diy
Do it Yourself; Tips and ideas for DIY projects to give a gift that your significant other won't return.
The Good Scissors
“Not those ones!” she shouted from across the small room. My little kid hands had reached towards the shiniest pair of scissors hanging on the wall. Little did I know, these were my grandma’s “good” scissors—only to be used for fabric, not for paper and glue-filled activities like the decoupage monstrosity I was working on. It was around Easter time, and I was decorating old coffee tins with bunny cut-outs and a pile of home-brewed Mod Podge. As the crafty kid of the family, my grandma had tasked me with creating Easter baskets to give her neighbors and friends springtime gifts.
By Briley L Lewis5 years ago in Humans
The Bunny Dresser
Whether I’m starting a sewing, woodworking, crafting or painting project, I always begin by sketching out some concept art in my journal. Scrapbooking and storyboarding helps me gather my thoughts and ideas before they escape forever from my head. Pinterest is good and all, but nothing beats marking your ideas onto something tangible, something that can be manipulated – cut, shaped, beat up and pasted. I often flip back to old pages of my journal and it sparks so much more joy than looking through old “pins” – seeing the visualizations of my past thoughts helps inspire new ones. The only way to control my racing thoughts sometimes is to get them on paper and have them run a marathon across the pages. I love seeing the marks from my pencil smudge across the paper. Seeing text on a screen does nothing for my creative mind – I need the tactile feedback of a physical medium. The sound of scissors going cleanly through paper or fabric is music to my ears. Sometimes I start off a project with the intent of painting something and I end up at my sewing machine. Sometimes I start with a small idea and it expands and grows into a huge piece. Jumping from medium to medium and project to project is my exercise.
By Kayla Carrier5 years ago in Humans
Patchwork Girl
As a twenty-three year old who grew up loving dinosaurs and rolling around in the mud, quilting would perhaps be the farthest thing from your mind as an activity that I adore. Quilting was one of those things that I used to think only “old people” and “old timey people” did because they were bored out of their minds and trapped within the societal and gender roles assigned to them. Or, I used to think that it was too “girly” to do something like that, as it was mainly old women that I saw still doing it, and since I was a self-proclaimed tomboy, it didn’t fit my “style.” It certainly wasn’t something that I thought had any place among the iPhones and television screens of the twenty-first century. I didn’t show any particular affection for fabrics as a child (I was more of a pencil and paper sort of kid), nor was there any particular familial or generational connection to the practice. It was one of those impactful accidents, where something you figured you’d try once grows into a passion project that continues to this day.
By Robin Laurinec5 years ago in Humans
The 'wonder' of going back to basics and handmade....
I describe it as working to the bone, hand sewing often comes with scratches and pin pricks but the effort is worth it. Two things of anything you make that’s handmade are never the same. There’s always something that slightly different about it. I make collections of brooches, stylised embroidery hoops and sewn pictures as part of my work but I do other things as well. All my crafts require cutting, stitching, and a lot more time than sewing on a machine.
By Ruvini De Alwis5 years ago in Humans
Pied Piper of Passion for Arts and Crafts
For 37 years I taught hundreds and hundreds of children from Kindergarten through Grade 12. Language Arts, Literature, and French is what I loved to teach, share and spread to all the students within my reach. Especially in this age of technology and media that robs children of imagination, it is so important to broaden their horizons with arts and crafts. To express yourself through the use of creativity builds self esteem and confidence. Creating arts and creativity promotes critical thinking, comprehension, good mental health and the ability to think out of the box.
By Catherine Webb5 years ago in Humans
Move over Billy Shears
Shears are scissors, much the way a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. I thought a lot about this challenge, and quickly came to realize that writing about my amazing craft capabilities would simply be out of the question because I have absolutely none. That isn't a bold statement to get sympathy, just a real and honest appraisal of my (in)abilities! But upon deeper contemplation, it occurred to me that I do have some burgeoning, all be them meager, talents in the garden. And with this thought, I decided there was hope for me yet. I took creative liberties and veered away from crafts such as sewing, knitting, and painting, to instead focus on my penchant for small scale gardening.
By sarah rosellini5 years ago in Humans
Little Mirrors That Penetrate
Summers on the Cape, with my grandmother, were for crafting. We’d sit for hours together, not saying a single word, painting birdhouses or sewing reusable shopping bags. My grandfather thought he was just taking my grandmother’s home away, when he forced her to sell long after their divorce. But he also took the pine trees, the spools of thread, the morning hoots from the owls, the tall flowers, and my adolescence. I didn’t speak to him after that.
By Jessica Berkmen5 years ago in Humans
