The Stash
I am not proud of what I am about to tell you. However, it must be told. Let me give a little background…
Seven years ago, Sugarman and I moved to a two bedroom beach house, on what was to be a 6-month respite before moving back into “real life” and using the beach house as a summer and retirement home. We were here for about 3 weeks, and looked at each other and said, “Why would we ever leave? Let’s try to make it here, without getting real jobs and without going back to the dreaded commute.” We would get up early (still in the habit from decades of commuting at least an hour from home), get some work done, then go swimming, have lunch on the deck, take a little nap, go swimming again, do some more work, and fall into bed reciting our new mantra…”Today was good, today was fun…tomorrow is another one!” (thanks to Dr. Seuss for that). And so it has been for the past 7 years.
When we moved from our suburban home (3X bigger than our beach house), I got a storage unit for those “extras” that wouldn’t fit into the beach house. I knew that I would be getting them out soon. Four years ago, when Hurricane Ike slammed our little barrier island, we moved to Houston for 13 months, purchasing all new furniture and lots of crafting materials (hey, it was cheaper than therapy!). When we moved back home, I got 6 MORE storage units for all of that stuff. So….there you go. Like I said, I’m not proud, I’m just giving you the facts.
We know that we need more space. I like stuff, and I like to have company, and I like to do projects, etc. We just can’t quite figure out what to do/where to go/when to do it. We think that we’ll always keep the beach house, but we want to be near our grand baby. My son (a lot like his mom) can’t quite decide what to be/where to live/what to do when he grows up (he’s a lawyer, with his own firm, and can go wherever he wants to go). So, he and his wife are planning to relocate. We are waiting on them, then plan to stalk them to wherever that might be. (I am voting for the cutest little New England fishing village that I found on line a few weeks ago…but, that’s just me).
Ok, so the purpose for all of this confession: I have LOTS of crafting STUFF! I love a project, and since I live in the boondocks, without benefit of Hobby Lobby or Michaels, or even a Walmart, I tend to over-purchase for a project. Because I don’t have a craft room (or even a craft closet) my goodies are very disorganized, and when I can’t find something, I buy another one. Granted, not a great way to do things.
I have been planning (for 4 years now) to place a moratorium on the purchase of craft stuff. I always planned to do that “when we get the new house and I have a craft room.” Well, it looks like that will be another several months (at least) away, so I’ve decided to go for it!
Being realistic, I’m going to give myself $5 a week for incidentals (thread, interfacing, etc.), but otherwise craft ONLY from my significant stash. This is even more of a challenge for me, since this is our year to have all of the kids for Christmas, and I have a list of craft goodies that I plan to make this fall.
I love books/blogs that chronicle journeys of people doing “stuff.” My son tells me that these are called “stunt books.” (that kind of ruined it for me for a while, but I got over it). So, I have a couple of stunts for the fall, both of which I will chronicle here. First, I am going to use my stash. I hope I use it all up. I have lots of ideas for projects: quilts made from the boys’ old team t-shirts, stockings made of old jeans and Christmas themed fabric, Quiet books for our Baby Coby, and journals for the gals in my workshops, to name a few. I’m excited and plan to get started this afternoon (as soon as I get all of the suitcases unpacked from Montana!).
My other stunt is going to be cooking most nights. I love to cook – but not every day stuff. (I like to cook for a party). But, I am working on a month-long menu for which I will try to be frugal and dietetic. (More on this in a different post).
So, Here it is… I’ve thrown down the gauntlet. I’m gonna use the stash – make lemonade out of these craft-lemons, entertain myself throughout the fall, and make some beautiful stuff for our Christmas gathering.
Keep me honest.
