Last New Year my resolution was to learn to crochet and I started that very day by teaching myself basic stitches and made myself a scarf, a hat, and some other small things. This holiday season our family wanted to start saving money so I made about 90% of the gifts we gave and then many of the other ones were handmade but pruchased from Etsy.
Above are the scarf I made for my mother-in-law last week for her birthday, the hat for my grandfather, Chas, for Christmas, and Cormac modeling the hat I made for his friend Kaden's birthday.
I also joined a site called Ravelry which is an amazing resource for knitters, crocheters (because I don't wish to call myself a hooker in writing ;)), weavers, spinners, etc. I get so inspired looking at the projects people have posted and am so excited by all of the free patterns.

Simplicity stuff I already do

recycle
garden
used cloth diapers & wipes
use vinegar to clean
use vinegar instead of fabric softener
making gifts instead of buying
taught myself to crochet so I can make cute stuff
use a clothesline in the summer
buy used clothes
upcycle/freecycle/donate old things
buy little processed food (within reason because I also work full time and do other stuff)
read a lot
use reusable grocery bags
have a solid, working budget
bring lunch to work
compact flourescent bulbs

Voluntary Simplicity Action Plan

Okay, I started this course on Voluntary Simplicity. I read and annotated the readings and am now attempting to come up with my action plan.
Here's what I have so far:

1) update this blog once a day - use time in the mornings or in the evenings instead of wandering aimlessly around Facebook
2) sell one item per week on Craigslist
3) get rid of cable (done!)
4) challenge self to continue making all gifts with increasingly difficult crochet patterns
5) clean stuff out! (started with the medicine cabinet and now need to progress through all cabinets and small, cramped storage areas)

These will help with mental clutter (1, & 3) and physical clutter (2, & 5) as well as giving myself a fun goal. Wish me luck.