Showing posts with label crafting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafting. Show all posts
Monday, June 17, 2013
So Proud of Hubby
I am so thankful for a handy hubby. He is super good at fixing things around the house. He also has an artistic side. This week, that side of him really came out to shine. For Christmas he had bought me an antler hair stick (that was on my etsy wishlist). Once he saw it, he mentioned that he would like to try and make one.
We have had a bunch of antler sheds (each year a Buck will drop his antlers and regrow new ones) around the house. I figured it would take him a few tries to get it right. Boy did he prove me wrong! The first one he made was amazing. And the second. Then he made buttons. Then straight hair sticks. Then carved pieces to be put on barrettes. Now he is excitedly talking about craft fairs, and selling items on etsy. I listed one hair stick to see how it sells. I can't wait to put the antler buttons on a hand knit garment. I am so excited that Hubby has found an outlet where he can express his artistic side.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Failing in Frugality
I love to read books about frugality. To read blogs on saving money. To make budgets and watch the numbers work magic. I love to think that I am frugal... However if being frugal were a class, I would have got an F this week. I was browsing on etsy (mistake numero uno) and saw these super cute "un" paper towels. I am not a fan of disposable paper products when they are not absolutely necessary. So automatically I loved the idea of "un" paper towels. I added a bunch to my cart (mistake numero dos) in my usual fashion. Typically while on etsy I will add a ton of items to my cart and then narrow it down to one or two. The average cost for a set of towels was over $50. I thought that was ridiculous. $50 for paper towels? I can make that for less money! So off I went to the fabric store (mistake numero tres) without a plan. I figured 2 yards of the print would be good. Then I bought terry cloth for the reverse side. I decided my towels needed to be like the ones on etsy complete with snaps. So I bought snaps. And snap pliers. When I went to check out, my bill was over $70. Yikes! I had to pay since the fabric was cut already. So much for trying to do it "cheaper". My consolation is that now I won't have to buy the snap pliers again, so that cost should be factored in at less. And 2 yards was waaay more fabric than I needed. I was able to make a bunch more projects and even gained $20 by selling two of my sandwich bags (which I did not intend to sell but gladly did). So that brings my total down to $50 which is what I would have paid on etsy, and I got way more than one etsy listing.
All in all it worked out ok, but the most important frugal lesson here, was that I should not be allowed to browse etsy or pinterest without locking up my debit card (good thing I don't use credit cards or I could have got in serious trouble!). I would have saved the $70 if I never thought I needed "un" paper towels in the first place. Hopefully I have learned my lesson (and I have some cute towels!).
All in all it worked out ok, but the most important frugal lesson here, was that I should not be allowed to browse etsy or pinterest without locking up my debit card (good thing I don't use credit cards or I could have got in serious trouble!). I would have saved the $70 if I never thought I needed "un" paper towels in the first place. Hopefully I have learned my lesson (and I have some cute towels!).
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