The Craft Room

[fitnessgurl]

This is a place to share your hobbies and ask questions if you want to learn a new hobby.

[fitnessgurl]

Question of the week: What kind of crafts do you do?

[CajunHufflepuff]

OOOO BOY CRAFTS! xD

 

I sew costumes (mostly for renn faire), knit, crochet, paint (oil)...too many hobbies to stick with just one

[fitnessgurl]

OOOO BOY CRAFTS! xD

 

I sew costumes (mostly for renn faire), knit, crochet, paint (oil)...too many hobbies to stick with just one

Ooh, ren faire!!! *heart eyes emoj*

I am learning to knit, I do looming, and make jewelry + more.

[CajunHufflepuff]

Ooh, ren faire!!! *heart eyes emoj*

I am learning to knit, I do looming, and make jewelry + more.

When people are like "What's a Ren Faire?!" I'm like, "Where have you been in all of your life let me introduce you to a wonderful world COME!"

 

How far are you into your knitting learning skills?

[SkiBlue]

This thread needs an Artisan tag!

 

The crafts I do mostly are sewing clothes and costumes, model building (it IS a craft ), and MAKE stuff. I know how to knit and scrapbook, but other things have taken priority over these.

[fitnessgurl]

When people are like "What's a Ren Faire?!" I'm like, "Where have you been in all of your life let me introduce you to a wonderful world COME!"

 

How far are you into your knitting learning skills?

I know, right? Ren. Faired are so cool!

Knitting skills: cast on, bind off, garter stitch and purl stitch.

[fitnessgurl]

This thread needs an Artisan tag!

 

The crafts I do mostly are sewing clothes and costumes, model building (it IS a craft ), and MAKE stuff. I know how to knit and scrapbook, but other things have taken priority over these.

Cool!

Artisan tag added.

[Elastigirl]

I have a question for you crafters. I want to do crafting, and enjoy it, but to get started with it, it always seems like something on my 'to do' list rather than fun. I have a few hobbies I enjoy, scrapbooking, beading, some needlework. But I rarely do them. Then I put it on my goal list for a challenge to do, and I find myself just feeling like they are an item to check off my to do list, rather than something I'm excited about. I find myself in the evenings or weekends choosing TV or computer time over hobbies. Do any of you have this problem? How do you motivate yourself to get started? Once I start, I'm good, it's just the, laziness factor that sets in.

[SkiBlue]

I have a question for you crafters. I want to do crafting, and enjoy it, but to get started with it, it always seems like something on my 'to do' list rather than fun. I have a few hobbies I enjoy, scrapbooking, beading, some needlework. But I rarely do them. Then I put it on my goal list for a challenge to do, and I find myself just feeling like they are an item to check off my to do list, rather than something I'm excited about. I find myself in the evenings or weekends choosing TV or computer time over hobbies. Do any of you have this problem? How do you motivate yourself to get started? Once I start, I'm good, it's just the, laziness factor that sets in.

 

I have this problem on occasion. Featuring it in my challenge usually helps, but if it's making you feel forced, then I wouldn't try it that way.

 

What I like to do is keep the stuff in close proximity. If I really want to get started on a project, I make sure parts of it are always within reach, so if I don't feel like climbing the stairs, part of it is already here, so I get started and sucked in, then after to move in order to keep going. I actually don't like TV that much (we don't even have cable at the house), so sometimes I like to put on a show that's good background noise (something I've seen over and over again) and keep that going while I craft, since I've seen it before, I don't really want to actively watch it and would rather do something else alongside it.

[fitnessgurl]

I have a question for you crafters. I want to do crafting, and enjoy it, but to get started with it, it always seems like something on my 'to do' list rather than fun. I have a few hobbies I enjoy, scrapbooking, beading, some needlework. But I rarely do them. Then I put it on my goal list for a challenge to do, and I find myself just feeling like they are an item to check off my to do list, rather than something I'm excited about. I find myself in the evenings or weekends choosing TV or computer time over hobbies. Do any of you have this problem? How do you motivate yourself to get started? Once I start, I'm good, it's just the, laziness factor that sets in.

