A Look Back, and a Peek Forward

I can't believe how fast this year has flown by. Looking back, I'd have to say that this year was an improvement over the last two. We've managed to go ten whole months without anybody dying, so that's a check in the WIN column right there.

This was a pretty crazy year. It got off to a rocky start, what with losing Matt's mom last December, and then turning right around and losing both his step-dad and their cat that we had taken in in February. As you know if you've been following along, all of the grief and stress from those losses churned up a lot of latent grief over my miscarriages that I still needed to deal with. So I spent the first quarter of the year or so in a pretty deep funk.

But then things turned a corner. I kicked off Project Oven Repair, based on the suspicion that I had PCOS and insulin resistance (a suspicion that was confirmed at my annual check-up in April), and started taking better care of myself with the goal toward eventually trying again to have a baby. Since then I've lost over thirty pounds, lowered my BMI, and dropped my fasting glucose level by ten points. I still want to lose about ten or fifteen more pounds and get my numbers even lower--the holidays certainly didn't help with that--but I'm confident that I'll get there in the new year.

I also got serious about fiction writing as a career and made the monumental (for me) decision to become an indie author. Since then I started my own publishing company, published a well received novel and a short story collection, and wrote a new novel that will hopefully be ready to publish in the next month or two.

As great as those things were, things could have been better financially. My web design and virtual assistant business slowed way, way down, and I went through a long period where I just could not make a sale. It wasn't that dire because we had enough savings to get by, as long as we remained frugal, but we also had to rely a lot on our credit card. Business picked back up in mid-November, but by that point we'd racked up so much debt trying to stay afloat that the sudden rush of income was eaten up by bills before we knew it. Work has remained steady since then, though, and hopefully it will remain that way for long enough to enable us to dig ourselves out from under this mess.

Between the financial strain and the fact of facing yet another childless Christmas, and also the first holiday season without my in-laws, I have to confess that we had both sunk back into a pretty deep funk in the weeks leading up to Christmas. But the holiday itself turned out to be a pleasant, albeit low-key, day, and I think we were both feeling better by the time it arrived. I guess we had gotten all of the grief and self-pity out of our systems by then.

And now here we are, at New Year's Eve. I don't know what 2012 is going to bring. I composed a version of this post in my head back in October, and it ended with a declaration that my one major goal for 2012 was to become a mother. But that was before the full weight of our financial strain had settled on us, and it was also before I started paying attention once again to news and politics and what's going on with our world and our nation. I have to say, I'm feeling less hopeful now than I did then. I'm not one of those Mayan calendar doomsayer types, but nevertheless I'm feeling a lot of trepidation about the coming year, and I just have a feeling that we're in for some difficult times as a nation.

Between that, and our personal financial situation, we're still at a loss as to how to proceed with our TTC plans. My heart wants with every fiber of its being to stop taking birth control and start trying NOW. But my head says that we should wait and see what happens, with my business, with our income, and with the economy in general. Matt's having the same head/heart struggle. So I just don't know what we're going to do.

So for now, my main goal for the new year is for us to do everything we can to better our situation, both so that we'll actually be able to afford a baby, and also so that if the poo does hit the fan we'll be in a better position to weather the storm. And in the mean time, I'll continue Project Oven Repair and get rid of that last fifteen pounds or so, hopefully getting my glucose under 90 in the process.

This post wound up a little too doom-and-gloom to end with a chipper "Happy New Year," but nevertheless, I wish you and yours (and me and mine) a blessed and prosperous and disaster-free 2012.

Thinking Out Loud About Project Baby

I've been feeling run down and blah the last few days. I'm realizing that this happens every month and I'm just now beginning to wonder if it has something to do with my cycle. I really need to educate myself about how all of that works and how to track everything. I never bothered in the past, because GETTING pregnant was never the problem--STAYING pregnant was. But it did take almost 9 months to happen after going off of birth control the first time, and as I inch ever closer to 40 I realize that there are no guarantees, and with my PCOS I really should get to know what's going on with my oven. I want to get the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility, which has been recommended to me often, before we start Project Baby.

