Compact Update

I've come to a place where I hardly think about the Compact. It's like prying teeth to get me to go into a regular store. The lights are glaring and everything is so loud. Buying clothing and books second hand has become, well, second nature. We have chosen/had to buy a few things new:

Plastic ties to construct wire cages for the garden boxes. We had the wire already, but no ties. At least we were able to find some that were made in the USA, and we bypassed Home Depot. We though we'd get by without the cages, however the girl dog went wild yesterday, stepping on plants and breaking our grids. The lure of the dogs just on the other side of the fence was too great, and she has no idea why I don't want her in the garden.

Printer paper (actually a consumable).

I bought a bead for my friend's birthing necklace (using personal funds). I didn't have a suitable bead at home (beading is one hobby I haven't gotten into) and I wanted something very meaningful. I did make the baby gift, using stash yarn (the softest alpaca you can imagine).

I bought my dad a book (new) for his birthday. I didn't have to, I chose to, and I'm glad I did. He's hard to get gifts for and I found something perfect.

Using what we have at home has just become the way of things. When I needed to make invitations for a birthday party I grabbed old cardstock and stickers, a rubber stamp and an ink pad, and some greeting card envelopes we bought awhile back. I'm turning out baby hats on a regular basis. The afghan made from leftover cotton yard is starting to look really nice (although it is my back-burner project so I don't expect to finish it soon). T-Guy asked for new short pajamas and I told him we'd improvise with knit shorts and thrift store t-shirts. We created a poster board math game out of supplies we had at home.

I've noticed that a lot of people are "over" the idea of Compacting/Non-Buying. My guess is that they are people like me, people who were already most of the way there and just needed a little nudge.

My next challenge? A Compact birthday party!