An Excuse to Indulge

I am a penny pincher. I have a hard time spending money. Not to say I don't dream about LOTS of things, expensive things, to spend money on. I "window shop" quite a bit. In  fact over the past 6 months I've probably spent a lifetime's earnings on horses and related materials...all in my imagination of course.


There are a few things I have a harder time controlling my buying impulse over. Books...I spend money on books way too easily. The reasonable and responsible thing to do would be to check them out at the library. But no, I need to own them. I even have been known to enjoy one of my audio books so much that I'll go purchase the book after I've finished listening to it, just to see it sitting there all pretty on my book shelves. Because I need it!


Fabric, specifically quilting fabric, is quickly becoming another weak area. I haven't indulged too much, but I can spend a LOT of time just looking at the online catalogs and the ones I get in the mail. And its so hard not to buy a couple yards of every piece of fabric that strikes my fancy. I love to go to the cabinet in my laundry room and just look at the scraps I have left from past projects or the pieces I have waiting for projects I haven't gotten to yet. I love all the fabrics. Its hard not to buy.


Another area that is a temptation is the scrapbook aisle at the hobby and craft stores. I just stand there and absorb the beauty of all those gorgeous papers and nifty sticker collections. How I drool over all the beautiful things for decorating and displaying pictures. And then regretfully walk away without indulging because I don't scrapbook my pictures, and really have no desire to do so.


But back in July when I visited my parents in Tennessee, Mom was showing me one of her new projects. I was delighted and have borrowed her idea, and now I have a new fun hobby....and an excuse to buy all those pretty papers and nifty stickers in the scrapbook aisle!

Mom and I are "scrapbooking" our favorite recipes! I don't have many pictures I want to scrapbook, but I have an unending supply of recipes that I love! And I love the idea of combining them into a scrapbook, so I have all my favorites right at hand.


I also love that it gives me an excuse to indulge in those pretty papers and nifty stickers. The only problem I'm running into so far, is that I find myself wanting to scrapbook all my recipes, whether favorites or not, just so I can use some neat stickers or papers I found.

So far I've managed to control the impulse and stick to my favorite tried and true recipes. I've done about 5 pages so far. I scanned two of them in to show as examples. I don't know if they will "blow up" big enough for you to read or copy, but feel free to try them if you can see them well enough. The first is a wonderful hot chocolate mix that we enjoy on chilly mornings when we're home. And the second is the girls favorite cookies, the ones that they will do cartwheels to get! Ella in particular goes spastic when that cookie bag gets opened.

So there you go, one of my simple pleasures in life. One of my excuses to indulge in some unnecessary spending. Because as hard as it is for me to do sometimes, there really is nothing wrong with spoiling yourself a little!