When was the last time you made something – really took something from an idea and a few disparate components or materials, and created something new? Just one or two generations ago, when people needed something, they simply built it.  Or sewed it.  Or baked it.  Now, we’re busier than ever, and apt to just run to the mall and buy the finished products that we need or want. As a marketing guy, that keeps me in business, but it also keeps us, as individuals, from feeling that deep sense of gratification that comes when you’ve created something tangible. 

Maybe it’s time to put down the laptop (or tablet, or smart phone, or credit card), and slowly back away from automatically buying every little thing.  Look around – is there something that you can make, instead of buying?  Start small – perhaps with an easy recipe that uses basic components.  How about treating your kids to a warm bowl of creamy potato soup, as Winter’s chill tries to sneak into the house?  Just whisk a can of chicken broth together with a tub of ready-to-eat mashed potatoes, thinned with a little milk, for an easy, delicious and relatively home-made treat for the family.

With the holidays here, is there a unique gift you can make?  Perhaps a small, unfinished wood furniture piece, personalized with vibrant colors or classic wood tones?  It can be easily completed with one of the new one-step wood stain & finish products that are so popular with the growing DIY crowd.  Last year, I stained a small wooden table – pine, with a pinkish-purple stain! – for my young daughter, and it was one of her favorite holiday gifts.  No doubt, she enjoyed the clothes and toys she also received, but she used the table and her cozy moon chair to create a “reading area” in her room.  It was a parent’s dream – their child choosing to read without a parental nudge.  What rewards will you reap by making something?