Um, I'm Thinking of Christmas Already

Confessions, I am planning Christmas 2017 already.

I found these canning jars on closeout at Fred Meyer a week ago, for $6.69/dozen. That's 55 cents per jar. I know, I can get canning jars for 29 cents each at Goodwill. But, those don't have brand new lids.

To give you a cost comparison --The value of the lids and bands, alone, is about $3.59 (at Target, for a dozen regular lids and bands). At Target's price for the lids, plus Goodwill's price for lid-less jars, these jars, with brand-new lids would have cost 59 cents each (4 cents more than this case of new jars/lids), if I had bought them that way.

In addition, this particular jar size is hard to come by, second-hand. It's the 4-ounce squat jar. This size is not terribly practical for preserves for the family. However, it's the perfect size for many homemade gifts.

One of my gift plans is homemade beeswax candles. I've been acquiring beeswax from Michael's when I have 60% off coupons. I have two pounds, so far, which should be enough to make about 8 candles in these jars.

If I use some of these jars, along with my coupon-purchased beeswax, I could make beeswax candles for about $2.75 each, wicks included.

This similar beeswax jar candle sells for $6, plus $7.00 shipping, on Amazon. And that's a "good" price for beeswax candles.

Anyways, am I the only one thinking about Christmas, already?

Using a Small Bit of Time to Do One of Those Pesky Tasks

I had just put the hair color in my hair, so I had about 20 minutes to kill.

I've been meaning to repair my purse. The strap has been about to come off for the last 3 weeks. I had forgotten to fix it, and would only remember as I was picking up my purse to go somewhere.

20 minutes was just the right amount of time to take care of this nagging problem, and get my purse back into serviceable shape. Tools I used:

• embroidery needle
• upholstery thread
• Sharpie marker
• rubbing alcohol

I had all of this on hand. If I hadn't had the upholstery thread I would have tried dental floss or heavy duty quilter's thread. I stitched the strap back onto the bag, then went over the light-colored thread with a Sharpie.

I touched up some of my messiness with the Sharpie with the rubbing alcohol. Good enough, right? And when I buckled the strap on, any lack of straight stitching, or too dark Sharpie is concealed, for the most part.

The bag looks good enough to continue using, and the strap is no longer about to come off. Bonus was that this did not cost me a penny to do. I've just bought myself more time while I think about replacing this 11 year old, cheapo purse.

If you had 20 minutes to kill, what task would you tackle?