My Personal May Challenge

You may recall that I gave myself a personal challenge for the month of May to stay out of craft stores, buy no craft items, and actually make stuff. Here's my end-of-month report on how I did:

As for making things, I wasn't super successful. I had a lot of stuff to take care of for our youth group that took up a good bit of time. I also spent a good amount of time dealing with sickness (mine and the cat's). I did make a few cards, including this one for a baby shower I attended on Saturday:



In May I took the opportunity to clean out my craft room a bit. I discovered that I had a lot of stuff I no longer used or needed, so I joined my local Freecycle group and gave stuff to a woman who was seeking scrapbooking supplies. While a lot of it was stuff that I'd bought years ago before various cutting systems and whatnot came on the market, it did help me realize how much money I've spent in years past on stuff I don't even use.

Now, as for the not buying part of the challenge, I was mostly successful. I will confess that I bought some glue. My glue sticks weren't cutting it, and glue dots aren't right for everything, so I spent about $5 on a couple of different glues. They're fantastic, so I refuse to feel guilty over that one. I wasn't about to make glue out of flour and water, after all! That would have made for some interesting cards!

I am pleased with how this worked out. I wound up having a lot of money left over at the end of the month. I didn't realize how much of my personal spending cash I was frittering away on craft things. I also had a great chance to reevaluate my spending priorities. I think I was spending money on items for potential projects because the dreaming was so much fun, but the implementation often just didn't happen. It's far more challenging to do than to dream!

I also had opportunity to go into a craft store during this time for something I needed that wasn't related to crafts. (I needed some mini muffin cups for food I had to make for a shower.) I looked around, but what a difference that made knowing that I couldn't buy any craft items for myself! I could look around with a more detached eye, and I found that I really wasn't tempted. There wasn't anything I needed, nor did I necessarily want anything. What a change!

While I'm no longer under a self-imposed moratorium on buying craft supplies, I am going to try to keep this up as much as possible. I like having the extra cash and not having to find a place for more stuff. Besides, if the stuff I buy doesn't get used, why buy it in the first place?

Doing, not just dreaming. Sounds like a worthy motto.