Could you walk into a local shop or restaurant and ask the staff:

“Hey, what would you let me make here?”

This was today’s make something challenge.

The Italian beef chain where I had lunch was not likely to invite me into the kitchen; I didn’t even ask. The only other stops on my errand list were places my husband Jim needed to go. Oddly enough, he wanted to hit HomeGoods and Joann (his mom’s birthday is tomorrow).

Our Joann store recently remodeled, and this was my first time in the refreshed facility. Wow! They have really put on a new, fun face. The store feels more like an invitation to explore and create than a necessary stop on the route to a sewing project. I wanted to browse every aisle. Explore new art forms. Investigate product innovations. Smell candles. Touch fabrics. Flip through magazines.

Jim was on a mission. Get in, get out. Bless his heart. He hung with me while I wandered around, looking for something to “make” while in the store.

Ultimately, I didn’t even ask for permission. On an end cap, we found canisters of letter tiles in several sizes, along with wooden racks for arranging them.

“What should I spell?” I wondered out loud, tumbling the letters in my fingers.

Without missing a beat, Jim’s response came, thick with sarcasm. I went with it.