Thoughts so far.

Distinctly harder than I thought, but very proud I am sticking with it. My plan of attack was to plan quick and easy projects for the weeknights, knowing full well how tired I would be after a long day at work, and leave the slightly more involved and time-consuming projects for the weekend. Surprisingly some of the hardest days for me to get the projects done were the weekend days. As it turns out when the weather is super freezing, sometimes you want to be lazy all day.

#30daysofDIY

What this challenge comes down to (for me) are the mental roadblocks I hit when taking on a project. I am a chronic over-thinker and I have a terrible ability to talk myself out of an idea for the stupidest of reasons. This tendency gets worse if I haven’t eaten recently or haven’t gotten enough sleep. My brain needs to be firing on all cylinders to produce a decent idea. So, my solution for getting over the brain barrier is to have a list of ideas to jump-start the creative process and try to re-wire my perception of these DIYs as stress relievers, not inducers. Who wouldn’t want to craft the night away after a long day of meetings?! Also, snacks.

My second hurdle is self-inflicted… however, it is also the origin of the idea for this challenge. I am stuck working with what I have got. Which means when I see a cute idea on Pinterest, I can’t run out and spend $40 on supplies that I will use half of and shove back into a corner of the craft room. It is time to clear out and save money! This also means we can look forward to a lot of sewing DIYs because sister has a lot of fabric laying around. What can I say, I acquired that habit from my mother.

Lastly, I want to touch on my vision for the future of this challenge. I hope that this exercise will teach me that working on something I am passionate about daily will really bring it to the forefront of my mind. Also forcing myself to select a project every day, get it done, and posted to Instagram has reminded me how little time is needed to get some projects done. I mean, I hung onto two mending projects for a loooong time and ended up spending a total of 30 minutes finishing them both up. That is a lesson I hope stays with me in the future when I really don’t feel like hemming that skirt. Just do it, and it won’t be hanging over your head for 3 years every time you walk into the craft room.

Here’s to another week of DIY!

~Sarah