CW 50: Crafting

Something made with love and care...

When I was in Kindergarten I discovered my love for crafting things. Whatever I would get into my hands, I would turn into something new. Sometimes it was useful, sometimes it wasn't. It went so far that in Kindergarten my teachers told me to not use everything they would provide us to craft with, and leave something for the other kids too. I would get mad at my mom for throwing away empty boxes or paper rolls. When going for groceries I would look out for boxes and containers I could use for crafting. There were really no limitations to what I could use or what I could create. With this love came the obsession over a show called "Finger Tips" where they would craft everything from party games to bike accessories and of course I loved "Art attack". Frustratingly though, with that show I was limited whenever they would use the infamous "white crafting glue" which we didn't have in Austria and unfortunately the coolest things, such as a piñata, were made with that special glue. 

However, in elementary school when we had handicrafts as a subject I loved creating stuff with wood. Over time I got more precise with my work and aimed for perfection in every little detail. Later in middle and high school in our geometry class I loved crafting stuff out of paper and would always do extra work, because I loved the moment when all my carefully measured pieces would come together to create a new object. The older I got the more sophisticated my creations would get. I started out with a toilet made out of cardboard, cars made out of moving boxes and went to a portable deck-chair and a mini apartment with functioning sliding doors and tiny cushions on a sofa made out of paper. 

In the past I have used my crafting skills to create thoughtful gifts for people that meant a lot to me. I always thought putting your time and thoughts into a carefully crafted gift has a lot of meaning and can be at least as good as something you buy from the store. So this year, for someone (who might be reading this, so I'm not gonna say who it is, they will find out soon enough) I resorted to this idea and crafted something which I think turned out pretty great, even though it looks quite different from what I had planned but I'm happy with the result and I guess it's a beautiful metaphor for life. No matter how correct you measure every single component, the final product will still look different.

Anyhow, during the process of crafting this gift I had to restore my utensils and me standing in the isle with all the handicraft utensils felt just like i was eight again, going to the store with my mom to get whatever I needed, except this time I had to pay. Seeing all the brand new pens, paper and utensils just makes my heart beat faster and I can't help but see all the cool things I could craft. 

So, as you can see, crafting has always been a big part of my life and proves to be a great way to relax. You can watch a movie while crafting, listen to music and just focus on creating something new. 

...feeling like a kid while being an adult: what's better than that?