this day

I will be patient.

I will open my windows, even if that means I have to wear a sweater.

I will go for a walk.

I will read my bible.

I will pray.

I will be thankful for spending the day with the kids.

I will listen to soothing music.

I will drink lots of water.

I will pick up my new book at the library.

I will take a shower and brush my teeth.

I will make my bed.

I will lay down for 20 minutes of quiet.

I will do all the laundry with a joyful heart.

I will visit all four rooms of my house.

beloved

I have been aching to write again. I wish I was a writer. I would love to have something interesting and captivating to write about. Instead, all I can do is nestle in to my keyboard and screen and pour my guts out. I don't know if anyone will read it, but maybe that's safer.

The last months have been up and down. Life has picked up the pace and I can't see around the next corner. In times of great uncertainty, I tend to be very, very hard on myself. And the cycle begins: I have no control in my life so my thoughts turn inward, my insecurity manifests itself as anger and my temper boils over. And I think it all comes down to fear. Fear that takes hold of my heart and hardens it. My patience wears thin too quickly, my mouth opens and my kids take the brunt of my rage and feelings of instability. And I clean. And I clean. And I clean. And I make my kids clean. And clean. And clean.

The voice in my head tells me how unworthy I am. How unloved. My eyes remind me how fat I am. My back and feet ache from a thankless job. I feel lonely for the fireman. I need his arms around me more often and his warm body next to mine when I wake up. I need my friends to have more time to be together for no reason. I need laughter.

I need to know I am loved.

As I am.

Unconditionally.

I came across a new song. It's been playing in a loop now for about 2 hours. I hope to know it by heart by hour 3. The lyrics caught me and I choked with tears.

Your Beloved.

(chorus)

Because I'm your beloved,

Your creation,

And you love me as I am.

You've called me,

Chosen for your Kingdom;

Unashamed to call me your own.

I'm your beloved.

I think the ongoing struggle in my heart is this: feelings of insecurity about being loved. I think I am one of those people who is easy to be friends with, and then easy to leave. I am interesting and funny and creative and fun-loving, and also ordinary in so many ways that the newness quickly wears off and all that's left is me. just me.

And I don't know that I deserve love. I'm selfish. Quick to anger. I don't love myself well.

And here's the irony...

My name, AMY, means beloved.

How crazy is that?

Be-lov-ed

1. greatly loved; dear to the heart 2. a person who is greatly loved.

God is laughing now.

I smile just thinking that He has quite the sense of humor. My biggest insecurity and He has power over it. Power to cause my parents to name me, while still in the womb. A name for this moment. Waited for me to put two and two together. A reminder of how great He is. How He knows my heart and my thoughts, my fears, my struggles. My days were written before even ONE came to be. That means He knew today and every day before that I have cried over feelings of being unloved. My name, Amy, is in His book. He is listening to me because I am His beloved. I am dear to His heart. I am a person who is not just a little bit loved, but GREATLY loved. I am chosen. He isn't ashamed of me. He hasn't disowned me.

He loved me.

He loves me.

As I am.

Thank you God.

goodness

so here's the scoop.

big stuff first...

Jack and daddy returned from a two day trip to Shriner's Children's Hospital in St Louis this last Friday night. The report was good. The doctors were pleased with his joints and range of motion. They didn't see any inflammation in the knees or feet and this is good, good news. Although I was hoping to be given the ok to take Jack completely off of meds, we were told to lose only one of the last two. I am definitely pleased about this, but secretly was a little disappointed. Because JRA can move into the eyes, Jack is checked regularly by an opthamologist. Surprisingly, they did find inflammation in Jack's right eye. We were given a prescription for eye drops and must check in with a local eye doctor within a week to check for progress. My momma heart broke just a little when Daddy called with the news, but he was very encouraging and feels, after speaking with the doctors, that this is going to be completely healed.

Overall good.

Fireman status: as of a few weeks ago we thought he was going to lose his fireman job. bummer. The negotiations between Mayor and Union had been going on for some time and we knew it was a possibility. However, when it comes down to it... it's a different story. I know we would be fine. I know our God is mighty and faithful to us. But with all that was going on that week, I felt my ankles being pulled into a quicksand of gloom. That same week, we were burglarized. Perhaps the most violating experience of my life. Someone was in my house. Uninvited. Stole my stuff. Rummaged through my cabinets and drawers. Left mud and glass all over the house. Left my back door open all day. And I have to say, I was mad. I was ready for them to come back and let me take the crowbar they so thougthfully left behind, to their knees and other precious bits. They took my computer, aka my lifeline, and my new guitar the fireman gave me for Christmas. I lost a lot of sleep and cried for days. bitterness. unease. broken. frustration. frightened. desperation. All good words to describe my feelings. Yes, they stole my joy and my security (and my photos and music library).

