“I hope someone is going to help you carry all this in,” the checkout lady said. I assured her my husband would help (and he did).
I didn’t do too badly for a non-doubles-or-triples-week:
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I FINISHED MY APRON.
This is a picture of someone who is totally not me wearing the apron. Nope, not me at all. Someone else entirely. But this person looks very excited about said apron, as you can tell by the two-thumbs-up action, and I don’t blame her. IT’S HANDMADE. My first attempt at gathering — the ruffly bits along the waist — obviously didn’t go too well. But I made facings, and I made straps, and I understitched and hemmed and clipped curves, and I am SO PROUD. So proud.
Just look at all that Elvis. Below, what I brought home today for $10.80 out of pocket:
The monthly Unmentionable from Victoria’s Secret, shrouded in pink tissue paper to protect the innocent. A great big pile of library books on sewing, because I love the library and I think it’s completely wonderful that this free resource exists. Our library has free wi-fi and a reading garden and access to all sorts of fascinating databases (ancestry.com, even, which is way expensive to join on your own), and as you can see, it does not want for sewing books, either. Well, now it does, because I’ve borrowed them all, but you know what I mean. And a few things from Harris Teeter: My previous foray into sewing didn’t go so well. It turns out that even if a pattern envelope lists specifics for sizes in both the “A” range and the “B” range, that doesn’t necessarily mean both ranges are enclosed in said envelope. Also I apparently have no idea how to make fusible material, well, fuse. And I have to use pliers to get my machine to backstitch, and my steam iron spat on me. That said, one thing I did do right was sew a damn seam. Several, even. I sewed the hell out of those seams, and I liked it. I liked it so much that I vowed not to let these minor missteps get me down. I raised my clenched fist to the sky, and I vowed, I am going to learn to sew. Thus, a nice lady named Suzy is coming to my house on Thursday to give me my first lesson. Until then, I have been drooling over Depression-era fabrics and dress patterns and dreaming of the day I will be able to effortlessly whip together gorgeous retro styles. I’m sure it will be Friday at the latest, right? In the meantime, I did make this:
It is a T-shirt that has become a grocery bag! That still looks like a T-shirt! But trust me, it’s a reusable grocery bag! With a hovercat on it! Right now, to me, this is the greatest thing that has ever existed on the planet. I got the instructions from Martha Stewart (side note: I watched the instructional video linked there, and I realized I’d never heard her speak before — she has a rather unpleasant voice, no?). But Martha didn’t tell me to do this: “You saved $64.50,” the checkout guy said solemnly as he handed me my receipt. “This is why I say, you know how to shop.”
This was my final Super Doubles trip this week. Thumbs up are what the checkout guy at Harris Teeter gave me on my way out today. He always remembers me during coupon week and is nice to me and I like him.
I caught the cat in mid-ear-scratch. I know I say this every time, but I love Harris Teeter.
Sometimes their receipts or emails ask you to take a survey, and I’m always all over that. Ten! Ten! I give everything a ten! Why yes, I do have some comments, and those comments are that your store rules! Anyway, Super Doubles is back, and today was Trip 1: I have to say that I thought $1.43 was cheap for hair dye. And it is, but 89 cents is even cheaper.
Mr. Jones and I use credit cards for all of our everyday purchases. We pay the bill in full every month and happily pocket our rewards. I know many people say this is a losing game, because studies have shown that people tend to spend more with cards than they would with cash. I will say that while there was a time when that might well have been the case for us, it hasn’t been for a long while. We’re careful spenders. But that story is for another post. The point is: Credit card rewards can be really nice perks (again, if you’re a careful spender), and for years we’ve been raking in maybe $800-$1,000 a year in Target and Amazon gift cards thanks to our Capital One rewards card. It gives three points for every dollar spent (3% cash back, basically), which is hard to beat. |
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