Makin' It

One month of making most of what I consume.

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Day Fourteen (full of love)

Although today started out blech due to being sick, it's ended on a really lovely note of my love joining me in my make-it-month. First she surprised me with some supremely adorable ornaments that she made out of salt-dough - little hearts with a paw print from each of our animals in it. !!! So cute!! Jesus. Then she made me tacos for dinner and we walked the dogs shortly by the lake during the sunset. 

I've been talking about getting the animals on hand-made food, and today my sweetheart took the lead and made the first batch of dog soup for our clan. Kale, eggs, ground turkey, carrots, sweet potatoes and olive oil; delicious, apparently! It does sound pretty great. 

It was really relaxing to step away from a very consumerist holiday and just enjoy time and handmade things with my family.

I've also enjoyed the feedback I've been getting on my fb about this project; I even inspired a friend to make an azuma bag of their own! Pretty sweet. I'm so happy to have you all along for the ride with me, inspiring me and sharing your own made things. Keep it up!

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The kiddos enjoying their handiwork; the mobile they made.

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I took these photos in the dark, so excuse the weird color cast. This is a wooden stick mobile, with white and yellow origami ninja stars.

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Days Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen

So, yes, I’m behind on blogging. Only because I have discovered that Making Things is very rewarding AND very time consuming.

I’m really into mobiles and triangles. I finished the mobile I made for my roommate, and I’ll post photos in a bit. I also taught the two kiddos I care for about mobiles, and they made their own with origami butterflies. They were overjoyed to make their own, assemble it and hang it in their rooms. They are almost 4 and almost 6, and it’s very fun to share creativity and self-sustaining enjoyment with them!

I still haven’t spent money on anything I didn’t need this month, and in the last week I’ve definitely transitioned from “ug I want to buy everything but I can’t” to “yes, I don’t need to buy anything, and I feel so free!” That’s been a really happy turn of events. It’s freeing to realize that most things I think I want are actually very fleeting desires, and when I don’t give in to them I’m making space and money and time in my life for the things I do want.

Besides my mobile, I’ve continued working a little on a small table I got off the side of the road during the last bulky pickup. It needs one last sanding and a little bubbled-wood repair on the top before it’s ready for whatever I’m going to do to the top of it. I am currently wavering between penny-tiles, grouted and sealed, or fabric/paper covered in modge podge and resin. I also have two chairs that I want to reupholster, and I’m trying to work out the best way to do that right now without spending money on something new. Maybe old velvet curtains from a thrift store? Hard to find enough recycled fabric at one time for big projects.

I’ve also sewn one purse as a gift for my boss, and I am working on another one now. I’ve fallen in love with the azuma bag design, for it’s practicality and beauty, as well as ease in creating.

I have also realized that I love spending time with others much more than I enjoy spending money with others. Additionally, I think a lot of frivolous spending was based in a need for solitude, a way to be around a crowd but still be alone. I’ve always preferred being alone to being in a group, and getting to spend a lot more time with myself working on creative projects seems to be closer to “default Vanessa” - the Vanessa I feel most like on the inside. How nice!

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I'm just leaving this here so I can find it easily again, but I bet you might like this also - one of the best descriptions and photos I could find of felled and half-french seams (my personal favorites!).

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Fantastic, gorgeous DIY tutorials for bags, gifts, household goods and decor! Busy with this, this weekend for sure!

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Days Six and Seven

Not too much to report here - I've been feeling like I'm coming down with a cold, and wanting to spend a lot of time at home because of it. I spent zero dollars yesterday and today (except for planned groceries). I'm almost done with my roommates' birthday present, so I'll finish that tomorrow. I need to make one for my boss this weekend, so I'm trying to plan that out. I'm not sure what I'm going to make, but I have a few ideas. Today I noticed that I've started to enter a new phase of thinking regarding spending money - a sense of relief that I don't have to think about spending money anymore. Less decisions to make, less places to go - it's simple and peaceful and I like it. It occurred to me less today to want to spend money on anything, which happened faster than I thought it would. I wonder what the next emotional phase of my reduction in consumerism will hold.

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Day Five

Today didn't bring any exciting revelations. My day was busy with office work (a luxury that I try to make the very best of when I get it, and one that I really love). I took R out to dinner tonight, I was tired and didn't have it in me to make dinner. R has had a rough couple days and she wasn't able to make dinner either, so out we went. I have a small budget reserved for dinners out, so I felt okay about spending money on that. Plus, R and I can really connect when we get out into a different space, and she spends so much time at home that it's good for her to get out. After dinner we stopped by the grocery store to but R a new toothbrush. She accidentally dropped hers on the toilet brush this evening and we both agreed that although it's possible that the toothbrush could maybe get cleaned after that, it still seemed gross. $2.13 seemed like a pretty good price for peace of mind that you're probably not brushing your teeth with poop. While I was waiting for her to pick out her toothbrush, I started thinking about what it would be like to live without money completely. What would I use to brush my teeth? Thistles and...thistles? Clearly today wasn't a day for deep thoughts. I guess the best thing is that I didn't spend money on anything frivolous or unimportant to me. Check back tomorrow for what I'm sure will be an update full of revelations and enlightenments.