But here's the goodness...

My mother stepped in to show her love and offered us a computer.

My friend gave me her old, beautiful guitar.

I got a random check in the mail for a 401K I had been paying into all year at the Gap (unknowingly) and it covered the replacement of the computer.

And Calvin still has his job.

How good is that?

Good.

very, very good.

So we are living out life in Tulsa, OK. Still trying to discern what's next for us. But in the meantime, life is sweet and good.

valentine's gift for my fireman

please wipe the drool from your face. I know. I know. It is gorgeous. And more importantly, it was delicious.

He's a lucky, lucky man, isn't he?

at it again

I am home.
I am cooking again.
I am doing laundry on a regular basis.
I am making granola and baking bread again.

I am also going a little stir crazy with the cold, wet weather forcing us indoors for days at a time.

I am needing a way to explode NOT on the kids.

I am going to pick up my pen, or rather, my cordless keyboard, and start writing again.

I need it.

The kids need it too.

Hi everyone. I'm back!

hookin' it up

I am going to try to move my blog to my new website...
www.teaguenest.com

follow me there

morning at Philbrook

things to come

I think I might officially become "high tech" here soon!

I am investing in a new computer (should arrive this week) and I recently bought a new camera. What that means is I can share pictures and family news more easily!!

So stay tuned for Teague Scoop... I can't wait to get started.

day off

today I woke to thunder. the coolness of the early morning rolled my curtains and I breathed in the wetness of rain. I rolled over to find soft baby skin and the rough, over-washed, ever-loved, slightly smelly blankie. I heard "funder" and "scary". I fell back to sleep spooning baby boy.

I ground coffee beans this morning and drank deeply of the milky sweetness from my favorite mugs.

I dashed around town and came to rest at a park over looking a river. I sat with a friend. The breeze was soft and cool and the sun made a beautiful day. I watched my boy splash and laugh and climb.

I ate chocolate and bought more for later.

I smelled all the dish soaps and chose just the one.

I crunched ice.

I sat on the edge of a swimming pool and finally got in. It was cold and nice. I listened to giggles. I watched the girls be brave and try new things.

I reconnected with a friend.

I went to the fire station and got a kiss.

I wondered when Poppy grew so tall.

I ate black beans with goat cheese and spring greens.

I made a double batch of granola and the warmth of the oven made my AC kick on. My water fountain gurgled the whole time. The house smells like cinnamon and toasted oats.

I checked my tomatoe plants and planted squash. I weeded and had to scrub my nails.

I read books to the kids and fell asleep while Maggie read to me.

I see fire flies outside my window tonight.

My babies are tucked in and smell like sweat and sunscreen and sunshine. They are sun-kissed and soft.

They are beautiful.

I am listening to a favorite song and wishing I had a good book waiting for me beside my bed.

I work tomorrow.

Tonight I am home.

the latest

ok. working full time is exhausting.

can I say that again? working full time is exhausting!!

I think I need to exercise more or eat more carrots and apples, but to be honest, working full time makes me (I repeat, MAKES me) eat crap. I crave cheez-its, m&m's, and fizzy drinks. And then I feel worse. And fat. And working full time in a clothing store and eating crap is bad combo- then I just look fat in my new clothes.

So here's the news in a nutshell.
Maggie lost her third tooth this week. This was the first time I witnessed the trauma. She is so cute with the huge hole- and her sweet, precious sister's first words were, "Sister, you look beautiful with a gap." If you don't know it, Poppy has the cutest little gap in her front teeth. I hope she never, ever grows out of it. It would break my heart. Oh, and we are not allowed to call her "cute" anymore. She can be called beautiful, gorgeous, and pretty, but absolutely not CUTE. That's for babies, or didn't you know?

Our house is back on the market. I feel the anxiety of a dirty house creeping into my shoulder blades as I sit here frittering away time I could be vacuuming. The fireman is in the kitchen laying tile and it's looking really, really good. I think our biggest drawback is the missing fence in the back yard... what an eyesore a highway can be!

