A Sweatshop of One
Boy, oh boy, have I gotten in over my head! I went to a church talent show last weekend and decided to bring about 20 of my stuffed animals to display. Word got out that I sell them and I got swamped with kids trying to buy them. Feeling sorry for their parents, I told them that everything that night was only $20. I sold eight on the spot and got eight orders from kids for their own custom Flaky Friends (at $20 each dang it!). That means this week I've got all their orders to process plus four others that came in before Saturday making my stuffed animal habit officially annoying.I don't think there is any way to gracefully get out of this slave labor I've brought on myself. At $20 each, these animals are hardly worth it. It's taking me anywhere between 2 and 5 hours to make them, and the kids ordered some of the complicated ones (Paris the Turtle and Lester the Giraffe). My entire house is full of fur and fluff and I've lost all feeling in my fingertips. I'm seriously considering hiring some kids from church to help me cut fabric and prep animals. Needless to say, it's going to be a long week.
The good news is, some sucker bought Bad Baby today from my store. My husband Spike was in shock. His reaction to the news? "Wow. People will buy anything!" I'm relieved to have Bad Baby out of my house. He was freaking out my kids and stinking up the place. But now I have to buckle down and sew truckloads of charity animals to pay for my moment of weakness. I hope this doesn't kill all my enthusiasm for the little critters. Okay then. Can't blog. Must sew.
Comments
This reminds me of when I was really broke and went on one of those freelance sites and bid on a bunch of transcription jobs. I won them all, and it ended up taking hundreds of hours, for something like $300. I was making about a dollar an hour. It SUCKED.
Anyway, I feel your pain.
Maybe when they come to pick up their Flakey Friends you could say, "Thank you for adopting a Flakey Friend. I'm sure that they will be very happy in their new home. Now, that will be $20 and another $10 for processing paperwork, vaccinations, etc." I'm sure there are plenty of needle pokes involved, and it's still cheaper than going to the local animal shelter, right?
P.S.
I love Sven and when I can manage to get him back from the kids, I like to snuggle him on my lap while I read blogs. But I can't let the kids know or they will demand him back.