March 03, 2003 - 5:08 p.m.

The Craft-lover's Mecca

Wasn't feeling up to the gym today (bad, Kris!) so I went to the craft store instead. We needed to replenish the family's supplies of paint and construction paper, and I was also hoping to find pinecones. M has a friend over this afternoon, and I had intended to have the kids make pinecone bird feeders. The ground has been snow covered for so long that I imagine the birds could really use a little handout. The feeders are blissfully simple: you spread peanut butter all over the pinecone, roll it in birdseed and hang outside. Alas, there were no pinecones at the craft store. I was genuinely surprised, since this store has just about anything you could ever want for an art or craft project.

In fact, the store is such a treasure trove of goodies that I don't let myself go there very often. I invariably end up wandering the aisles dazzled by all the goods. On top of the scrapbooking supplies, which I actually use, they have all sort of craft ideas that tempt me almost to my limits. There are dried flowers for wreaths, stamps for homemade greeting cards, scents for candle making, unfinished shelves and pegboards for painting... and on and on. Now, since I love all things creative, it is hard for me to resist the siren call of all the lovely things I could make or enhance with my own two hands. Lately I have been pretty good about only buying supplies for pastimes I already enjoy or that I have a specific use for. For instance, I will allow myself the occasional purchase of scrapbooking supplies or items to make cards for an upcoming holiday.

Today I cheated just the teeniest bit. They had these adorable, unfinished, wooden birdhouses which would be fun to paint. However, I have nowhere to put such an item once completed, so it would be silly to buy it even though they were on sale and it might be an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. Instead, I picked out three of the smallest size (only $2 each), one for each of the kids to paint. That way I got the pleasure of bringing the cute little houses home but don't have to add to the clutter of my room. Plus, it was the family's money spent (I am fully authorized to make such purchases I assure you) not mine. :)

Today I completely resisted making any purchases for myself and only bought things for projects with the kids. For today, instead of the pinecones, I got some of those silly little plastic suncatchers you can paint. Not terribly exciting, but they are inexpensive and the kids really enjoyed doing them. That's what matters, right?

On a totally unrelated note, March has certainly come in like a lion up here! Saturday was nice, but yesterday it poured all day and today has been very cold with the added misfortune of very strong, frigid winds. Ick. Wednesday is suppised to be in the mid to upper 40's. Welcome to the meteorological roller coaster known as early spring in New England!

today's project: suncatchers, since we need to catch every bit we can!

musing about: the lure of cheesy craft projects

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flutter back - fly ahead