Our tomatoe plants are looking fabulous. And my zinnias and cosmos are all peeking their heads out too. My sunflowers are about 4 inches tall and we have tadpoles with legs too.

Jack is growing like crazy and actually told me I looked gorgeous this afternoon when I got home from work. Does it get sweeter than that? I'm just not sure.

Poppy decided to share the thoughts that spin around in her head this week. She thinks a lot, but when probed she always responds the same way.... "what are you thinking about, Poppy?" and she will brightly respond, "pizza". It never fails. But this week she approached the fireman and asked, "Dad, if Jesus loves everyone, then why do bad things happen to them?" OK, could she be the next John Calvin or Martin Luther? Maybe St. Augustine? Wow. So all the times we have thought pizza was the only thing on her mind, she is trying to resolve the long standing questions of the some of the greatest minds of all time.... shocker.

I am feeling a bit disconnected from friends and family.
I rarely talk on the phone.
I am not a letter writer.
I don't have time for email.

I have a few faithful friends that check in on a regular basis and aren't offended when they don't hear back from me for a day or two.
Some have given up I think.

I have been harboring secret feelings of jealousy lately... jealous that other people get to hang out with people. For fun. For leisure. What is wrong with me?

I picked up a book this week. One of my most favorite authors claims this as her favorite, favorite, desert island book- Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. It is good. I don't know that I would put it up there as a top 10, but it is an enjoyable read. I am only 1/3 through so it may improve and blow my mind.

Speaking of reading, Maggie is reading everything she can get her hands on. Hard to believe coming from a girl who cried through her phonics lessons. What a difference a year can make.

Off to read Hemingway.

Holy is the Lord

In the world there is so much joy and sorrow it feels crushing sometimes. How do you grieve over tragedy and celebrate new life all at once? It is overwhelming to have your heart split down the middle. Don't get me wrong... I need a good cry, a purge of sorts, every so often. It feels so good to cry it all out. It cleanses and frees me. And God knows I love to laugh. I love the gut-wrenching, head ache-inducing, hysterical laugh and I don't have enough of those. It's the mix of crazy laughing and uncontrollable weeping that brings me to my knees and catches me off guard- when suddenly I don't know what I am feeling or why I am curled up in a ball.
In many ways, my life has slowed down- or rather paced itself lately. I get up and know what my day will look like and although I don't have enough time for everything, I at least have a plan. It feels good to be out of limbo land and into goal setting mode.
I have a new job. It is so nice to be able to go into work and do something I feel successful at and that I enjoy the people I am with 9 hours of the day. I wish I was making music instead of building walls, but the newness makes me excited. I feel valued and it satisfies a part of me that needs a sense of accomplishment.

I have come to a peace with God lately. I am dwelling on scripture more often and raising my hands over his goodness. My baby is healthy and well. My husband is happy and loving. My bills are paid and I am content. I am slowly letting go of things that need to go and trying to focus more on what's slipping away that needs to be taken hold of.

I am one of "those people" who often flip to the end of a book to read the last paragraph to know that all the characters are still alive... and I am the same with my own life. How often do I say and think, "if I could just see us a year from now, 5 years from now!" But it's in the looking over your shoulder that you see the obvious footprint of God and the powerful hand that carries. He has listened to me rant and scream and weep until I was silenced.
I look back over the last year and realize with certainty that I was deeply depressed. I had sunk into a pit and with my fingernails, clawed my way out. There were moments on the way up that a hand of a friend would give me loving push. I think those friends would actually qualify as angels- small bits of light that kept me moving up and out. I have been humbled as I bargained. My eyes were veiled as I tried to see the future. God allowed what I could handle. Jesus comforted and gave grace to cover my hopelessness. I am walking with my head up, my eyes opened, marveling at the mercies, however small, in my every day.
I marvel over the bodies of my babies. They are beautiful. Their skin is sweet and soft. Their eyes clear and bright. Their minds are brilliant sponges, soaking up our world and seeing their maker in the dandelions. Their hearts are pure and forgiving. Thank you God for my precious ones that remind me of your love and call.
And now I dance in the rain and sing Your praises. Holy is the Lord, Holy is the Lord! The Lord I will obey. Help me. I don't know the way. Holy is the Lord!

soccer ball

come for me

Jesus come take me away, I long to see Your face
This world is broken yet beautifully made,
Jesus come take me away
Jesus I’ll patiently wait, till like a vapor I’ll fade
Help me fulfill all your dreams for these days,
Jesus I’ll patiently wait

