Project Genesis

Happy Monday! I am joining in Suzan's Project Genesis movement today, she posted an awesome tutorial on how to make a reusable shopping bag for us to take to the grocery store so that we can eliminate the age old question... paper or plastic. It's worth checking out (hers is actually almost too pretty for the grocery store) and making some for the next trip to the grocery store! I missed PG last month and had thought about what I would post about and as it turns out it was shopping. As you can see from the picture above, I am from a very large family. Those beautiful parents right up front are the reason why family is so important to me. They decided when they got married to have 12 children. It's true... 12! Who does that? Well, people who love family and what it represents that's who! Now because that was the choice made, there were other choices made as well and being frugal was one of those choices. My parents instilled in me that life is about the people, love and laughter that you surround yourself with, not the stuff. Not that I don't like stuff... cuz I love me some stuff... but it is not my reason to live, I don't cringe if a plate or glass gets broken, and you know why? Because I probably paid almost nothing for it, that's why! I cringe at the cost of some of lifes necessities as it is, so if I am going to get us some of lifes extras well, I'm shopping second hand. I have found here in blogland that so many of you do exactly the same thing. We don't need a mall to define our style, we can create our own by mixing clothes from different eras that we find at the thrift store or a wonderful yard sale. My mom loved garage sales, she would find the craziest stuff - always with a plan, not that she always carried out that plan mind you, but she started out with a plan! She passed on the idea that things can be reused, recycled and passed down. With 12 kids in the family you did not want to be the last boy or girl in the family cuz you know that there is "still some life left in those jeans!" Patches were my moms best friend!
So now I have passed this love of thrift stores on to my children. My older kids shop almost exclusively at thrift stores for their clothes and housewares. I am proud of them for this choice, for one, is there a better way to recycle? They have shopped there on their own since highschool because they did not want to look like they just came from the mall and looked like everyone else at school. They still do that today and the best part, besides the fact that they always look so fabulous when they go out, they are recycling, reusing and passing down everything they buy! By purchasing vintage, and we all know how much we like our vintage, we are all doing our part to keep perfectly good items out of our landfills and giving a gorgeous piece of history another chance at life.
So to wrap this up... keep on sharing all of your vintage treasures here on blogland and you will be passing on the lessons taught to us by our parents... waste not want not! These are important lessons to share with our young children who are so brainwashed by commercials of buy, buy, buy! I am proud to be a frugal shopper and that my dad and mom thought it was more important to fill a home with 12 children that they raised with love and values than it was fill it with valuables. My mom is gone now, and I miss her terribly, but the wisdom she and my dad shared with us about what is really important in life will be with me forever and I hope that I can continue to pass it on to my children, and now with you!
Head on over to Old Grey Mare and visit with the other participants for Project Genesis, if every one of us shared one idea no matter how small, and we tried the ideas shared, just imagine how much better this little planet we call home would be!

Thanks for letting me ramble on...Theresa xoxo