I think we've decided to wait until the holidays are over to start that. As slim as the chances are that I'd get pregnant right away if we started before then, after the last two tragedy-filled Christmases I just want to get through one Christmas without either worrying or mourning. I also want to be able to relax and enjoy the holiday food without worrying about every single thing I put in my mouth. So I'm trying to get my weight down to at least 160 before Thanksgiving, and then I'll just focus on maintaining for the rest of the year. Once I go off BC I should still have time to lose another 10 pounds or so while I wait for it to get out of my system. I want it to be low enough that I won't have to worry about pregnancy weight gain pushing my glucose back up into the unhealthy range.

With all of that said, I'm actually really looking forward to the holidays this year, in spite of the sadness that's built into it. I feel extremely hopeful that this will be our last childless holiday season--that by next Christmas, if we don't actually have a baby yet, at least I'll have a healthy bump. So I feel like, if fate allows, we should do our best to relax and enjoy what could possibly--God willing--be the last holiday season where it's just the two of us and our furbabies.

Three cheers for optimism!

Button Quandry

I've decided to dress up to hand out candy on Halloween this year. I haven't worn a Halloween costume since the office Halloween costume contest back in 2007, when I went as a Crazy Cat Lady. My costume consisted of cat-print pajamas, a bath robe to which I'd pinned various stuffed cats so they were hanging all over me, fuzzy cat slippers, and of course, a head full of curlers. I lost, because nobody got my costume and just called me Pajama Jean, even though I was covered in cats-- eh, best not to revisit that particular frustration.

Anyway, for the next year I'd decided to go as Coraline's Other Mother, and I was in the middle of putting the costume together when my employers called off the costume contest. Since they'd announced that the first round of layoffs would be happening that November, they had the good sense to realize that a party would be in bad taste. So I abandoned my costume that year and I haven't bothered to dress up since.

But I'm feeling the Halloween spirit more than usual this year, and I'm tired of waiting until I have a kid as an excuse to dress up for Halloween, so by gum, I'm going to finish my Other Mother costume and wear it to answer the door to trick-or-treaters. It will be more my interpretation of the book version (similar to this), since the movie hadn't come out yet when I started the costume. I have a lacy black "mom" outfit, and I'm knitting a black version of Hallowig for the hair. The biggest challenge is going to be the button eyes. I tried gluing some buttons on a wire and bending it into a sort of button pince nez, but I can't get them to stay on, and I'm not crazy about the visible metal wire. I think next I'll try attaching them to the wig in some way with clear thread. If I can't get that to work I guess I'll try spirit gum, although I'd really like to be able to easily put them on and take them off between trick-or-treaters. So I might just end up painting them on. I really hope I can get real buttons to work, though.

I guess in the end it won't really matter, though, as long as my costume is recognizable. Now here's hoping at least some of the children who show up at my door will have actually read the book or seen the movie so I can enjoy some freaked-out reactions.

Mother's Day

Today is a tough one, I won't lie. There's just so much to be sad about today: missing Matt's mom who's no longer with us, missing our babies who never got to be with us, and that heartbreaking longing that I battle every day seems to be cutting just a bit deeper.

We're trying to stay distracted and keep our minds occupied with less upsetting things, treating this like just another day. Matt's reading, and I've caught up on my shows for the week, and I have writing and housekeeping to keep me busy for the rest of the day. And yet I still have to call my mom and wish her a happy day and thank her for being awesome.

I received a really touching text message from my Big Sis, saying that she thinks it's appropriate to tell me Happy Mother's Day, that I am and will be a great mom. It made me cry--just typing that is making me tear up all over again--but in the good way. Well, in a mixed-feeling kind of way, really, but mostly good. It definitely feels good to have someone acknowledge my children. I might not have given birth to them or had the opportunity to see or touch them, but that makes them no less real to me. It always helps when other people acknowledge them as real, too.

