Copy Cat

I was reading a magazine article that toted the virtues of  "Woolly Wonders" - "these woolen balls look like cat toys, but they're actually terrific energy savers" (my ears perked up - wool, energy savers, you had me at wool)
"Toss a couple in the dryer and they'll reduce your drying time by up to 40%. The wool also removes static and helps soften fabrics so you don't need dryer sheets. Made from recycled sweaters."

BINGO! My copycat instincts kicked into high gear. The secret to being a good copycatter is to have a clear understanding of the product, a good visual of how it is constructed and being able to get the materials cheaper than what they are selling it for.

Since they were asking $20 for 2 Woolly Wonders I knew I could make it cheaper than that. I had tons of wool sweaters in my craft room (look back at the "I never knew you felt that way" or "Jorie's Sweatshirt" post if you are interested). Attached to the article was a picture so I could see how they constructed it, my only problem was what was inside these "balls". After brainstorming some ideas, I came up with the obvious conclusion it must be some type of tennis ball. I have used tennis balls in the "felting" process so I knew they would hold up well and I had a ton of them in our garage (last year at youth group we played a game that involved 1,000 tennis balls, so we were well stocked and if you want to try this craft, come to church and I will give you some!)

So I got to work, I shaped the wool around the tennis ball and hand sewed it, then I took all our bath towels since I figured that would be a good test of how well they cut down on the drying time as well as add fluffiness. Usually a full load of towels will take a good 40 minutes (actually I usually air dry my towels because they take so long in the dryer and it's no big deal to hang them up to dry) with 3 "woolly wonders" it took about 30 minutes - not the promised 40% reduction, but still not bad. Especially since it cost me nothing to make. So now we have a new novelty in our laundry room. We keep them on top of the dryer and each person throws them in when they dry their clothes.

Here is another way to save money - if you see something that you like - decided if you could make it cheaper. I will shamelessly take a picture of a product to duplicate at home.  Megan returned from the D.R. with a picture on her cell phone of a cell phone case made out of a recycled sweater - that will be my next project - always trying to make cents and sensibility!