When I was a kid, I used to love doing arts and crafts. Now, to be clear, I was never someone who could create something amazing from their imagination. I was more of a person who needed direction on making something that anyone could make. Basically, craft kits were right up my alley.
I remember when I was about eight years old in Ohio, a friend showed me how to make dangly earrings. Here’s the thing about the earrings – they were cheesy looking, but I absolutely loved making them. They were made from that plastic mesh material, paper clips, earring hooks and rhinestones. Was it the mention of rhinestones that had your interest piqued? Or are you chuckling to yourself? If it’s the latter, I don’t blame you. I think of rhinestones like how I think of bedazzling – it can be a little much.
Want to hear the best part about these dangly earrings I would make for friends and family? I also made one for my uncle, who I knew had one of his ears pierced when I was a little kid. Bless his heart though, because he would sometimes proudly wear that cheesy dangly earring. Even out in public.
Then when I moved here to Albuquerque when I was almost 10, a friend introduced me to these pom pom animal craft kits. The kit provided everything except for the glue gun, and my friend and I would sit together and make these kits in each other’s living rooms, kitchens or bedrooms. My favorite kit to buy was the bear. Well, at least that’s what it was supposed to be according to the box. Mine never looked anything like a bear, but I still loved to make that one. It was still somewhat cute, though.
Getting Into Sewing
The same friend and I got into sewing projects around the same time too. Well, to be fair, a sewing project for us was just making pillows for our American Girl dolls and stuffed animals. Thankfully, our moms had lots of scrap cloth leftover for us to make pillows with, and we only needed to buy the stuffing. I think they were also happy to have us distracted with something like sewing. Kept us, and our hands, busy. To this day, I can do a basic stitch. It’s not straight, but boy does it hold!
Part of me wants to say that crafting is in my blood. My paternal grandmother was a crafty woman, and in every way imaginable. She would make doorstops that looked like beds, decorate straw hats with paper pictures, lace and strings of fake pearls and even clothes for geese and bears.
Before you get ahead of me, I don’t mean real geese and bears. This is something that’s actually very popular in the Midwest, where our family is from. In that part of the country, some people have concrete geese or bears on their porch, and you can decorate them with clothes made specifically for them. My grandma used to make clothes for the geese and bears that were seasonal, or even just silly. Believe me, I know how crazy this sounds. But this is a legit thing, and I always get crazy looks from people when I tell them about this.
March Is National Craft Month
All of these crafty memories came to mind when I found out that March is National Craft Month. The nostalgia in just thinking about the crafts of my past was something that caught me off guard. In fact, I’d say that they knocked me off my feet. I hadn’t expected to think of my grandmother’s crafts, or even the dangly earrings.
Are you a crafty person? If so, what kind of crafts do you like to make? Or are you someone who used to do crafts and then gradually stopped doing them? It happens. Interests change.
What can you do to get into the crafting mood? Think about what you like to do, or what interests you and how to create something based off that. If you have an interest in scrapbooking, get the items necessary and give it a shot! Or if painting is something you’re interested in, find out what kind of painting you prefer and make it happen!
Now, keep in mind that your first attempt may not be what you had in mind. But practice makes perfect, and all that practice will show you where your talents lie, and certain preferences you have too. So, don’t give up!
The team with Albuquerque Plumbing Heating & Cooling is a talented one! We have some very artistic people, and we love to see their creativity shine during special occasions. In fact, during our Halloween party, several of our team members decorated their office doors, and the results were incredible! Those creative people are just one of the reasons that we are an amazing team, and why we love coming to work every day.