Welcome to Gaia! ::

If you have a phone book, just look up something like "craft" or "hobby." You should find something. Then it's just a matter of going around and seeing what the prices are.

One thing I've always loved doing is making paper dolls. You really don't need anything other than some pencils, some scissors, and some printer paper.

When I was little, I used to take my dad's old beer cartons (cardboad boxes that would hold 6 or 8 beers). I would cut one side so that it folds down and the box would make a stage. Then I would design sets and make actors and glue them all in. I used to go through my father's old plays (his PhD is in Elizabethan theater, so he had tons of them) and design the sets for each scene. I had a book on Anna Pavlova, so I would make ballet stages too and copy out all the ballerinas. It's kinda dorky for someone who isn't a little child to do, but it's a lot of fun. And if you get good at it, I'm sure it would be tons of fun to do with your child.

Then, of course, there's the usual. Knitting, crochet-ing, those sorts of things.

Then there's my personal favorite - paper mache! If you have an extra blender, you can mash up newspaper and, when you mix it with glue, it acts almost like clay. You can actually sculpt it, which is just oodles of fun. Beware of mess, though.

If you find a fabric store in your area, you can ask them for scraps. The store I go to will give you small scraps for free and charge a couple cents for larger ones. It's very cost efficient and it's just right if you are making quilts. When I was little, my aunt made me a blanket that was a circus. It was kinda like a quilt, but you could lie on it and it had animals and spectators and clowns. It was all made with different fabrics, so the textures were all different and it was so much fun to touch.

It's amazing what you can make with trash. Things that people would normally toss out can be turned into the most interesting things. That in itself could be a good project. Get some juice cartons, some old boxes, things like that and just see what you can make.

That's about all I can think of. I hope I've at least been able to give you a few ideas.

Rai, see if there is a Hobby Lobby near you. They usually have a good selection of items as well as many price points. They almost always have a sale going too. whee

Edit: this week,for example, they have scrapbooking paper and rub ons, 50% off.

www.hobbylobby.com

whee No problem.

There's another chain of craft stores called Michaels but I haven't been in too many of those. Before we moved down here, they didn't have any in Madison and a year or so later, bam, built one.

I agree that Hobby Lobby is a great place to go for inexpensive supplies. We have both Hobby Lobby and Michael's in my town, and Hobby Lobby seems to have more stuff and cheaper prices. I recently took up crocheting. It's simple enough that you can learn it pretty easily, but you can move up in difficulty if you want. And then you could make a nice little blankie for baby-to-be.

With nerve problems, crochet might not be a good idea. I get cramps in my hands after about a half hour. Do you have a good sewing machine? You might want to think about making a simple quilt, one where all the squares are the same size and all you have to do is make a checkerboard design. Then, to finish it, you could tie it off instead of quilting it.

I'm trying to think of other options that don't involve a lot of detail work. I'll come back when I think of something.