The Handmade Pledge

As many of you are likely aware, I'm broke.

This does not come as a surprise because I use what little money I make to travel and be social, rather than stuffing it away for use at a later day, a day that might come sooner if I stopped going into NYC and sat at home watching "Scrubs" with my cat.

Christmas poses an even bigger threat to my social life: what do I buy the people I love the most with the five bucks I regulate to myself for coffee each day? Packs of gum? Plastic whistles? Condoms?

While guest posting on Miomarmo.com, my friend Elena wrote an entry about the Handmade Pledge. Intrigued, I clicked the link and signed myself up.

To Pledge Handmade, you must ask others to buy/make you handmade items, such as a scarf or jewelry, and do the same for them in return. The pledger must give and receive gifts that have been crafted by another human being, rather than through an assembly line or robot.

I was tickled carnation pink by the idea, and proceeded to run around my house plucking buttons off old sweaters to make cocktail rings. I found bases online at Ebay, and super crazy wtf glue at Michael's. My only worry is that with my luck I'll end up with buttons attached to my skin rather than to ring bases thanks to the wonder of insanely useful glue and my sheer klutztasticness.

Taking all that into consideration, I also thought about making feathered headbands. They've been quite the rage, and since I don't really feel like paying an arm and a torso for them, I've managed to draw out the shape I want and locate plain, thin, black headbands from a local retailer. Ebay and various other internet sources also led me to feathers galore, though at one point to test out my plan I plucked half a feather boa and started crafting. Despite my destroyed hopes for a future in burlesque, my prototype headband turned out dandy.

Joblessness doesn't always have to mean boredom, loss of vanity, ego or that 4 dollar morning mocha latte. It can mean a foray into new ideas, and helping others by helping yourself (to some nifty homemade things at Etsy.com).



Macaroni pictures, anyone?