So here's to the moms out there today, but here's also to the forgotten, those who have lost their moms, and who've lost their children, who are still fighting their own personal hell in the battle to become mothers, and those who have retreated from the battlefield to nurse their wounds and find a way to carry on in the face of shattered dreams. You are not forgotten, and you are not alone.

Merry Cute-mas

At least one of us managed to have a merry Christmas yesterday.

We hope your Christmas made you as happy as a puppy with a meat lollipop.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010!

We have a lot to be thankful about this year, not the least of which is that Step-Dad-In-Law came home from the hospital Wednesday morning, feeling more than ready to get his turkey & stuffing on.

What are you most thankful for today?

Whip It Good

I just had a client have to remind me that this is a holiday weekend when I tried to schedule a conference call for Monday. That might be sad, but not as sad as the fact that what's exciting me most about the prospect of an extended weekend is finally having time to clean my house. Not that I'm such a clean freak that putting the emphasis on the "labor" part of this particular holiday fills me with joy; but our house still hasn't recovered from our camping trip last month, and I can't even remember the last time I vacuumed the carpet. This house needs some serious whipping into shape, and it looks like I'll finally have time to do the whipping.

Of course, I shall have to do it all whilst wearing my new t-shirt.

And if I'm really feeling ambitious I might even tackle the mountain in the garage that represents two years' worth of backed up recycling -- the first step in converting the garage from a big space to throw the crap we don't want to deal with into an organized haven for craft supplies and camping gear. Party on!

This month is shaping up to be a pretty good one, work-wise. It never ceases to amaze me the way freelancing is always feast or famine. Never does it happen that one client needs something one week, and another the next, and so on so that I've got a steady stream of work and nobody's ever competing for my time. Instead it always happens that most -- if not all -- of them have major projects that need done all at the same time, or hardly anybody needs anything from me at all. Right now I'm looking at a feast of web design and VA work, so that's going to be keeping me busy for the next few weeks.

Gotta say I'm relieved, because as much as I appreciate that Demand Studios is there to get me through the famine times, it's definitely not my favorite gig, probably because it's the one that requires the most mentally taxing work for the least pay. After a long day of struggling to focus enough to research and write just a few articles, I'm always too mentally fried to do anything else. I'm feeling energized just thinking about having some truly creative work on my plate again. Even so, I'm going to try to keep doing at least a few DS articles a week, just to ensure I'll have a steady, if small, paycheck to buffer against the unsteady nature of freelance pay.

Somewhere in all this working and cleaning, I've got to be sure to get outside and enjoy this perfect fall-like weather we're having. This would, of course, be a lot easier if Matt would let me take the laptop out on the patio, but he's afraid I'll smash it to bits on the concrete and then we'll have to spend a big chunk of money to replace it. And he does have a point -- I do tend to be accident prone, and I wish I could say that I don't have a history of expensive accidents, but... well, let's just say I don't have solid ground on which to argue in favor of ever leaving the house with my laptop. So if I want to go out I guess I'll just have to leave the computer behind and, like, get some exercise or something. How novel!

What Do Batman and Chinese Food Have In Common?

I don't know about you guys, but I had a good, if relatively low-key, 4th of July. My mom-in-law came over in the afternoon for deeee-lishus gourmet hot dogs (lovingly prepared by Matt on the kitchen stove, who opted to leave the patio grill unlit because of threatened rain that never showed up). After lunch, we settled in to watch Batman Begins, because MIL had never seen it (nor any other Batman movie, ever; prior to Sunday, her knowledge of the Caped Crusader began and ended with the 1960s TV series), and because I have a personal tradition of watching superhero movies on the 4th, especially if I don't get to see fireworks. And since we didn't have any plans for fireworks viewing, I was pretty eager for some superhero action.

