Week 5: January 28th - February 3rd, 2007
New Habit: Homemade Valentine's Day Cards
Frugal Habit? Depends...
At $4 each, sending cards to loved ones on holidays is an expensive
habit. I still do it. Every time I hand over too much cash for a tiny paper
parcel of cards, I suspect I could make them myself for less.
It seems that everyone is into scrapbooking and other paper crafts...
everyone except me. It isn't that I am immune to feminine creative
longings. I'm as good with scissors and glue as anyone else I know, but
the immensity and unfamiliarity of the subject always send me and my
shopping cart fleeing to another section of Michael's. Where do I start?
What do I need? Why are there thirty kinds of glue?
I could have avoided the issue forever--how long can the craze
last?--but my homeschool co-op decided to celebrate Valentine's Day by
making homemade valentines for each family. And that's about as specific
as our instructions were. I wasn't sure what to do, but I was not about to
be the one with a sticky bunch of construction paper and clumpy paste.
But where do I begin? There is a whole wall of papers in various prints
and textures in every craft store. Then there are stickers, scissors, glues,
vellum sheets, and little packets of novelties and extras. I picked up and
put back several baskets of supplies before finding a small section of
scrapbook kits. I grabbed the "love theme" kit priced at $12 and left
before I could be further confused. My own scissors and glue would have
to suffice.
The kit proved to be a godsend. With the papers spread on my dining
room table, it was clear that the thicker papers should be the base of the
cards and the thinner ones used as accents. I cut red, pink, and white
hearts out of card-stock and wrote the recipient's name on the front in
silver gel pen. I embellished the hearts with flowers and other pictures cut
from the accent papers. The next day (yes, I procrastinated this long!) I
had a stack of respectable, homemade cards.
No money saved there, but I had a sizeable amount of materials leftover.
Enough, in fact, to make all of my Valentine's Day cards this year. I
currently give cards to my husband, children, and a handful of friends
and relatives. To be conservative, let's say I give 12 cards and spend a
paltry $2 each. I'll save 50% in approximately 2 hours of work. That's $6
an hour, which is more than I would earn after taxes and childcare for 2-3
small children. In addition, a homemade card is more personal than a
store bought one and reminiscent of more graceful times. If you have
children, you can make a fun project of it.
Amount Spent: $12 for small scrapbooking kit. You could certainly
spend more, but there is no need to.
Amount Saved: Depends on how many. About 50%
Difficulty on Scale of 1-5: 2 (cutting, gluing, no magic here)
Time: 10 minutes per card
Next week's habit: Adventures in Third World Cuisine Part 1.
Check out the Frugal Habit of the Week Archives
New Habit: Homemade Valentine's Day Cards
Frugal Habit? Depends...
At $4 each, sending cards to loved ones on holidays is an expensive
habit. I still do it. Every time I hand over too much cash for a tiny paper
parcel of cards, I suspect I could make them myself for less.
It seems that everyone is into scrapbooking and other paper crafts...
everyone except me. It isn't that I am immune to feminine creative
longings. I'm as good with scissors and glue as anyone else I know, but
the immensity and unfamiliarity of the subject always send me and my
shopping cart fleeing to another section of Michael's. Where do I start?
What do I need? Why are there thirty kinds of glue?
I could have avoided the issue forever--how long can the craze
last?--but my homeschool co-op decided to celebrate Valentine's Day by
making homemade valentines for each family. And that's about as specific
as our instructions were. I wasn't sure what to do, but I was not about to
be the one with a sticky bunch of construction paper and clumpy paste.
But where do I begin? There is a whole wall of papers in various prints
and textures in every craft store. Then there are stickers, scissors, glues,
vellum sheets, and little packets of novelties and extras. I picked up and
put back several baskets of supplies before finding a small section of
scrapbook kits. I grabbed the "love theme" kit priced at $12 and left
before I could be further confused. My own scissors and glue would have
to suffice.
The kit proved to be a godsend. With the papers spread on my dining
room table, it was clear that the thicker papers should be the base of the
cards and the thinner ones used as accents. I cut red, pink, and white
hearts out of card-stock and wrote the recipient's name on the front in
silver gel pen. I embellished the hearts with flowers and other pictures cut
from the accent papers. The next day (yes, I procrastinated this long!) I
had a stack of respectable, homemade cards.
No money saved there, but I had a sizeable amount of materials leftover.
Enough, in fact, to make all of my Valentine's Day cards this year. I
currently give cards to my husband, children, and a handful of friends
and relatives. To be conservative, let's say I give 12 cards and spend a
paltry $2 each. I'll save 50% in approximately 2 hours of work. That's $6
an hour, which is more than I would earn after taxes and childcare for 2-3
small children. In addition, a homemade card is more personal than a
store bought one and reminiscent of more graceful times. If you have
children, you can make a fun project of it.
Amount Spent: $12 for small scrapbooking kit. You could certainly
spend more, but there is no need to.
Amount Saved: Depends on how many. About 50%
Difficulty on Scale of 1-5: 2 (cutting, gluing, no magic here)
Time: 10 minutes per card
Next week's habit: Adventures in Third World Cuisine Part 1.
Check out the Frugal Habit of the Week Archives
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