I guess I am feeling a little testy this morning. I woke up and was going through my blogs and finding new and more wonderful projects and inspiration to draw on. The site above, for instance is fascinating with it's refashioning and recycling. I saw many cool ideas, some I might even like to try myself. I was getting really into it, until I saw the project for "Old flip flops+bathtowel = spa slippers". I had a pair of these myself that I got in a cheap spa kit/ stocking stuffer last Christmas. They are comfy slippers, no doubt, and I wore them all around the house, for a while. Then they got damp from the bathroom floor and the thought of the potential bacteria growing in them gave me the heebs, so I washed them and dried them and donated them in a give-away bag to the thrift store. I know, I am strange. Then, this morning, when I saw this project, make your own from an old bath towel and flip flops, all thoughts of potential bacteria left my mind and were replaced by the thoughts, "How resourceful! How frugal!" Suddenly I was in love with the spa slipper idea again! After all, it's been months since I had those slippers, maybe they are not as bad as I thought... DIY and with readily available materials?? All my squeamish fears left me as I imagined cute, homemade birthday presents. Eagerly, I read the tutorial. She does really well, making a pattern from her second hand towel, (one of my limits, I don't buy towels or underwear second hand, however, if used for footwear I am more forgiving. Sheets are OK, but I usually use them just for fabric.) She has several clear pictures of all the pattern pieces, then she begins sewing.
Turns out her home machine won't go through all the layers of batting, terry cloth and rubber flip flop so she pays a friend $28 to sew them professionally. Say What?
Don't worry, she used a coupon for 20% off. Yikes. $28 was a deal?? Are you as shocked as I am? She spent a dollar on the towel, the same on the flip flops and then spent twelve hours of labour. Does she value her time at so little worth? Is this what is considered frugal? Resourceful? No, I'd say it was a huge flop. A flippity floppity. Just admit it and carry on. Yes, she finally finished the slippers and they are fairly cute, but I would have admitted defeat when it came time to shell out the almost thirty dollars, just to save face. This is what I mean by admitting limitations. We all make mistakes in trying to live frugally and resourcefully. Phoebe at Cents to get Debt Free did a pretty humorous post about her flops. We all make them. http://gettingfreedom.blogspot.com/
Of course, no one wants to blog about those mistakes. I certainly wasn't about to post a photo of my homemade granola. I burnt it to a crisp, wasting the ingredients. OOPS. Live and learn. On the plus side I now know the process to make granola. (Step #1 Don't burn it.) I didn't, however, go out and pay someone to make me some gourmet twenty eight dollar granola just so I could post a photo. Sometimes the blogosphere really bugs me, like reality television does. Keep it real people!
Am I the only one who feels this way?? Feel free to let me have it in the comments section.
EDIT: I'm pretty sure I have PMS, so, um, yeah. I'll take it out on the slippers. Also, next time I'm going to put my granola... (and my all too hasty, trigger/typing fingas)
...Into the Crockpot!
Like the Crockpot Lady does!
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