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Day Four

Another almost-spent-zero-dollars day passed. I spent $13 at the grocery store tonight on food supplies. I did, however, spend a whole lot of time thinking about buying things and the things I buy and the culture around purchasing. I was talking with R last night at bedtime about how I'm sad that I've become so eager for instant gratification that I've robbed myself of the joy that experience and work provide when I make something for myself. Not only is there joy, but there's intellectual development to be had, and I can definitely assure you all that I may be getting wiser as I get old, but I'm also definitely getting dumber. It takes me longer to recall and absorb information now than ever before. I'm still pretty smart, but I'm not the fool of a genius I was in my younger years. Ah, maturity and age...

Thinking a lot today about what to make my roommate for her birthday in a few days. I have a lot of ideas, but it'll have to remain a surprise in case she's following along on these posts. I'll share a photo of whatever it is after I give it to her. :)

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Day Three

I bought NOTHING today! Zero, zilch, nada! I wish I could say this was easy for me. In reality, it was very hard. I was thinking about how hard it was to resist buying things when I was out running errands for my job today. It's almost like I'm yearning for the opportunity to make money leave my hands, like I'm begging commercialism to lure me into the temporary excitement of acquiring something that was not mine moments before. This realization was so startling to me. I'd never thought of it that way before; in general, I'm a pretty thrifty person and the older I get, the more careful I am with my budget. However, my budget is still left open for very many non-essential purchases. I realized today that it's actually pretty rare for me to go a single day without spending any more at all, and when I do manage to make it happen, I'm still searching for ways to spend all day long. 

Since I didn't spend any money today, I'm going to continue my self-satisfaction reward by unsubscribing to every single "buy this stuff" email list I belong to. This is a tough one for me, because I've found some really good steals through those emails and I have this rationalization that I'm "saving" money by buying though those places. What I'm actually doing is spending money by buying through those places. I'm going to trust that at least for this month, if I need to buy something on sale, that I will find the sale or I will go without. 

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Days One and Two, together

Well, here we are, at the end of Day Two. I've distilled my goals a little from my last post; I've realized that what I want to get at is 1) Buy Less Stuff and 2) Reuse More. 

Yesterday I bought gas for my car and food for my pets. I couldn't really get around either of those things. I wish I could buy in larger bulk for my pets, but they all eat different foods because of different dietary needs. I'm starting to wonder if I should try cooking for them. Less packaging, maybe? Maybe. I know about cooking for dogs but not really for cats. I wonder if they could all eat the same thing. I also bought two coffees - one for me, one for R. I felt guilty about this because we totally had coffee at home, but R asked for coffee while we were out and I like buying things for her. And I really love the coffee from the place I bought it from. Well.

Today I used some money I'd been saving and bought some new, needed curtains for my bedroom at Ikea. I did a lot of cost comparison and it was cheaper to buy what I needed there than to purchase the fabric anywhere else. I'm not too jazzed about that reality but there it was. I got an especially good deal because R noticed that some curtains we both liked were in the clearance bin! Just one pair, but it saved me $11. I then realized when I got home that I messed up on the curtain rod situation and had two too-short curtain rods. I was annoyed that I didn't realize that before going to Ikea, because they have the best price on curtain rods ever, and I like them and I have finials for them and everything. One of my problems is I get on a roll with projects and then when I hit a bump I want an immediate solution. I can't drive back to Ikea because with the distance it is from my house, I'll spend more on the gas/insurance/car repair cost than I will save on the curtain rod. Damn! I went to Big Box and I'm not happy about it but I was able to get something that works for a temporary solution for about $3.50/window. If I had more patience maybe I would have waited to go to Home Depot, gotten some wooden dowels and spray painted them. Hm. I also bought laundry soap, commercial brand and not-refillable (must find a cheaper alternative that I'm not allergic to), one roll of paper towels which with animal messes I've convinced myself are a must, and instant oatmeal for R, who requested it. I also bought a $2 dog blanket and a chocolate bar at R's request. My win for the day was that R wanted to buy a doggie coat for a tiny cold dog we're fostering, and I told her that I would make one at home. She didn't seem crazy about the idea, but I insisted. I made one at home out of a fleece sweatshirt sleeve I had left over from an earlier dog outfit project (a DIY "thunder shirt" for Maggie). She loves it and Lucy the Rescue Dog is now very warm!

Thus ends my first report!

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I'm gonna make a bunch of stuff.

I've been feeling pretty bummed out lately about how consumeristic I've become. Despite having lots of of tools and ability to make most things, I still buy things that I could make for myself. I've decided to spend the month I turn 34 years old, February 2014, in an experiment to make every thing I consume during that month. I am giving myself a little break here, in that I'm preparing ahead to make sure I have enough toilet paper - I don't know how I'd go about making my own and frankly hauling leaves in every day at this time of year doesn't sound do-able. For everything else, though, I have to make it if I want it. For purposes of this experiment I've decided that I can purchase materials - I don't have to grow my own cabbage and caraway seeds if I want sauerkraut, for instance - but that the materials should be as close to their raw form as possible.

Already I'm having a hard time with this experiment because I know I'm just shifting priorities a little bit, into buying things that require more preparation rather than depending 100% on myself for all things I consume. I'm trying to be gentle with myself and remember my basic goal here: to buy less things made by other people and spend more time making more things for myself and those I love. 

This blog is where I'll post every day during February, so follow along with me!