I have a question for you crafters. I want to do crafting, and enjoy it, but to get started with it, it always seems like something on my 'to do' list rather than fun. I have a few hobbies I enjoy, scrapbooking, beading, some needlework. But I rarely do them. Then I put it on my goal list for a challenge to do, and I find myself just feeling like they are an item to check off my to do list, rather than something I'm excited about. I find myself in the evenings or weekends choosing TV or computer time over hobbies. Do any of you have this problem? How do you motivate yourself to get started? Once I start, I'm good, it's just the, laziness factor that sets in.

I go through stages where I'll work on something like crazy and then put it aside.

I deliberately do not turn the television on unless, like SkiBlue said, it's for background noise. I have to be careful of the internet though.

I'm trying to deliberately set aside time for crafting. My tv & tablet off and phone on vibrate. When the 'I should check what's on/posted, etc' comes up; I tell myself no. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

[Mark D]

I do model trains, does that count?

 

My wife's family does a secret-Santa for Christmas, everyone gets one person to buy a present for.  Last year my brother-in-law had the idea of making gifts instead of buying them, and I drew his wife to provide the present for.  I decided to use my skills and tools from model trains to build a shadowbox with a model of their home in it.  I have pictures of the house and of the model on my phone, I'll see if I can upload them.  Because I like to show off.

 

Everyone said I did the best job.  My wife knits, so she made a scarf.  One brother-in-law gave his brother golf balls he'd painted with glow-in-the-dark paint.  

[fitnessgurl]

I do model trains, does that count?

 

My wife's family does a secret-Santa for Christmas, everyone gets one person to buy a present for.  Last year my brother-in-law had the idea of making gifts instead of buying them, and I drew his wife to provide the present for.  I decided to use my skills and tools from model trains to build a shadowbox with a model of their home in it.  I have pictures of the house and of the model on my phone, I'll see if I can upload them.  Because I like to show off.

 

Everyone said I did the best job.  My wife knits, so she made a scarf.  One brother-in-law gave his brother golf balls he'd painted with glow-in-the-dark paint.

Yes, it counts.

Definitely want to see pics!

[Mark D]

Here are the original and model, I'm pretty proud of myself

[fitnessgurl]

Here are the original and model, I'm pretty proud of myself

Cool!!!

[Mark D]

Has anyone tried to make money with their crafts?

 

My wife has sold a couple scarves she made via arm-knitting (basically, you use your arms instead of knitting needles) to friends.  Even though arm knitting is quick, it uses a lot of wool and good wool is expensive, so she basically wound up selling them for what she spent on wool.  (The wool is doubled and it's thick wool.  Tt takes about 2/3 of a skein of two skeins to make a scarf, so she doesn't have enough left to make another scarf.  If she made three the same color she could do so with four skeins and knot the leftovers.)  

 

People have suggested I should make shadowboxes for sale, but honestly with the amount of work that goes into it I'd have to sell it for an outrageous price to make it worth while.  There's probably 40 hours of labor in that box, spread over three or four weekends, and probably $40 worth of material (over half of which was the frame).  Even if I sold it for $200, I'd be working for $4 an hour.

[Waldo]

I've become a rather avid woodworker., mixing in neat little things (toys/spoons/etc..) with big furniture projects.
 
Here's the last furniture piece I finished:

 
I think the trick to doing it and sticking with it is the same trick to working out and sticking with it.  It needs to become "this is what I do at this time".  Just do a little every day and eventually you can accomplish great things.
 

Has anyone tried to make money with their crafts?
 
People have suggested I should make shadowboxes for sale, but honestly with the amount of work that goes into it I'd have to sell it for an outrageous price to make it worth while.  There's probably 40 hours of labor in that box, spread over three or four weekends, and probably $40 worth of material (over half of which was the frame).  Even if I sold it for $200, I'd be working for $4 an hour.

Almost all craft type things seem to have this issue.  And it is partly compounded by the fact that there are often retired people that are incredibly good at the same craft (read, fast) that sell at bargain prices for them, basically crushing the market and price expectations.

 

People tell me this all the time about the stuff I make woodworking.  The credenza above took a solid 100 hours of work (probably closer to 150) and in the neighborhood of $500 on materials and consumables (glue/sandpaper/finish/etc...).  Well made new pieces like that tend to sell in the 3K range, at least looking at the companies that sell comparable stuff, so I could sell it at least for a reasonable price, but when you add in the sales effort as well, its just not worth it (in that furniture price range, the market is...limited.  Heck the reason I make furniture is to furnish my house with high end stuff for bargain prices, as 3K for a credenza is way, way, way out of my price range).

