DIY

Look out all you do-it-yourselfers 'cause here I come. It's the ultimate do-it-yourself project. I made my own flypaper. Yes, I did.

So the scoop is that we are completely and totally sick of the amount of flies that come in our home on a day to day basis. When I'm trying to cook and cover things with hankies at the same time, it's really not fun. The flyswatter just was not cutting it. Flies are disgusting. They are like tiny cockroaches with wings. I just couldn't handle it anymore. Soooo, I got on the trusty internet and looked up a recipe for making your own flypaper. It was on some website touting the ultimate in frugal living and people who re-use and recycle. You know those mother Earth kind of websites where you feel completely guilty afterward because your home is not as frugal as it should be and you aren't as green as you should be. It was one of those. I even think the recipe said 'foolproof way to rid your home of flies'. Rrreeeallly.

Here I am during the construction of said flypaper. Which, I might add, called for karo syrup. I can find karo syrup here, but it's in a store 40 minutes from my house that I only go to once a month or so AND it costs 240 Rupees (which is $3.25). This should clue you in on just how much I am hating the flies. I sacrificed the main ingredient to one of my kids favorite treats for this project. At any rate, in the below photo, I am applying the sure fire concoction to the strips of paper bag to rid my kitchen of flies forever - or at least a day or two.

Here are the lovely papers clipped up on my drying rack to drip dry. I left them overnight and was prepared to hang them all over the house the following morning. I even bling blinged those suckers up for ultimate fly enjoyment (mainly because the only string I had was left over from wrapping a birthday present last month - see it all green and shiny).

Fast forward to the morning . . . . I go into the kitchen where said flypaper was hanging and gasped in amazement at the number of flies on the paper. I whooped and jumped for joy. It was then that I noticed that all the flies flew away. Really and truly. I didn't make flypaper. I just made a sugary, syrupy fly feast. I was absolutely frustrated, mainly because I didn't have the heart to try it again because I only have ONE CUP of karo left. After I got over my initial frustration, I just couldn't help but laugh. Of all the things I make and do in my life, only about 50% of them come even close to the expectations. The rest are usually total failures. Anyone in my family will tell you the same. Just ask my sister about the year I wanted to make the cake on the front of the December Southern Living. There were actual tears involved that time. Take this as a lesson to yourself.

The moral of this story is . . . those people who write for those stupid internet sites that tout themselves as the ultimate in frugal living and recycling don't even try out their recipes beforehand!