Block it out

I had an idea to create a Valentine's Day project out of square blocks... simple square blocks. So I headed over to AC Moore to pick a bunch up, I was thinking I'd need 6, this is what I found:

and

$.89 and $1.59 each for blocks???

Meaning my simple little project would cost between $5.34 and $9.54. That seemed a little beyond crazy.

So I headed over to Home Depot, was a little disappointed with the selection of wood, but walked away with this for $4.97:

A 36" length of 2"x2" poplar. Which interestingly enough may be called 2"x2" but is actually 1.5"x1.5"...

So I simply came home, tapped off a mark on my compound miter saw so I would have a guide to cut 1.5" long pieces of the 2"x2" (which is actually 1.5"x1.5"...)

 

And in less than the time it tool for my husband to cook a frozen pizza (not including pre-heating time) I had these:

 

 

Sooooo... Let's review... As much as $9.54 for 6 blocks:

Or... $4.97 for 19 of them (I was too lazy to get the clamp out to be able to safely cut the last 5 inches of the 2"x2" so left it that way and will find a use for it.)

 

So my little project went from costing between $5.34 and $9.54 to costing $1.57. 

And I've not got a million ideas for what to do with the remaining 13 blocks!!!