outside the box

so...i don't know if any folks are checking out my other blog (which i think this weekend i'll just move to this one...in an effort to simplify my life) about not shopping...but i'm constantly amazed that most of the time, i've not really missed shopping (for clothes, shoes, jewelry, frames, etc..). i just wish i had a few more white t-shirts...because this blog (http://mymamamadeit.blogspot.com/) is A.MAZ.ING! she and i would be soul mates. at least in regards to all things JCrew and Anthropologie. She looks at the catalogues and takes their ideas and re-creates them in clothes that she already has. She's my hero right now in my no shopping experiment life. it's giving me new ideas and new life for old things. hopefully this weekend i'll have some time to work on some fun ideas i got off her blog and that the clothing exchange night i have planned with friends (where we all bring clothes that we don't wear any longer but that are in good condition, we exchange) will provide some more fun items for me to take and re-create!

i've become such an outside of the box thinker in regards to all things in our life...food and food prep...clothing for our family...cleaning supplies...all in an effort to stick within our budget...and praise the Lord-we are doing okay.

if only our transmission and coolant in our accord would hop on board and not be broken : ( i wish i could think outside of the box on that one!

how are you thinking outside the box? they say the recession is over...but how can we continue to be good stewards of what we have in plenty and in want? i know that this season in our life and taught me more than i thought...but i don't think i'd ever change where we are at right now. i wish the debt was gone, but i also know that the Lord has used this to re-orient our minds and marriage to think about each purchase, down to the soap we use. do we need this? do we already have this at home? can we share, give, exchange or borrow to fulfill a need we have?

as always, thanks for listening to my processing...please comment and let me know how you are thinking outside the box...and i'll show you the jewelry and shirts i re-create hopefully sometime next week...i'm going to take advantage of my evenings and instead of watching lame TV shows (except the office and 30 rock!) i'm going to sew and make things...i'll let you know how it goes!