Later that evening, after MIL called it a day and went home (with a whole new outlook on Batman in tow), Matt and I ordered Chinese, because seriously, what in the world is more American than greasy Chinese takeout? And as we noshed on our mu-shoo and egg foo yung and garlic chicken, lo and behold, we could see some pretty spectacular neighborhood fireworks right through our patio window. Awesome. Batman, fancy hot dogs, Chinese food and fireworks all in the same day? Once it was all over, I went to bed a happy camper, believe you me.

How was your 4th? Did you see any fireworks? Go to any parties? Are superhero movies and Independence Day as tied together in your mind as they are in mine? Tell us all about it in the comments.

America! Heck yeah!

For everyone who, like me, is looking at a rainy 4th, I present this patriotic fireworks display. Wishing my fellow U.S. patriots an awesome Independence weekend, come rain or shine.

Memorial Day

Memorial day is really two U.S. holidays in one: in addition to being a day to remember fallen friends, loved ones, and those who've laid down their lives for freedom, it's also a celebration of that freedom, of life, and the unofficial start of summer.

So remember, but try not to dwell, and have yourselves a safe and happy Memorial Day.

Easter Promises

Today is hard. All the days are hard, but today... just last Sunday, before the spotting started, Matt and I were talking about how much fun next Easter would be, and all the Easters thereafter, having a baby to celebrate with and do the whole Easter basket thing. So today is serving as a harsh reminder that it definitely won't happen next Easter, and it might never happen for us, and that hurts. A lot.

I'm trying to focus on what this day is really about. It's not easy, but it does help to remember that I have the hope of being reunited with my children in Eternity thanks to the work that my Lord Jesus did at the cross. It's all of the Easters, and Christmases, and birthdays and every days without them in between now and then that I'm mourning. It's also the pain of another unfulfilled pregnancy, and of wondering if I'll ever be able to achieve that fulfillment, to have a healthy pregnancy and carry a healthy baby to term, or if my body's just not capable of that for some reason.

I'm also still physically sore (and allergies are kicking my butt today to boot; at least I can take Sudafed now), which is keeping me on the couch with too much time to dwell on these things. I know I need to get off the couch, to find some healthy distractions and get my mind into a better place, but it's hard to make myself move. Maybe later I'll at least go outside and get some sunshine. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel recovered enough to go for a walk.

Tuesday is my birthday. I would normally be kind of bummed about drawing another year closer to 40, but let's face it: my 36th year pretty much blew, and I'm glad for it to be over. I'm expecting my 37th to bring better things. My mom's taking me out Tuesday for some birthday shopping and badly needed pampering, and that night Matt will take me out to our favorite Thai place for dinner. I think it will do me a lot of good, a whole day full of happy distractions and getting out of the house.

Today, though... it's supposed to be a day of rejoicing in the risen Savior and the promise of resurrection we have through Him. But for me it's more a day of quiet contemplation and mourning what I've lost, what I won't gain back until that promise is fulfilled at the end of my life here on this earth. My babies have that promise already, though. Whatever genetic or chromosomal problems kept them from living more than a few precious weeks, at least I have the knowledge that they never have to know pain or suffering, that they now have perfect bodies free of any defects. In that, I CAN rejoice.

Happy Easter to those of you who share my faith. I hope yours is a day full of joy.

A Very Bauhaushold Christmas

We had already decided to stay home for Christmas. The original plan was to go to my mom's house, but I realized that it's hard enough for us to be around babies and small children right now without having to force Christmas cheer on top of it. I know I have to get over that some time, not the least of which because I love and miss my wee nieces and nephews; but neither of us had any desire to spend Christmas day pretending to be happy when the constant reminder of what we lost meant we were both dying a little inside. And so, we didn't have to suffer disappointment when we ended up being snowed in on Christmas day, anyway.

