Have a Craft Day {Day 21}

This is the twenty-first post in my 31 Days of Living on Less Series. If you’d like to read all the posts in order, go to Day 1.

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One of the first things I did when I realized we were looking at unemployment, was to take inventory of what we had to work with. I looked at food, craft supplies, clothing, and possible items to sell. I had all of this orange fabric already that I was hoping to use for a fall craft. And then my mom blessed me with some more!

We spent a cozy, rainy afternoon making these simple fabric pumpkins a couple of weeks ago. We had such an abundance that I was able to give some away! We used a real tree branch that had fallen in the backyard for the stems.

In addition to looking at what supplies you already have on hand, it’s also fun to see what can be made with natural objects like pinecones and acorns. My children gathered these, and we hope to use them for crafts. Or maybe we’ll just put them in a bowl or basket as a decoration.

I asked my children to find some acorns for me to go around my candle. One thing I did learn is that if you’re going to use acorns for crafts, you should clean and bake them in a low oven to kill anything living in them.

Another free craft idea is to make salt dough. It’s just flour, salt, oil, and water, and I already had these things on hand. I found this simple recipe and the idea for making vegetables at Wee Folk Art.