Brown Paper Bags

So there's this lady that makes these scrapbook things out of school lunch brown paper bags. She decorates them, folds them, cuts off the bottoms to make a little book, binds them somehow, with thread, I think, and makes these cool little crafty things and sells them on ebay. For $80.

WHAT!?!?!?

Ok, I'm always looking out for new ways to make money. I'm just that kind of guy. When I heard this apocryphal tale, I went right out to eBay and looked it up. Sure enough, there were these stupid brown paper lunchbag scrapbook thingies out there. I couldn't believe it. The ones out there weren't nearly as nice as the ones described in the anecdote, and they weren't selling for $80 either. They sell from $4.50 to $40.00 depending on the effort that goes into them, so I suppose it's possible that an elaborate one could go for $80 if it was beautiful and in high demand.

Shocking.

So here's the tale: This lady buys brown paper lunch bags, cuts the bottoms off in a special way thatleaves a flap ready for storing things. She puts in the stuff to make it into an album, and binds it using fancy thread. She puts calligraphied sayings throughout the book, and makes pockets and stores little treasures in the pockets. Altogether the thing costs her about $2.00-$5.00 to make, and then she sells it for $80.

Can you dig that? Now that's some Economic Fortitude.