Make Stuff

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I’ve been making stuff since I was a kid. I remember trying different crafts out with whatever I could get my hands on. I didn’t really get good at any one thing and I loved that we tried lots of new things in art class.

I remember wanting a house for my barbies. We grew up very poor. My mom still managed to make us feel like we had a lot. She made me this amazing doll house with cardboard boxes. They had two floors and everything. It was a really inspiring moment for me.

I remember, after we moved up north onto an old farm, that I would experiment with crushing colorful rocks or dried flowers and tried to imagine how Native Americans made paints naturally. I even remember trying to ground seed from what I think was hay into flour. I didn’t realize that wasn’t the right plant.

I’ve dabbled in lots of things over the years. My husband has gotten really into woodworking in recent years and I’ve been very interested. I didn’t want to get much started while my youngest was still an infant, but now that he’s finally taking longer naps and sleeping better at night I feel like I can dabble again in hobbies I’m interested in.

What you see above, past the unflattering picture of me, if my first woodworking project.

I built a workbench.

Not fancy or perfect, but I did it.

I’m ridiculously proud of myself.

There are so many skills you can learn to inch closer to homesteading and self sufficiency and I feel being able to make things is one of the most important. Not only can you build new things you want and need, but you can also learn to repair the old ones.

My husband had gifted me a course offered by Steve Ramsey from Woodworking for Mere Mortals (I do not get anything for linking to this website).

My husband has also been there to offer tips and guide me along the way, but I’m doing most of it myself and learning a ton!

I’m working my way through the projects at a snails pace(my baby might be a toddler now, but he’s still a lot of work), but I am still working and learning.

Is there something you’ve wanted to learn to do, but have yet to make the leap? What’s holding you back?