We’ve all heard the saying, and we’ve probably all used it at some point in our adult life…..”I don’t want to pay an arm and a leg” or the just-as-common “…for a reasonable price”. The great news is that legitimate businesses don’t want any extra arms or legs, so money will suit them just fine. It’s a lot easier to pay the bills with money than with limbs 🙂
It’s the ever-present battle between quality versus cost. More often than not it’s worth stretching the budget to get a professional to do the job than to attempt a DIY project. Whilst my recent reminder of this didn’t start out as a cost-saving project, it reminded me how important it is to support local businesses and that it is really worth paying for a professional for the things I can’t do well.

I decided a few months ago that I would surprise my parents with a hand-made bowl. They had recently renovated their kitchen and I wanted to give them something with a personal touch made with my own hands, so I went to one of Erin’s pottery classes and had a grand plan to present my wonderful bowl to my parents the next time I saw them….well my grand plan didn’t quite work out. Although I didn’t expect it to look perfect, I had hoped it would at least look like an adult made it instead of a child but alas that didn’t happen either! A little embarrassed to give my bowl to my parents I sucked up my pride and asked Erin to make one for me. I had complete faith in Erin’s knowledge and skill to make what I had attempted to create.

Erin has many many years of pottery-making experience and I knew the bowl would be just what I wanted. As you can see from the image below, there was quite a difference between my bowl and the one Erin made.
In the end I got a beautifully crafted handmade bowl that’s worth a whole lot more than the money I paid for it!