It was a lovely, peaceful day.  I woke up before Matt and spent the morning in quiet reflection as I read the accounts in Matthew and Luke of Christ's birth and the events leading up to it. It was nice to be able to take the time out and remember what the day was really about, instead of rushing to get out the door. Then, after a prayer of gratitude, I fired up A Christmas Story and settled in to wait for Matt to get up.

Once he did, it was present time. First we gave the pets their stocking goodies, and much cuteness abounded:

Then it was the hoomans' turn. Even though we had pretty much stuck to each others' Amazon wish lists this year, I still managed to surprise Matt with some Clark bars (he'd been craving them recently and we haven't been able to find any around here), and he surprised me with a cook book I'd wish listed over a year ago and then forgot about. He also got me a couple of books I've been dying to read, including Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which, YAY!

After that, it was decision time: we'd bought advanced tickets to a late afternoon showing of Sherlock Holmes, but that was before our yard turned into Planet Hoth:

So between the dangers of getting eaten by a Hoth Wampa and getting stranded (or worse) on the icy roads, we decided to cut our losses and stay home. To me, it was worth the ticket price not to have to dig the car out from under a snow drift, anyway.

So Matt put our Christmas turkey in the oven (after doing his gourmet magic to it) and we hung out and read our Christmas presents and watched our current Netflix pic (Terminator: Salvation, which I liked better than I expected to after seeing how much it was panned) until the bird was done, and then we had ourselves a cozy (and delish!) little Christmas dinner. Then we had pie. And then we read some more until bed time.

It was about as close to a perfect day as it gets.

How was your Christmas?

A Dash of Cheer

Things have been so gloomy here lately that I thought I'd interject a little cheer by sharing a shot of our Christmas tree. We went with a smaller one this year, which makes it look like we have a million ornaments, and as you can see, our "theme" is Anything Goes. The tree topper (the cross from our wedding cake that you can see here) is cut off, but this was the only shot with Boudica looking straight at the camera. The little bells around the bottom of the tree (also an artifact from our wedding) serve as "Cats are eating the tree again!" alarms, and they serve well.

If you'd like to see close-ups of some of the ornaments, you can probably find them in last year's Christmas House Tour.

Do you have any uploaded pics of your holiday swag? If so, link us up in the comments.

Stuff and Things

I had every intention of dragging the Christmas decorations in from the garage tonight, but instead I ended up spending the last several hours setting up my new baby/nursery blog, Project Little Bit. I'll try to find time to write several posts over the weekend, and start posting officially on Monday, but it's not totally bare if you'd like to take a sneak peek before then.

Did you have a lovely Thanksgiving, dear readers (or a lovely Thursday, dear non-American readers)? I did. We spent it at my in-laws, where we stuffed our faces and hung out and watched movies and had a relaxing, food- and fun-filled time, and I was promised much future spoilage of the grandbaby-to-be.

Speaking of which, here's a state-of-the-pregnancy update for those of you who are concerned with these things (and those of you who aren't can just skip the next couple of paragraphs): I'm in approximately my seventh week, which, according to the charts they gave me at the clinic, means that Little Bit is starting to grow hands and feet, still has a tail, and is about the size of a blueberry.

Since finding out about our little blueberry, I've been eating better and forcing myself to work out regularly (it helps to have motivation), which has helped a little with the fatigue. Now, as long as I get in my afternoon nap, I do okay the rest of the day. I haven't had any morning sickness so far, thank you Lord, and I generally feel pretty good, albeit tired. The only really troubling thing is [TMI ALERT!] constant and at times almost unbearable booby pain. I hope so hard that it doesn't last through the whole pregnancy. Tylenol and a heat pack help a little, but, man. Owwwww![/TMI]

And now it's the weekend, which will be filled with pre-mom-coming-over house cleaning, followed by mom coming over for dinner, followed the next day by, hopefully, putting up Christmas decorations, with a break in the middle to have lunch with my oldest BFF. And also hopefully the afore-mentioned blog article writing, and, of course, napping.

