Finding Purpose in a Crafts Hobby

I am in general a purposeful person so sometimes it is hard to hold on on hobbies because a lot of hobbies are just for the fun of it without much purpose.

So I have decided to share some of my thoughts on how to keep and even enjoy a hobby when you are normally a purpose driven person.

My hobby is crafting. I love little DIY projects here, making paper flowers and turning a used mason jar into something creative. Once I get going, it is great, I’m in the flow of things. It is really getting started that I have a hard time because there is usually something that I need to do rather than something that I would like to do.

I like to get over this by doing a craft with a purpose, have an endpoint in mind. For example, I had an upcoming trip with Disneyland with the family so I decided to make custom t-shirts for everyone. I made these free Disney related SVG cut files, dusted off the Cricut and make a customized set of shirts for everyone in the family. The occasion we were going to was for my daughter. She was turning three and I thought it would be cute to make customized Mickey and Minnie faces along with other disney castles and fun shapes for each person in the family. I also made a label in the back that said Father/Mother/Brother of the Birthday Princess just so I could make fun of my husband for wearing it on social media. (He was a good sport and wore the shirt all around the theme park all day.)

Another way to add purpose to my hobby is to try and create something that I would other buy.. Not only is this usually very cost effective, I also don’t have to sit there and create something from scratch. Now, of course, one can always argue if I would have bought the item in the first place which void my rationale for money savings. But this is a hobby and just a suggestion so no need to really dissect my argument to that extent. In this scenario, I just have to copy something already made and maybe even add some alteration if my creative juices start flowing again. I made a set of leather earrings with the Cricut with this in mind. I had seen some really cute leather earrings that Joanna Gaines had worn from Fixer Upper. They were all over Etsy but I thought I’d try to make my own from leather scraps I had around from leather couch shopping. I made my own free leather earring SVG designs. The earring backs were a couple of dollars and all of a sudden I had a brand new set of super cute earrings.

So all in all, just because something is for fun doesn’t mean it can’t be without purpose. Along these lines, just because something has a purpose doesn’t mean I necessary I want to do it either. (chores for an example)