You’ll come again with a shout,
like a thief in the night you’ll come riding on clouds
Finally the voice I have followed for life
has a glorious face that is lit up with light
And you’ll come for me, no more pain, peace,
No more fear, release
just lost and consumed with my glorious King,

And you’ll come for me


Jesus today I am tired, I need your music to come and inspire
I give myself to be refined in this fire,
but Jesus today I’m so tired

Come for me

By Charlie Hall

These lyrics are ringing through me these exhausting days. Jesus, I am so tired. Fill me with music and melody and song and life. Send joy and relief my way.
Come and let me fly.

where to start

I guess I need to be depressed to blog. I have to have something in my guts to spew forth onto the paper, or rather, the keyboard. As it is, I am swimming through each day at an incomprehensible speed and have very little to consider outside of family and work obligations. I have lost touch with almost everyone and I feel lonely. I am in an in-between spot and it's squeezing me just enough to make me edgy and a little apprehensive. I feel like I am verging on panic some days and I have no idea why except that my days are running through my fingers like sand and I want to bottle it up but can't find a container.

I am back to the old question of "what am I doing with my life?" I think I was dwelling on this same subject a year ago and that's how this blog was born. And a year later I am still wondering and wandering through my life with unresolved feelings and a map without a destination. I am hopeless and hopeful all at once. I am squished in this life- like I am wearing a shoe that's squeezing my toes too tight. Obligations and expectations pull and push and weigh heavy on my mind and heart. I listen for God's voice, wishing it were easier to hear- like tuning to a radio station or reaching for the volume knob.

I am exsisting in a precarious balance of joy and sadness, of contentment and yearning, of warm and cold, light and dark. I ache to get my feet muddy and feel the sun on my back. I need time with friends and I need to laugh more. Days are turning into months and I look back and see nothing has changed and everything is changing. My children shoot up inches and gray hairs keep sprouting. My checking account is still empty and all I have is pipe dreams.

I was talking to a friend tonight... someone who always grounds me and pulls me back to the little core I have. I think her eyes see my heart easier than I do most days. She was talking about the rhythm of the seasons and how winter pulls us in and calms us. It makes us slow down and fatten up. We drink more hot chocolate and listen to fires crackle and dance. We hunker down and wait for the darkness to turn magically into a spring day... suddenly and fresh. It's a cycle to enjoy and relax in to. To anticipate. This time of year stirs and shakes me. It stares me in the face. I rise in the darkness and the darkness and hopelessness makes itself at home inside of me. I am stagnant and stale. Tired and restless. Busy and detached. I am raw. I am cold. I am directionless.

I guess this is how I cycle through the dark winter season.

I ask:

Who am I? Where am I going? What am I doing with this life of mine?

time has been whizzing

and I mean WHIZZING by! I can't believe Christmas is around the corner! aaahhhh!

Besides all the normal things going on in this crazy house, I have been working a part time job at American Eagle, just down the street from our house. It is so convenient and if the weather was a tad warmer and I had a bike, I would totally be cycling to work. This job is to supplement our family income and allow me to finish paying for my sewing machine- that glorious machine I use every week. My list of "want to buy" items grows with each paycheck so I have to keep my head on.

This working thing though is tough. I am totally tired when I come home, even if it's only a four hour shift. It sucks the energy out of my very bones and when 6pm rolls around I am ready to hit the sack. The fireman seems to be coping well and enjoying hanging with the kids. They love their daddy and our situation seems to working quite well.

Our house is decorated for Christmas and now I am wondering how to create the magic. I remember Christmas in our house as kids and it seemed to be magical. Was mom baking all the time? Did we watch non stop Christmas movies? Was it the LP records spinning of Nat King Cole Christmas or Elvis?? Was it constant company and long lost relatives stopping by? What was the trick and am I creating magic for my kids?

This time of year can really bog me down. I realize that a love language for me is giving and receiving gifts. And with very little money set aside for giving, the magic isn't there for me. Instead I am worried and stressed. I am trying to figure out ways to make our little money spread. But we are paying for toilet guts and light bulbs, car repairs and medical bills instead of stocking stuffers. I am working on contentment and thankfulness.

I am also toying with starting up a business- a website for selling my crafty items. There are a few very big things I need in order to launch this business, so I am biding time and trying to work out logistics.

Nap time is here and now I am off to shower and get my home in some semblance of order.
Hope your day is warm and full of magic... whatever that is.

