DIY for the Non-crafty

So, as often happens in real life, we have a bit of a paradox. I really like the idea of doing things ourselves when it comes to this Wedding Planning Land. I groove on creativity, originality and craftiness BUT I am not really terribly crafty in an easy-flowing way. I have some skills but I have acquired what few I have through blood, sweat and tears. Teri has a bit more natural artistic talent but she is not so keen on the quaint crafts either. Changing a flat tire on a bicycle and adjusting the breaks? Yes. Baking a flaky-crusted apple pie? Absolutely. Knitting or crocheting a luxurious scarf? Well, if we have to, we can…maybe…

We get inspired and see cool things that we know shouldn’t be too hard to do or I see something in a book or magazine and think, well, of course, that should be easier and cheaper to make! The thinking about it and the doing it are quite different processes. I don’t really want to do any craft that is going to be overly sticky, require all sorts of tools and supplies, or take days and days of patience—that is so NOT where I shine. Fortunately, we have resources.
I got home from work the other night and found a box waiting on the front porch. When I unpacked it, I found, among other wedding treasures, a package of put-it-together-creatively paper lanterns. I thought they looked cool when I saw them in a catalog (the photo showed them put together, of course) and I thought how hard could it be to put together a bunch of tissue paper? Well, I don’t even understand the instructions. So I sent a picture text to the daughter Lucy with the statement: “Wedding craft in need of a crafter.” Fortunately she wrote back stating, “I’m a crafter!” And even more fortunately, she is!

So, instead of asking myself if I can do a craft or make it happen, I ask myself, “I wonder if Lucy would be willing to help with this?” When we decided we wanted to do some rubber stamp designs on our programs, it was Lucy who came over with her snazzy cookie tin of rubber stamping supplies. When we saw a photo of cool vintage wooden spool wire table number holders, it was Wendy who offered to make them for us. Whew! We CAN do some crafts, we WILL do some crafts, but I am not going to turn away good help from the truly creative crafters. I have decided that instead of referring to it as “DIY” (Do it Yourself), there should be another category for DIYWH --Do it Yourself with Help.