I consider myself to be a pretty resourceful person - I think I have to be, or had to be. My parents grew up in Holland during the war and there were many ridiculously sad stories told about making toys from my Dad's uneaten bread crusts, and eating tulip bulbs, four year old potatoes and such. Thankfully, I have never had to eat a tulip bulb but those stories stuck with my parents and they made sure they told them to us, over and over again - they never forgot those times. After the war was over my Grandpa (Opa) framed his food stamps that he had left over and hung them in the dining room as a reminder to always be thankful for what he had and to never complain about what was on the table. This hangs in my dining room now and is a truly great reminder for us all. Although we were certainly better off than they were as kids in the war years nothing was ever given up too easily. We had the great benefit of learning that if you wanted something you had to figure out how to come up with the money or how to make it yourself. When my parents were in school in Holland the girls at the time were all taught to knit, crochet, sew, and do other crafty skills as part of their curriculum while the boys took woodworking, etc. I am quite sure this was a little more extensive than the Home Economics and Shop class that we took. Needless to say I think it was great for me to grow up with parents like this because they were always busy making something - perhaps something may have rubbed off. My mom made me sew doll clothes by hand one summer (I was in third grade) and I was told that once I made this doll dress and pinafore that I would be allowed to start using the sewing machine. I guess that was a great incentive because it wasn't much after that that I began taking my Dad's old dress shirts and turning them into items for me to wear. Who can afford fabric at the age of 9? Now many years later I am married with kids and a mortgage, and there have been many times when funds are just not flowing, and it is during those times that I start to eye up my own junk and wonder what I can turn that into! It is when I am the most restricted by my situation that I become the most inspired.
So now it is my great intention to take old and unwanted stuff and turn that stuff into something wonderful and pleasing to look at! Wish me luck!
