I'll be showing you the finished product of my Craft Gone Wrong real soon, but this one got me thinking--how can I simplify my crafting? It's so easy to get caught up--nay, obsessed--at least for me. But I do have a few suggestions for simplifying and maybe you can offer some too!
Use what you have. I made this owl for Littlest for Christmas, using only fabric I had on hand, which is just so fulfilling compared to running out to the fabric store and throwing money at them.
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| Orange ears: cashmere sweater that got holes in it. Denim: kids' jeans with holey knees. Yellow eyes and back: leftover flannel from sewing a sleepsack back in the day. Brown tummy: microfiber left over from some pillows I made. Prints: old cotton T-shirts of mine. |
If at first you don't succeed, try again--once. Only once. If it's not working, just stop and wait until you get a simpler solution in one of those strokes of genius that can happen only after all the supplies have been put away.
Do what you know (and love). I love the cake decorating aisle at the craft store. All that fondant, all that sugar, all those adorable little toppers. But I refuse. Flat out refuse to get into cake decorating. It would be a whole new world of tools and supplies and learning curves, and for now I am just not going there. Stop tempting me, Cricut Cake machine!
Make a list, then forget it. I have been driving myself crrrrazy lately with the ongoing list in my head. As in, every time I walk into a room I think of 24 gazillion projects I want to get to in that room. So the other night I made a list. It had some realistic goals and some pie-in-the-sky projects...the only question was, "Do I think about this project on anything like a regular basis?" My project list was 5 and 1/2 pages long and covered every room in my house, the garage, the exterior and our closets. Woah. I'm even crazier than I thought. But since I wrote the list, I haven't been nearly as tormented...the list is on paper so it doesn't need to be in my head. Try it--it's really a relief.
That's it! A few suggestions to get you started on making your crafting simpler. If you have a suggestion, I would love to hear it!
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