Photo Op

We totally took advantage of our friend, Holly, when she came to visit us in Nowheresville. It was so lovely and the weather couldn't have been nicer. And what's even better, she's a professional photographer. So here are some recent family photos of us.
Unbelievable, isn't it?
Thanks Holly.




sweet Poppy

Maggie


Jack-Jack

last day

last day here in nowheresville. I am so happy to be packing up to head home, although I know we will have so much to do this weekend. It's Halloween and we are partying with friends. It's also school day on Friday... big day. Calvin works on Saturday and we have an Open House on Sunday.
I can just see the house explosion about to happen. Bags everywhere, kids excited to pull out every toy they haven't seen in 3 weeks, no food to speak of. But I have packed clean clothes to go home with and we have a few left overs I think we will take along for the ride.

We have so many cool friends who are totally on the ball. I look and listen to their lives and feel like I have missed something along the way. People are so pulled together, financially stable, active, pursuing dreams and having fun. I feel like we are stuck in a rut so much of the time. Trying to get ahead and stay afloat in the meantime.

While pondering all of these things, I bake cookies. I have a new favorite recipe, Dark Chocolate Oatmeal. They are divine and I can hardly wait for them to cool before shovelling them into my mouth. I am an eater. I eat to feel happy or just better. I love chocolate and I love underbaked cookies. So today I am self-medicating.

Funny, how I am confessing this today of all days. This morning I had a long conversation (long in 4 year-old terms) with Poppy about "nervous eating". She had recently seen a preview for Chicken Little and she and her sister had been quoting two lines out of the trailer for days, cracking themselves up. I wondered if she understood what she was saying. And no, of course not. We talked about what it means to be a nervous eater, or drinker, or shopper, or anything that might replace God as our sustainer and comforter. She seems to get it more than I do (as I take another bite of chocolate deliciousness...)

Oh- and news flash**** Jack said four words together! A whole sentence!! Wow!!! I thought I would never hear the words!!!!! I quote him, "I saw a truck." Excellent. We are moving forward finally.

more cookies coming out, must run.

Middle of Nowheresville

I am going on day 15 out here in seclusion. The outside world is still jostling along at a very fast pace, and our days are drifting. Time seems to slow here. I look out the window at the water and leaves falling and I feel relaxed and quieted.

I am also ready to crawl back into my nest and settle in. It is difficult to be displaced with small children. We have had a few casualties while here: a broken picture frame, some lamps falling over, drinks spilling, and I feel more anxious than normal since these are not my things.

The stillness and solitude is startling. I realize how loud life can be and it brings me back to my core to have nothing to do and no one to talk to. My cell phone doesn't work out here and I feel bad to make long distance calls. So aside from emergencies, my social life, however small it is, is put on hold.

Could I live out here permanently? I don't know. If I had a cottage to do as I wanted and a girlfriend nearby to visit with and hang with, craft with and school with, I think I could. But I am a talker and with no one over 6 years old, days can become quite lonely. However, I have enjoyed the escape and retreat from normal life and feel ready to tackle the chaos when we return home.

I feel very out of touch with almost everyone. It's been a strange and busy Fall season for our family. My trip to Scotland, homeschooling, teaching art classes, and preparing for craft shows has eaten spare time and sucked away my usual visiting hours and time set aside for hospitality. We rarely make it to church, don't meet with our small group, sleep very little, and still, have a to do list a mile long.

I am looking for ways to simplify, to scale down, to organize my time and build routine. We are a family of sponteneaty and I think that's why I feel out of control so much of the time which leads to feelings of anxiety and being overwhelmed. I am trying to be better at cutting myself some slack. I am working on realizing I do a lot of unnecessary things. So now I need to move into days of structure where I feel a sense of accomplishment, having found time for things that are important.

ideas anyone??

Nashville Star

Here is a huge shout out to my awesome sister, Brooke, who was just named "Best of Nashville" in the children's cake division. She is an incredibly talented artist, extremely hard worker, and devoted mother to a fiesty two-year old, who is teaching snotty-nosed three year olds by day and slaving in the kitchen at night, whipping out amazing and delicious creations unlike any I've seen before.
I always make the mistake of calling her the night before one of the kid's birthdays and asking her for ideas for their cake. She easily tosses out 5 million suggestions and I always end up crying. It is so interesting how some things come naturally to some and so totally disastrous to others.... My kids all beg for Aunt Brooke's cakes and it's difficult to explain why she just can't swing by the party, cake in hand. Oh how I wish she could!

