oh, boys -

mary jane dodd

i consider myself fortunate that 3 souls chose me to mother them -

but when the holidays approach and i have 2 teen aged boys, dread settles in... 

my 20 yr. old daughter is easier to gift... i can make her handmade things & find all kinds of wonderful items on etsy (thanks to heather powers for a great post the other day)...

and then there are the boys - (who i love with all my heart, but struggle to get things for... of course, i could buy all kinds of stuff for stuff's sake... but i prefer not to do that - though one can get desperate)

one will wear a necklace and has a favorite charm from beth hemmila on leather that he wears almost daily...

the other doesn't wear jewelry at all... 

the younger one likes to skateboard - and i knew that at the skate shops, people will leave their broken decks when they get new ones... 

what if?

so i called a local shop, and yes, he had some decks -

here are a few of my first beads cut from them...

they obviously need sanding and i learned to try to peel the grip tape off first... but they have potential and i quite like the layered look of them...

my other son loves vinyl records - our own barbara did a post on using those... hey, barbara, think you can help me out? 

how are you doing shopping for your kids? with money tight for so many families how do you balance their excitement with your reality? 

and if you have any great ideas for teen aged boys (or girls or kids of any age), please send them along!