Be Proud to be DIY

As many of you probably do, I subscribe to a number of blogs and they span a great deal of different interests but many times they do relate to each other even if it is not about crafting. That happened today with Get Rich Slowly, a personal finance blog that I read from time to time. The article today is Made by Hand: In Praise of Amateurs. It is a personal tribute not only to handmade, DIY and being self-sustainable but to the author's dad who did many projects and inventions over the years before his rather young passing. It is amazing how much he did in his short lifetime.

J.D. Roth, the author, also gives us a sneak peak at the upcoming book Made by Hand by Mark Fraunfelder the editor of Make magazine. Evidently it is not a do-it-yourself instruction book but a look at someone who loves to do what DIYers love to do. I came from a family of DIY types. We always had a huge garden, we canned and froze all kinds of produce, my mom taught me to sew and crochet, my brother was a wood carver and cabinet maker but not professionally and we never ate out which at the time I thought was tragic.

I really liked this article because it brought back my own memories but also the change I've felt in the last few years about being able to be more self-sustainable. I'm even taking a computer course so I can do my own maintenance and it has inspired me to one day to try to build my own computer. I recently learned how to knit and have had great praise for the scarves I've given away.

Do you do crafts as part of being able to DIY? Do you find yourself wanting to DIY other areas like constructing your own lamp or building a patio?

Fall is Coming

A couple of weeks ago it seemed like October was just about here in Chicagoland already. It definitely put me in the baking mood but we are trying to be a little healthier around here so I got out my 12 Best Foods Cookbook and whipped up a batch of Sweet Potato Muffins. Well, I did have to go to the grocery store first but I had to do that anyway plus I picked out a black bean salad recipe out of the book to go with the grilled steak dinner my dear hubby was planning.

There is nothing like homemade food made from fresh ingredients. The muffins were made from fresh baked sweet potatoes, grated carrot and topped with pumpkin seeds. The salad involved fresh cilantro which is one of my favorite flavors. Great! I'm getting hungry again. Better get back to my craft table.