A coworker sent me a text one day asking if I could make her cat butt drink coasters. I thought, probably, but not any time soon! See, I was on maternity leave at that point, so there was a lot of sleeping, crying, (on both my part and Baby L's) diaper changing (mostly on Baby L's, but there were some close calls on my part), baby juggling, ect. ect. Needless to say, I did not have time for another project.
So, I waited until about December. By that time, I had settled into more of a routine, so I felt like I was budgeting my time better. On one of my days off from work, I was mainlining episodes of Holiday Baker's Championship on the Food Network, and decided, why not? Looking at a photo, I winged it. My butts looked pretty damn cute.
I made her a set of four and took them to work. Who would've thought that they would be such a hit with the people I work with? My boss even insisted that I sell them up front. So, a budding little Cat Butt Coaster franchise was born. I was selling sets of 4 butts for $15 each. And it being Christmas-time, I sold a good amount of sets. I had people special ordering (Can I have one butt that has white feet, but gray body, and one white body with black tail?) and ordering multiple sets at once. I could hardly keep up!! I was able to turn out one set of coasters an hour, pretty much spending my evenings crocheting after I put Baby L down to sleep. My husband was content, because that meant I was making money on it. A few months passed, my butts kind of slowed down some. I kept getting people telling me I should make DOG butts, but then as I sat there and patiently waited for them to actually visualize the way a dog's butt looks, they quickly decided maybe that wasn't the best bet. One person insisted I make dog NOSES. Hey, that's okay... I'll just stick with the butts of felines. I will admit, I did have several people mention dog PAWS, so the same thing happened as before with the butts. One day off, I decided sure, let's try this one. I winged it (especially since if I'm following a crochet pattern, but creation NEVER looks like what the original poster's, reference the dinosaur I made my son, but that's a WHOLE OTHER story.)
And now, the Dog Paw Coasters were born. People can custom-make them to their heart's desire. And, this is how I have become the Cat Butt Crocheter, Extraordinaire (with a little Dog Paw side action going on)!
I've been making these boogers for a little over a year now. I guess I could have been keeping track of how many sets I have sold, but I really wasn't expecting them to take off like they have. I'm not saying I am making money hand-over-fist, but it's nice to have the unexpected pocket change when I get into work and see $15 in my box from a set somebody has sold while I wasn't there.
I've attempted my hand at non-animal related coaster sets, but being honest with myself, people aren't really in the market for yarn made drink coasters. I just happened to be able to make quirky coasters that people can find appealing, if they have the right sense of humor. I suppose if any of you out there in Blogger land would like to purchase a set of said coasters, you'll find a way to get in touch with me.
I think as a 2016 Year Resolution, I'm going to attempt to revisit my poor, neglected blog. I definitely think I started it with good intentions, but life kind of gets in the way of ... posting about life, sometimes. I might not have crochet patterns or book reviews each blog, but I'm going to try to commit to myself and to all of you non-readers out there, that I'll blog at least once a week. If that doesn't work, I'll try at least once a month. ;)
I've found a TON of Mommy-related blogs, most of which make me die laughing, especially when I was still a walking ball of feelings.
I decided that I will never be as funny or witty as those moms. I've accepted it, but I will forever still try to channel them. These moms have kids that are either the biggest assholes in the tot kingdom or they are the biggest angels ever. But, let's be honest here, the blogs about the kids that set fire to the grass in the backyard are hell of a lot funnier than those that talk about the latest award their daughter won by helping the elderly cross the street. Baby L is still undecided at this moment in time. Sometimes, he's the sweetest, most darlingest babe ever, then other times, he's swatting the glasses off my face or trying to bite the dog's ear. I suppose that is life in the almost-2 year old's world. His mission is to see how fast he can dump his toy chest over and how quickly he can un-baby-proof the abode. I swear, he laughs in the face of those cabinet door locks and push-to-open medicine caps. But, I wouldn't change him for the world. In fact, having him has not deterred me from wanting more! Just have to get the hubby on board for that, but we will see. In time, I'm sure I can wear him down with my feminine wiles. Even if my wiles are a haphazard wink that gets mistaken for having a hair hitting my eyeball and a come hither look that looks like I'm falling asleep standing at the base of the bed.
Oh well, now I've got a week to think of a new topic for my next post. 'Cause I'll be back. Mark my words.
