and holiday gifts. Everyone wants gift cards these days (I'm guilty! I love Barnes and Noble), but where has the thought behind a given gift gone?
I don't mean that I don't want to spend money on my loved ones, but just that, I felt just as happy when my cousin gave me a tin of homemade cookies as I did when she bought me a pretty shirt for Christmas. My daughter loves the hand-crocheted bunny her aunt gave her more than the plastic toys people gave her as gifts. Aside from electronics, which people (my husband included) will inevitably want, handmade gifts *can* be just as good as store-bought ones. I took the handmade pledge - I've been converted.
I'm looking to put more thought into how I live. I feel I will appreciate the food I eat more if I made it myself, and spend less. I'm looking to save my family money and put it towards more valuable things, like the girls' college savings, our first house, or a family vacation. I'm also looking to rely less on others and learn to provide for my family myself - make some of their clothes, our home decor, fix up our furniture, etc.
So, I'm challenging myself to take on at least one new do-it-yourself activity each week, and I will document and share my experiences here on Indie Pretty Projects. This week, I shared with you my experience with making homemade baby food, and for the next year, I will share new challenges, such as:
- cheese making
- making baby clothes
- making noodles
- DIY wall art
- book binding
- refinishing a table
- growing herbs and spices
- shoe making
- DIY note pad
- homemade wheat bread
- soap making
- guacamole
- DIY tote bag
- candle making
- handmade envelopes
- + lots of other ideas!
-Ashley
image: DIY Mason Jar Lantern Kit from TreasureAgain
What a great idea! I suggest you give homemade yogurt a try. It's yummy, easy and so much less expensive than store-bought!
ReplyDeleteYes! I was going to give that a try. Do you have a specific recipe you use?
ReplyDeleteI found the tutorial at http://www.makeyourownyogurt.com/ very helpful. I follow that method pretty closely. And I'd suggest splurging on the best yogurt you can find when making your first batch. After that you'll just use a bit of each batch to start the next.
ReplyDelete