Why would anyone buy a Kindle case?

It all started when John and I invited Mom and Dad over, so that we could make them lunch and give Mom chocolates for Mothers' Day. Well, Mom, being the wonderful mom that she is, gave me an even better present: an early birthday Kindle 3G.

After much rejoicing about how great this was, I started addressing the logistical details. I finally had a Kindle, and now I had to start looking for accessories, like a carrying case.

You know what? Carrying cases designed for the Kindle are expensive. 20 to 30 dollars or more, for an object that can't be any harder to make than a binder or planner that you'd buy for $5 in the stationery section. I was sure I could find cheaper ones online, but I didn't want to wait for it to ship.

So I went to the thrift store and got a small vinyl-bound case for $1.60. It was designed to hold a little pad of paper and some accessories such as pens and business cards-- not a Kindle. But it was the right size, and I knew it would be easy to modify.





First I cut off the piece of elastic that went vertically across it:



I was hoping I could use that elastic to modify it, but alas, it wasn't long enough for what I needed. So I went to my sewing kit and cut some pieces of the elastic I had there:



With a needle and some black embroidery floss, it took mere moments to sew the elastic in place:



and voila, I had a Kindle case:





Narrower elastic would have been better, and not gotten so close to encroaching on the text... but that would have required spending more money, and my goal was to be as stingy as possible today. If I had been willing to loosen my purse strings for better elastic, I could still have had this Kindle case for under $5.

Thus ends your daily lesson on the pointlessness of spending too much. I don't intend to turn this blog into some sort of Thrifty Tips Advice Column, but sometimes I just have to comment about products that gouge you for big sums of money when they can be imitated for next to nothing.