 

Spoons would seem to be a possibility, I gave them as gifts this Christmas and everyone loves them; real fancy handmade Cherry spoons are hard not to like if you cook.  But, I spend about 4 hr on each, add in materials/consumables ($5-$7) and marketing effort, I would even consider selling them for less than $50 (really wouldn't waste my time for less than $75-$100), and at those prices, I'm not going to sell many, and again, there is a relative glut on the market due to being lots of retired hobby woodworkers that can make decent spoons fast.  And factory made wooden spoons can be had for less than $5.

 

So in other words, I'm a woodworker that makes things for us and things to be given as gifts.  Even if I was a world renowned woodworker, chances are it still wouldn't pay as well as my day job.

[Waldo]

Has anyone tried to make money with their crafts?

 

People have suggested I should make shadowboxes for sale, but honestly with the amount of work that goes into it I'd have to sell it for an outrageous price to make it worth while.  There's probably 40 hours of labor in that box, spread over three or four weekends, and probably $40 worth of material (over half of which was the frame).  Even if I sold it for $200, I'd be working for $4 an hour.

 

Where you might have a decent market though is in real estate.  Our realtor got a handmade drawing of our old house framed as a housewarming gift (he sold our old place and helped us find our new one).  There is big $$ in real estate transactions.  Little things like that, the picture we have on the wall, is a constant reminder to give him a call if we should want to sell.  If a realtor has to drop $500+ on a nice piece for his clients that he made $1000's on so that he stands a good chance of making $1000's off them again, it is certainly worth it.

[Mark D]

That's a beautiful piece of furniture.

 

My brother-in-law does woodworking.  Lately he's been making small things like pens and ice cream scoops, he buys the metal part and makes turned-wood barrels/handles/etc.  I have one of his pens (shaped like a bolt action rifle, and the mechanism extends/retracts the point).  

 

My wife has similar issues with knitting sweaters, who's going to pay the several hundred dollars for a hand knit sweater when you can buy a NICE machine knit, made of comparable wool, for a fraction of the price.  Well some people will, but as you say the market is limited.

[fitnessgurl]

Has anyone tried to make money with their crafts?

 

My wife has sold a couple scarves she made via arm-knitting (basically, you use your arms instead of knitting needles) to friends.  Even though arm knitting is quick, it uses a lot of wool and good wool is expensive, so she basically wound up selling them for what she spent on wool.  (The wool is doubled and it's thick wool.  Tt takes about 2/3 of a skein of two skeins to make a scarf, so she doesn't have enough left to make another scarf.  If she made three the same color she could do so with four skeins and knot the leftovers.)  

 

People have suggested I should make shadowboxes for sale, but honestly with the amount of work that goes into it I'd have to sell it for an outrageous price to make it worth while.  There's probably 40 hours of labor in that box, spread over three or four weekends, and probably $40 worth of material (over half of which was the frame).  Even if I sold it for $200, I'd be working for $4 an hour.

I've sold some of my jewelry and made out ok.

I'm not good enough at anything else yet; but I will be. I want to open an Etsy shop.

[fitnessgurl]

@Waldo: that's beautiful.

[SnowOwl]

 

 

I find myself in the evenings or weekends choosing TV or computer time over hobbies. Do any of you have this problem? How do you motivate yourself to get started? Once I start, I'm good, it's just the, laziness factor that sets in.

 

I have this problem too. One thing that often works for me, if I'm not exhausted, is to watch a youtube video of some kind of work-along or how to.

Then I get all excited and it's easier to make myself go get started. Once I'm started I don't want to quit! 

Also, if I tell myself i'll just get some supplies out for tomorrow, one baby step before getting online...suddenly I find that I've spent the whole evening enjoying my craft of the moment.

[rustic]

I like to carve coffee scoops and make simple, rustic things from wood like candle holders and key/coat racks. I've sold a few bits and pieces, but I live out in the sticks and shipping costs for even small parcels are ridiculous up here in Canada so it remains a hobby and a cheap Christmas gift plan.

[Gobnait]

I collect the stuff for hobbies, but I'm working on actually doing them all.  I want to learn how to sew my own clothing.

[fitnessgurl]

I collect the stuff for hobbies, but I'm working on actually doing them all.  I want to learn how to sew my own clothing.

Me too!!!