How was your Thanksgiving (or Thursday), dear reader? And what have you got planned for the weekend? Are you putting up holiday decorations yet, or at all? Do tell!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's hoping all of my fellow Americans have a lovely ritual sacrifice, with pie.

Getting Over Me

Somewhere around the time all the good children were pretending to go to sleep so that Santa could come, I realized I was in good spirits. We had just left my in-laws, where I had managed to have a nice time in spite of myself, and I felt relaxed and pleasant, and that's when it hit me: the mini-epiphany that I not only should, but could stop dwelling on what I hoped to get out of the holiday, stop thinking ahead and hoping and wishing, stop thinking back on things that had already let me down, and just accept--possibly even enjoy!--each moment as it comes. Roll with the punches, as it were. So that's what I did. And you know what? I ended up having a pretty nice Christmas.

Was it the Christmas card-worthy Christmas I had built up in my head? No. Of course not. It never, ever is, ever. Which is why I need to learn to stop putting impossible expectations on the holiday, on all holidays, because that is my tendency, and on my family, and on myself. You hear it over and over, how you need to learn to let go, to just be, to take each moment as it comes. For some reason, I just can't ever do that.

But yesterday, I did that. And it was so very, very nice, being able to stop being all wrapped up inside my head, being able to focus on my loved ones, catching up, hearing the family gossip, hugging and kissing on the babies that have gotten OH MY GOSH SO BIG since the last time I saw them, playing with my little nephews, geeking out over geeky things with my big nephews, hearing Bible readings and singing Christmas hymns, coming home to open presents with my husband and torture our pets with strap-on reindeer antlers for hilarious pictures, snuggle and watch the DVDs we got for Christmas, eat more delicious food and drink the pricey booze that Santa brought, and finally go to bed, stuffed and a little hung-over and happy. Yes, happy. It wasn't what I was expecting two days ago, but that's one expectation I'm glad not to have met.

Blue Christmas

It has happened. All month long I've been in a cheerful mood, too distracted by everything I needed to get done to have time to think. But now things are winding down, and I'm finding time for that most dangerous thing, introspection. Introspection rarely, if ever, makes me happy, especially around holidays. That's probably because I always focus on the things that disappoint, instead of on the things I have to be happy about and grateful for. And then I have guilt and shame, because I know I have plenty to be grateful for, like a job and a mortgage in good standing and the luxury of being able to afford gifts for my loved ones, who can still afford gifts for me in return, and all of that's just for starters, and now I'm sorry it's too late to pick an angel from the Angel Tree.

But disappointment nags. Worse yet, I can't put my finger on what, exactly, is disappointing me. It's a number of little things, really. Little unmet expectations all adding up to one big empty feeling, a feeling that makes me not want to get out of bed, let alone wrap presents and bake and put on a happy face for the family. Going to the mall yesterday didn't help. I think a shopping mall right before Christmas must be one of the circles of Hell. It's impossible to shop there for any length of time without becoming stressed and angry, and with the mall traffic and the parking situation, the anger and stress starts before you even get inside. And then I have more guilt and shame, because I know that Christmas isn't about presents or tree trimming or surviving the mall, or even hanging out with family. I'm a Christian. I know what tomorrow is supposed to be about. But I'm not feeling it. And that's just one more unmet expectation to add to the heap.

So I go through the motions, and hope that faking it will at some point make it so. If that doesn't, then maybe copious amounts of fudge and spiked eggnog will make it happen, at least for a few minutes. Sweet little sugar and alcohol-induced bursts of happiness to get me through the day. Maybe that's what this commercialized First World brand of Christmas is really all about.