I copied the review/article written about her cakes in the Nashville Scene Magazine:

Best Kids' Birthday-Cake Designer
Brooke O'Dell, Ice This
If you ever have a child in school with Brooke O'Dell's kid, heed this warning: Never, ever go head-to-head with Brooke over a homemade birthday cake. No matter what double-chocolate Diego or red velvet Spiderman you bake, it will not be as delicious or as creative as hers, and will just waste time and egg yolks on something that comes so naturally and happily to Brooke that you should have asked her to make your cake in the first place. Buttercream, fondant and whimsy are the tools of her decadent trade, and the end result is an edible work of art. —CARRINGTON FOX

I can't find the picture of the cake, but you'll know it when you see it. It's a Matisse... yea, that Matisse. The famous French artist who's works sell for millions. Too bad Brooke's cakes aren't selling for millions.... yet.

I love you little sis. Proud of you! Remember me when you are famous!

http://www.nashvillescene.com/bestof/2008/award/best-kids-birthday-cake-designer-87630/

homemade

I am queen of homemade gifts. I enjoy giving gifts and when I can delight someone with something made by my own hands, it is extremely satisfying.
I recently read a friend's blog who was pushing for a "$100 Holiday", or something similar. It gave me the idea to blog about what I make, or have made, for friends and family through the years. God knows we live on a tight budget. Our gifts are simple and inexpensive, more out of necessity than desire. God also knows the tantrums I have when I wait until the last minute to make everyone in the family a tree skirt... it's not pretty.

So here are a few ideas to "cheap out" your Christmas giving. I hand over these ideas a bit unwillingly. Selfishly, I like to think I am the only one who has had these great ideas. I also like the illusion that I came up with all of them alone. But my good friends know that I am a follower of Martha, an avid reader of craft books and magazines (so much that I actually take photos of pictures in books), a lover of retro things, and shameless copier.
most of these ideas are relatively inexpensive, but require time. I will try to give a ROUGH estimated cost for materials... assuming you have to buy everything.

$2-3 love sacs (9x7 fabric bags filled with rice, rosemary, and lavendar and sown closed. You can freeze them or heat them in the microwave to warm toes or beds.)
$.50 mini love sacs (same as above except much smaller to fit inside coat pockets to warm up little hands)
$4 bean bag game (fabric bag holding 10 small bean bags- 5 in one fabric and 5 in another)
$3 crayon holders (fabric rolls or aprons to keep crayons organized)
$6 Tutus- little tulle ballerina skirts
$1-2.50 magic wands- dowel rod with a decoration on top or even ribbon attached- decorated however you choose
$10-12 tree skirts- I have done patchwork (great use offabric scraps or felt)
$5-6 table runners- felt with holiday scene- my sister gave me one and I love it!
$2-10 (make a bunch at a time) hair clips, bows, neclaces
$3-12 Books read aloud and burn to cd- give them both. I buy a bunch of books for not much at our local goodwill. Most of them are near perfect shape.
$4-7 paper mache or wooden boxes from hobby lobby- paint them or modge podge them.
$2-3 recycled formula, pringles, peanut cardboard tins... get three coordinating papers, but them to fit three diffent size tins, hot glue them on and label them as "save, spend, and share", cut a small slit in the lid and voila! a great money management lesson for small chldren.
picture blocks- no details on this one as many will get them this year. I will take pictures later of the finished products
$.50 tooth fairy pillows
$2 embroidered tea towels
varies homemade jams, salsas, breads, treats, cookies, breads... anything!
$3-4 bookmarks- pretty ribbons with a silver charm attached.
$5-6 aprons- choose a fabulous fabric and get to cutting. attache ribbon for neck and waist ties.
$2 snow globes- recycled glass jars, small ornaments, water, glycerin, and glitter...

that's all I can think of for now... I know the list sounds overwhelming for those of you who are none-sewers. But, I rarely use anything other than a straight stitch and have never installed a zipper or button hole. More people than you think have a sewing machine sitting idle somewhere in their catch-all rooms and probably wouldn't mind your borrowing it. And most of us have someone in our lives who sews or quilts... raid their fabric scraps and save even more money.
If you don't paint, don't sew, don't worry. You can still use a glue gun and that will allow you to do a ton!

I will try to upload pics of some of these soon. Until then, please share your ideas too. I love a good craft. Felt is my friend- and chocolate too.