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To: nw_arizona_granny
One year when we were particularly poor, the kids and I made our own Christmas cards out of cheap construction paper. I made star-shaped stencils out of manila file folders, and we stenciled stars in white acrylic paint on the construction paper, using an old sponge. We made two cards per sheet of paper, and made our own envelopes out of the paper. The total cost was around $3.00 for 50+ cards.

We had the most compliments EVER on our Christmas cards that year.

6,291 posted on 11/06/2008 3:50:52 AM PST by RightField (A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well,.)
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To: RightField

Your cards sound pretty.

Not only the fact they pleased the eye, but the kids got to work on them and they were handmade.

For years, I was a shop till you drop gal, then I grew up and started making my own gifts.

One year, I had 5 foster kids, under 6 years old, no money for decorations, so the one that was going to school would make something in school, a colored star, paper chain, etc and come home and teach the other kids how to make them.

Then we baked cookies, in Christmas shapes, put them in sandwich bags, and hung them on the fake tree that we had found for $3.00 and I still think of it as my prettiest tree.

I even managed to get around the mad dash to the tree, by promising them cocoa and ‘snails’, to be served to them in bed and it worked, it was a lovely day.

That was the year a friend made me a fancy hat, used a white gallon bleach bottle, too the top off, cut the sides into slats about one inch wide, from the to top, down to the base, to maybe 2 inches from the bottom.

Flattened out, it looked like a many, long legged star fish.

Then she took a couple of pretty colored nylon net yardage, cut them into strips, I don’t remember how wide, but wide enough that when they were woven through the slats, the slats, disappeared under the fluff.... And added a couple long strips for the tie down, under the chin.

No, one would have guessed that it started out as a bleach jug and it wasn’t heavy, I enjoyed it for several years.

The same project could have been made into a basket, might be fun, finding out what shapes you could get.

LOL, I have one that I made out of reed, years ago, that simply would not form into a basket and it wound up being about 30 inches in diameter and about an inch deep.....

Welcome to the thread, I hope you will keep sharing your ideas with us.

This year will be a small Christmas for a lot of folks.


6,302 posted on 11/06/2008 5:39:31 AM PST by nw_arizona_granny ( http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1990507/posts?page=451 SURVIVAL, RECIPES, GARDENS, & INFO)
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