Friday, October 25, 2013

Confessions of a DIY-aholic


I think that growing up, I’ve always been an artsy/crafty person. It started from a young age when I’d watch my mom make clothes from scratch. She inspired me to make my own little toys, and I’d even go as far as trying to make little outfits for them. That was one of the first experiences I had with any do it yourself (DIY) project. I knew I loved making things, but I didn’t dive so deeply into it until much later on.

What further brought out my crazy DIY- aholic tendencies was when I randomly stumbled upon some fashion DIY projects on YouTube. Since I’ve always had a love for doing arts and crafts, I dove more deeply into researching different projects that I could do with what I had. From there, I branched out starting with fashion DIYs to DIY beauty treatments to home décor. I was so happy to learn there were DIY projects for almost anything! I had discovered the amazingly popular DIY phenomenon that had opened my eyes and further brought out my creativity. I was instantly hooked! A newly converted DIY-aholic! 

Artwork by me.

Aside from being a very fun and exciting activity, doing DIY projects can be very therapeutic. If ever I feel stressed out and time allows for it, I will concentrate my energy into doing something that I truly love, creating things. Immersing myself in DIY projects to decorate my room is very calming for me. When I’d make something new, I’d get so excited to see the resulting product that I’d temporarily forget about anything that was stressing me out. Any concerns or problems I faced at the time would seem less overwhelming and, overall, I would just feel better.

From my experience, I believe that through doing DIY projects, you encourage repurposing, reusing, and upcycling old items that you may have lying around the house. Also, by reusing old items, you would also be saving yourself a considerable amount of money. There are, surprisingly, a very large amount of projects that can be done with almost anything in your house, from old clothes to old furniture. 

Depicted below are some of the more recent projects I’ve worked on. The Totoro pot (right most project) was an example of something I had repurposed. I don’t have a picture of the original pot, but it was a sight for sore eyes just sitting on my desk! Instead of throwing it out, something as simple as giving it a new paint job was enough to bring it back to life.


 I think it’s really nice to be able to create things on your own. Who wouldn’t want to show off something beautiful that they reinvented and be able to tell people, “Oh yea! I made that!” Just the satisfaction of knowing that you can be creative and reinvent or repurpose old pre-loved items and bring them back to life again is very rewarding. That is a feeling that I would like to share with everyone.
 
With this blog, I will dedicate my time and effort into sharing my ideas, projects, and inspirations with you all. I will try to include affordable DIY projects that touch on various topics such as: home décor, beauty, fashion and design, etc. I am in no way a professional of any sort; however, I will do my very best to provide you guys with projects that are suitable for DIYers of varying skill levels. Most importantly, I hope that you guys will have fun doing these projects.  

Now let us embark on this wondrous quest for affordable awesomeness! 

Happy reading!