Stopping the Insanity

Every year, of course, I make a pledge to myself that I will be vigilant, I will make preparations all year long, I will not let another Christmas sneak up on me and turn me into a frazzled wreck trying to accomplish the impossible in an impossible amount of time. And every year, of course, I promptly forget said pledge until I'm looking up from unwrapping a piece of Halloween candy and going, "Buh? Christmas is less than two months away? That's unpossible! You are crazy in the head." And then the insanity begins, and the whole thing starts all over again.

This year has been no different. For the last two months, most of my spare time's been spent working my poor, frozen fingers to the bone on knitting projects that I should have started in July. My Christmas vacation began Saturday, and my visions of baking and lazy gift wrapping vanished when I remembered I still needed to do Christmas cards and to drive out to my mom's to pick up my husband's gifts that I didn't trust him not to open if I had them shipped here, and to shop for gifts for the people for whom I will not possibly have time to knit the gifts I'd originally planned, and, oh yes, to finish the knitting I already started. So far, my vacation has been not so much a vacation as a blur of activity and panic.

How do I cope with all of this panic? Hot cocoa with copious amounts of Dr. McGillicuddy's Mint Schnapps certainly hasn't hurt. Nor has the fact that knitting is something I can do with my feet up while Nightmare Before Christmas plays on a loop to keep me company. Mostly, I keep my mind in place by carving out "me" time wherever I can get it. An extra five minutes in the shower, going to bed early, sleeping in, eating regularly and mostly right, taking time out to shave and moisturize and pamper and take good care of myself. It's not easy to do that. Instead, it's incredibly easy to forget to do any of that. Today I even forgot to eat. That is some serious forgetting right there, if you're me, if you love eating like I do. But it's important to remember these things, and to do them. These are the things that make last-minute preparations bearable, even when all of your preparations end up being last-minute. These are also the things that make it possible, when all of those preparations are finally done, to relax and enjoy the company of your friends and relatives and not end up a sniveling mess on the floor of your mother's master bathroom trying to fend off a nervous breakdown on Christmas day.

But you might want to go ahead and bring Dr. McGillicuddy along to mom's house, just in case.

Shiny, shiny lists

Cross-polinate my neurotic affinity for making lists with my love of all things pretty and shiny and DIY, and what do you have? A new obsession with A Print a Day and all of the lovely, lovely free list and other stationery templates posted there. The artist also fills a more timely need with holiday prints, like adorable gift tags & stickers, and of course, a Christmasy list pad for keeping all of your last-minute gift shopping straight.

Now if only my printer wasn't all out of colored ink. I guess I should add that to my shopping list.

13 Simple & Inexpensive DIY Holiday Decorations

1. How to Make a Cookie House Village using graham crackers. No baking required. 2. Paper Flower Ornaments - beautiful, and all you need is some colored paper, a stapler, and some double-stick tape. 3. Origami Gift Box - These do double duty by looking pretty under the tree until you give them away. 4. Plastic Grocery Bag Pom Poms - This one is pretty versatile, too. And I love a holiday craft that reduces waste. 5. How to Make a Snow Storm - Tired of the old-fashioned paper snow flake? Whip up your very own White Christmas. 6. Make a Large Snowflake out of Doilies - On the other hand, do you love the old-fashioned paper snow flake but can never make it come out quite right? Dollar store doilies to the rescue! 7. Paper-craft Gift Card Box - Download this free pattern for an impressively beautiful way to present gift cards. 8. How To - Recycled Paper Trees - recycle old magazines into lovely and colorful mini Christmas trees. 9. Whip Up a Minimalist Christmas Star - Turn a bunch of sticks into something both artful and meaningful in minutes. 10. Have the Greenest Tree Around - These old-fashioned food garlands are not only classics, they're also good for the environment. 11. Chocolate Andes Mint Tree - Speaking of things that are green and edible. And also yum. 12. Tutorial: Fabric Ornament - I remember making these in grade school. This version is all grown up and beautiful. 13. DIY Photo Ornaments in 15 Minutes or Less - Display your favorite photos on your tree in an unexpected fashion. It doesn't get any easier than this.

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