The most expensive hobby in the world
I know what many of you are thinking. "She's talking about hunting." "She's talking about surfing." "She's talking about skydiving."
Nope. Many of these probably do cost money to keep doing on a regular basis. But I submit Exhibit A in the courtroom to decide what hobby is most draining on one's wallet: Scrapbooking.
Don't tune me out, guys. This post promises to be sickeningly, sarcastically hilarious. I can say that this hobby is the ultimate in costly with absolute authority because I am.....oh, should I say it?.....a "scrapper." There. (Gee. It looks so degrading when you see it spelled out on paper.) I know about the costs of this hobby because I have lived (still do) on the inside.
Where else but within the addictive realm of scrapbooking would you spend 35 cents on a piece of construction paper in the shape of an anchor? Where else would you, too.....
- Spend $60 on a machine that cuts out more of said shapes, which doesn't include the add-on templates for additional shapes (templates costing anywhere from $7 to $20 each)?
- Scream hysterically when someone suggests that you just attach your photos with Elmer's glue if you run out of the acid-free glue sticks?
- Run far, far away from ball-point pens, running instead for pens that are $2 a pop, their ink only to run out after writing four sentences?
- Go into a specialty scrapbooking store and easily drop $100 on supplies, when you, the very same person, find it incredibly hard to buy a tee-shirt at Target that's on clearance for $3.58?
- Dedicate an entire two page spread to the photographic capturing of your relatives' watermelon seed spitting contest?
- Shove these scrapbooks into the unwilling hands of every entrant into your home, becoming utterly dejected when they don't show quite the enthusiasm and delight you feel they should when looking through them?
- Buy 14 kinds of shaped scissors that can make every paper edge frillier, bumpier, jaggeder, or wavier....almost to the point where the scrapbook viewers become motionsick while thumbing through the pages?
- Pay $50 for a class where you learn how to cut out, trim, place, and paste? Didn't we all learn this in kindergarden with plain old paper and used magazines?
- Hand-sew tiny, tiny buttons onto a page for a homespun effect? (I did this....once....and I can say it's NOT worth the time it takes.)
- Take digital pictures expressly for the reason of scrapbooking them in the future, regardless of how silly the subjects feel as you pose them in ridiculous fashion for "just the right shot?"
- Pay exhorbant amounts of cash for time-saving devices....pre-cut borders, punch-out shapes, ready-made photo mats and frames..... Come on, school teachers cut out this stuff all the time! They are missing a money market for sure!
I used to be the worst at blowing money on this stuff. In our previous town, I would take lunch breaks and shop at a certain specialty store, purchasing items weekly to make myself feel better (quell inner voids with materialistic stuff....never works, but I sure did try). I ended up with piles and piles of paper and stuff, but no photos (we didn't have many friends) and no time to actually put them into an album (we worked way too much). How foolish.
I humbly admit that I do love to scrapbook. I love the fact that we can sit down in our den together and open a beautiful album, complete with carefully chosen photos, cropped just so to highlight the main idea of the subject matter. The stories I wrote out never get old as we read them repeatedly. These books are treasures.
Yet when this hobby (or any other) begins to take over our lives, even our time with God, it becomes a sin. A sin is anything which separates us from God, and for many, hobbies are just that.
God gave us the creativity and the ability to participate in so many cool hobbies. Yet He is still a jealous God, and He wants our attention first and foremost. Everything we do and accomplish here will one day perish. Our main focus should be building our life around what is eternal....Jesus Christ and His kingdom.
Nope. Many of these probably do cost money to keep doing on a regular basis. But I submit Exhibit A in the courtroom to decide what hobby is most draining on one's wallet: Scrapbooking.
Don't tune me out, guys. This post promises to be sickeningly, sarcastically hilarious. I can say that this hobby is the ultimate in costly with absolute authority because I am.....oh, should I say it?.....a "scrapper." There. (Gee. It looks so degrading when you see it spelled out on paper.) I know about the costs of this hobby because I have lived (still do) on the inside.
Where else but within the addictive realm of scrapbooking would you spend 35 cents on a piece of construction paper in the shape of an anchor? Where else would you, too.....
- Spend $60 on a machine that cuts out more of said shapes, which doesn't include the add-on templates for additional shapes (templates costing anywhere from $7 to $20 each)?
- Scream hysterically when someone suggests that you just attach your photos with Elmer's glue if you run out of the acid-free glue sticks?
- Run far, far away from ball-point pens, running instead for pens that are $2 a pop, their ink only to run out after writing four sentences?
- Go into a specialty scrapbooking store and easily drop $100 on supplies, when you, the very same person, find it incredibly hard to buy a tee-shirt at Target that's on clearance for $3.58?
- Dedicate an entire two page spread to the photographic capturing of your relatives' watermelon seed spitting contest?
- Shove these scrapbooks into the unwilling hands of every entrant into your home, becoming utterly dejected when they don't show quite the enthusiasm and delight you feel they should when looking through them?
- Buy 14 kinds of shaped scissors that can make every paper edge frillier, bumpier, jaggeder, or wavier....almost to the point where the scrapbook viewers become motionsick while thumbing through the pages?
- Pay $50 for a class where you learn how to cut out, trim, place, and paste? Didn't we all learn this in kindergarden with plain old paper and used magazines?
- Hand-sew tiny, tiny buttons onto a page for a homespun effect? (I did this....once....and I can say it's NOT worth the time it takes.)
- Take digital pictures expressly for the reason of scrapbooking them in the future, regardless of how silly the subjects feel as you pose them in ridiculous fashion for "just the right shot?"
- Pay exhorbant amounts of cash for time-saving devices....pre-cut borders, punch-out shapes, ready-made photo mats and frames..... Come on, school teachers cut out this stuff all the time! They are missing a money market for sure!
I used to be the worst at blowing money on this stuff. In our previous town, I would take lunch breaks and shop at a certain specialty store, purchasing items weekly to make myself feel better (quell inner voids with materialistic stuff....never works, but I sure did try). I ended up with piles and piles of paper and stuff, but no photos (we didn't have many friends) and no time to actually put them into an album (we worked way too much). How foolish.
I humbly admit that I do love to scrapbook. I love the fact that we can sit down in our den together and open a beautiful album, complete with carefully chosen photos, cropped just so to highlight the main idea of the subject matter. The stories I wrote out never get old as we read them repeatedly. These books are treasures.
Yet when this hobby (or any other) begins to take over our lives, even our time with God, it becomes a sin. A sin is anything which separates us from God, and for many, hobbies are just that.
God gave us the creativity and the ability to participate in so many cool hobbies. Yet He is still a jealous God, and He wants our attention first and foremost. Everything we do and accomplish here will one day perish. Our main focus should be building our life around what is eternal....Jesus Christ and His kingdom.
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