THRIFTY THURSDAY

"I have three precious things
which I hold fast and prize.
The first is gentleness; the
 second is frugality; the third
 is humility, which keeps me
from putting myself before others.
 Be gentle and you can be bold;
 be frugal and you can be liberal;
 avoid putting yourself before
others and you can become a
 leader among men.

~Lao Tzu

While I have no desire to
be a leader amoung men,
I do strive toward humility
and frugality, two traits
I deeply admire in others.
For as long as I can remember
I have kept a button jar. If
an item of clothing wears out,
I cut it up to be used as rags,
but before that I always make
sure to cut any buttons off
to add to my jar. Since I don't
sew very few buttons leave the
collection, but many of them
have been used to teach
colors and how to count. Some
buttons really are little pieces
of art and are just fun to look
upon or sort into containers to
be used as doll food.  I thought
it would be a fun idea to make
my own buttons so now I am
spending a little time each day
hand polishing some cedar
buttons I decided to make.
This has not been a quick project,
in fact it is teaching me to
slow down, to breathe and just
enjoy the whole process. Really,
that is how I want to live
every aspect of my life so
it's good practice.
Joining the week with Jenn
who so kindly took over
Thrifty Thursday.