Take the Expense out of Your Easter Celebration

Nancy Twigg

The Easter celebration can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be. Here are some ideas to help you simplify and replace the commercial aspects of the holiday with activities that are more in keeping with the spirit of the season.

* Do some research on how Easter is celebrated in other cultures. Turn your celebration into a learning experience by enjoying traditional Easter foods and activities from another country.
* Instead of buying greeting cards, make your own. Use your computer's desktop publishing program or crayons, markers and construction paper to make personalized Easter cards for friends and relatives.
* If you buy gifts for the children's Easter baskets, use moderation. Select one item each child will truly enjoy and supplement with inexpensive filler items. If you usually buy a new Easter basket or bucket each year, choose a smaller one this year that will require fewer items to fill.
* Instead of buying decorations, choose a few craft projects to do together as a family. Do an Internet search or check out books from the library for ideas. Use your completed projects to decorate your home for your family celebration.
* If you use flowers as part of your celebration, keep arrangements simple. A modest corsage or arrangement of flowers from your own garden is much more meaningful than an expensive purchase from the floral shop.
* Instead of spending a great deal of money on chocolate and prepackaged candy, make homemade cookies and other sweets to be enjoyed as part of your celebration. Your kids will enjoy making and decorating these goodies together as a family.
* If receiving new clothes is part of your family tradition, consider sewing them by hand to save money. If making an outfit is too big of an undertaking, consider making one special accessory like a hair bow, tie, sash or piece of simple jewelry to adorn an outfit you already have.
* Rather than serving an elaborate meal with all the trimmings, consider serving a modest meal and donating the extra money you would have spent to an organization that feeds the hungry.


Adapted from Nancy Twigg's book, Celebrate Simply: Your Guide to Simpler, More Meaningful Holidays and Special Occasions (www.celebratesimply.com) Nancy is a speaker and author who loves inspiring others to live more simply. Visit Nancy online at www.countingthecost.com

What exactly is "Outsider Art"?
Laura Thykeson of Ice Originals II

The term, "Outsider Art", leaves some people cold, as they think it refers to skinny, skate-boarding, knit cap wearing graffiti artists. In all acutality, it DOES include those kids, as well as many other "types" of people in the world.

Outsider Art is a term used to describe art in any form that is produced in a raw, untrained way. The guy in Alabama that does chainsaw carvings is an Outsider Artist, just as the little old lady in Texas, who has never been trained in any artistic way, might produce her own form of abstract expressionism.

As a general rule, most real Outsider Artists are very eccentric, tend to suffer from emotional problems, create art with traditional mediums used in very untraditional ways, and are prone to surround themselves with their creations as a buffer zone against the rest of the world.

Outsider Artists create what they do because they are compelled to create something that expresses their emotions, just as any formally trained artist does. The creative drive comes from the same place, it is just totally undisciplined, and therefore, often very unorthodox.

There are now several museum that have opened, that are devoted totally to Ousider Art. There are now galleries and agents that are looking for Outsider Artists to represent, which, in my own personal opinion, kind of makes the term an oxymoron. How can you be an "Outsider" when you are now on the "inside"?? Food for thought, I suppose. Question for the day would be-"At what point does one stop being an "Oustider Artist" and become a "mainstream" artist"?

You can view our online Outsider Art at
Ice Originals II
Collectibles, Jewelry and Music
http://www.tias.com/stores/iceorig

Ice Originals Toonz-
Music in all formats
http://iceorig.com

Ice Originals - Inside Out!!!
http://www.iceoriginals.faithweb.com

Owner of "Ice Originals II - Vintage Collectibles, Music and Jewelry", on the web, as well as a practicing artist for the last 15 years. She is an advocate for the "unknown" Artist and enjoys promoting new Artists and their works. She is married to an "Outsider Artist", and lives in Central Texas.