Melissa's 5 Basic Rules for Crafting

When I craft, it is a way for me to get away from life to relax and do something I enjoy. So to have rules for something so freeing seems counter intuitive, but these are things that I have just noticed I do throughout my time crafting. Each person has a style, a way that they do crafts and every style is unique so even when following instructions or even these rules feel free to adjust, make it fit for your own style of crafting. These rules are more "anti-rules" about being free and flexible.

1. Go with what you've got:

• When searching for materials for a particular craft you may have an idea of what you want to get, but trust me if you have to go to a bunch of different stores it takes the fun out of it all. So be flexible, they don't have exactly what your looking for, be creative (that is after all what crafting is all about) and use stuff you maybe already have.

     2.  Change it up:

• Crafting is all about adding your own flare whether it is on purpose or not. :) Maybe you want to do something a bit differently, switch up a shape or design, OR maybe you made a mistake, but it ends coming out in a way that is different than you expected. In every other part of life, I am the ultimate perfectionist, even down to keeping everything an exact way, but when it comes to crafting I let myself make mistakes and don't trash it and start over, some of my favorite crafts have had the most amount of mistakes.

   3.  The crazier the better!:

• Go wild with crazy colors and patterns and things you never thought you would put together. The more creative and crazy the more it adds! I found this crazy fabrics to use for a set of curtains I was making and if the entire curtain had been made just from that fabric it would be ridiculous and overwhelming, but when paired with a plain curtain and just using the crazy fabrics on the bottom part, it added so much to the rooms in my house!

   4.  Show it off!:

• I display my crafts everywhere! On the walls, hanging up, at events or when I have people over, anywhere and everywhere! I love to tell people about the things I made not because I want to be like oh look what I can do, but because sharing the stuff I have made that I take pride in is fun and I love passing it along. After showing my sister some of the stuff I had made, she and I got really into it and starting making some crafts together, it was so fun! To me crafting is meant to be shared not kept in a closet somewhere.

   5.  Have Fun!:

• Don't do crafts that are frustrating and tedious, do crafts that are fun and awesome. One of the most satisfying crafts ever was the crayon melting on a canvas, so easy, yet just watching the crayons melt was so satisfying it was like the best moment ever! I never do crafts that seem like work, because my craft time is for me and if I am doing something I don't like I am taking away from the very beauty of my crafting.