Dipping My Feet into the Crafting Pool: How I Got Started
I started doing crafts from a young age with my mother. We would spend HOURS at different craft stores on the weekend, exploring aisle after aisle of craft items. My mother did this frequently enough that my parents could accurately estimate how much the total bill at checkout would be, based on how long we had been in the store (roughly $100 per hour spent). Other weekends we would spend hours with her making scrapbooks, or painting Christmas ornaments, and I would sit across the table with some craft project of my own. I thrived on those “craft kits” that line the end-caps in the craft stores, carefully reading the instructions, and trying to create the pictured item on the outside of the box. Sometimes, I could complete my projects myself. Sometimes, I would need help from my mom to use the oven, sewing machine, or other “adult” appliance that I could not safely use. I learned sooo many different crafts. I learned beading, painting, knitting, crochet, glass design, embroidery and so many more. Many of these skills are long forgotten, as the busy schedules of school and extracurricular activities picked up.
Cut to my 20s, where I poured all of my energy and creativity into school, finding a good job and focusing on the every day chaos that engulfs us as we try to make it from week to week. My crafts remained set aside, relegated to a small box that I would move from apartment to apartment. I would open the bin before each move, remembering the cool, half finished project graveyard that lay within, before sighing, and stacking the plastic bin for my next home. The only crafts I created were beautifully color coded study guides or slide show presentations.
I suppose I woke up when COVID-19 hit. I was an essential worker, working up to 80 hours some weeks during the initial surge. Over time, this wore me down, and I felt constantly tired and overwhelmed. I was finishing up my education, taking my last exams, and bought myself a resin kit to try after I finished my last exam. And there it was, that joy, the relaxation of focusing on a project. In the last year and a half, I have rediscovered crafts I had long forgotten, and learned so many new skills. I’d like to bring you on that journey with me.
