Made by Hand: In Praise of Amateurs
Note: I’m afraid this post is long and rambling. So sue me. I’ve been meaning to write about this subject for a long time, and finally felt moved to do so. This article may be amateurish, but that’s kind of the point…
My father was a serial entrepreneur — he was always starting businesses. But more than that, he was a serial inventor, a master of DIY, an amateur everything.
When I was a boy, my father:
- Built a windmill to supply some of our electricity. (The windmill blew over during a freak windstorm, and lay on the ground behind our property for many years.)
- Built his own boat. I can’t remember what kind of boat it was, but I think it was a small sailboat. (I was very young at the time, but I remember the library books he used to teach himself how to build the craft. I couldn’t help but remember them; he checked them out in 1972, and we still had them at home during the early 1980s!)
- Built his own telescope — or tried to. Again, I can’t remember if he ever finished the project, but I know that for years, he had a huge (12 inch? 15 inch?) and heavy hunk of polished glass the top drawer in his dresser.
- Wrote his own accounting software to manage his businesses. Dad bought an Apple II when I was in fourth grade (so late 1978?). Using the built-in Integer BASIC language (and, to some extent, the machine’s assembly language), my father taught himself how to program whatever he needed.
Note: I taught myself to program on the Apple II also. Starting in 1978 (when I was in fourth grade), I learned to type in the programs from various computer magazines. Since many of these programs were written for other kinds of computers, I had to teach myself how to modify the programs to my needs. And since Dad wouldn’t buy any computer games for us, I had to write my own.
- Later wrote an entire suite of applications to run the box factory. When my father founded the box factory in 1985, he bought a new Atari 1040 ST computer and wrote all of the programs he needed in BASIC. He wrote programs for box layout, accounting, and more.
Note: The box factory continued using Dad’s programs up until around 2001. Sometime during the late 1990s, our Atari ST computers began to die. Reading the writing on the wall, I taught myself Visual Basic on the PC and spent several months re-creating Dad’s programs. We gave up the Atari ST when the 16-year-old external hard drive finally croaked.
- Designed an electronic, timed sprinkler system to run the irrigation in his failed nursery business.
- Designed, built, and marketed a line of wheat grinders and food dryers. Doing so, he built his first successful business, Harvest Mills. After five stressful years (and many gained pounds), he sold the business in the late 1970s.
- Created a second successful business, Custom Box Service, which he started in 1985. As I mentioned, he wrote all the computer software for the company, but he also built all of the manufacturing equipment by hand. Today, 25 years later, that equipment still powers the family business.
When Kris and I decided in 1993 that we wanted to start our own vegetable garden from seed, my father helped me build a small greenhouse. We didn’t use any blueprints; he was the blueprints. One long Saturday, we bought lumber and nails and plastic sheeting, and he stood around watching me, telling me what lengths to trim the two-by-fours and at what angles. He didn’t sketch anything out on paper — he just told me what to do and I did it. That greenhouse is still standing.
But all of these things barely scratch the surface. These are just the things I remember, and mainly his successes. My father did more: He wrote poetry (mostly bad poetry), played guitar, drew funny pictures, spent a couple of summers raising 40+ acres of wheat, flew airplanes, sailed boats, and more. When he contracted the cancer that eventually killed him, he bought a microscope so that he could draw his own blood and look at his dwindling supply of white blood cells.
Made by hand
So what? What does all of this have to do with personal finance? I’ve already written a lot about how my parents — especially my father — were poor at handling money or growing their savings account. (In fact, all of Dad’s extensive and expensive hobbies surely played a role in our family’s poor financial standing.)
The book isn’t a practical guide to anything. You won’t learn how to keep your own bees or carve your own kitchen utensils in Made by Hand; instead, you’ll get the pleasure of watching over Frauenfelder’s shoulder as he does these things. And, if you’re like me, you’ll be reminded of how much we, as a culture, used to do ourself.
Note: If you’re looking for a practical guide to these sorts of DIY projects, seek out a copy of Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills [my review] or pick up a copy of a homesteading magazine. (My favorite mag — by far — is Countryside, which also has a great website.)
For good or ill, the United States has become a service economy. We pay people to do all sorts of things we used to do ourselves. In some cases, this makes sense; “outsourcing” can free us from work we find drudgery, allowing us to pursue our passions. But sometimes this reliance on professionals and experts makes us more detached from the things we ought to know about. (As a hypothetical example: If you pay a financial adviser, you may think there’s no need to know about asset allocation and diversification and all that boring stuff — but there is.)
Frauenfelder believes — as do I — that the DIY ethic is only partly about the things you produce. It’s also about learning how to learn, about connecting with others who share your interests, and about taking pride in your accomplishments. (Look! I built a personal finance blog read by millions of people every year!) There’s a reason Get Rich Slowly has a DIY category, even if it’s seldom used: Doing things yourself is a great way to save money and increase happiness.
Note: I’d love to provide a more detailed review of Made by Hand, but I can’t. The copy I have is an uncorrected proof, and I’m sure things are going to change by the time it’s published in a couple of months. Let’s just say that I think the book is great, and I encourage you to pick up a copy if you’re at all interested in DIY.
In praise of the amateur
After reading Made by Hand, it occurred to me that much of my own personal philosophy is about finding ways to do things myself. I don’t (and can’t) do everything myself, but I get the most pleasure in life when I’m producing instead of consuming. I also thought of other folks I know who do stuff. My father was one of these, but I know (or know of) many others, such as:
- My wife, who cooks and cans and bakes like crazy. (One reason I struggle with my weight is that Kris is always making terrific food.) But she does other creative stuff, too. Sitting next to me at the moment is a little stuffed animal that she made by hand.
- Bloggers of all stripes. I love seeing others write about cars and flowers and painting and chemistry and more. I think it’s great that blogs have served to level the playing field, allowing non-professional voices to be heard. (My favorite shelf in my library contains books by bloggers.)
- Chris Guillebeau and others who produce top-notch e-books on a variety of topics, earning good money while bypassing the traditional publishing industry.
- Courtney Woolsey, who started out singing for a few hundred folks on YouTube and now has a recording contract.
- My friends who play musical instruments. I love that Rhonda took up piano in her late thirties. Over the past two years, I’ve watched her move from rank beginner to competent learner. And I hope to see her progress even further.
- My friend Craig, who is a DIY master (though he probably wouldn’t call himself that). He’s remodeled his house (slowly), built raised garden beds and a chicken coop, constructed his own vineyard, built a mud oven, and is one of the best DIY cooks I know. (He and I and another friend were going to make our own bacon together for my upcoming birthday, but it’s too late now…)
- And, most of all, our friends’ children. Craig’s son, Albert, for example, loves electronics. His parents have fostered this, giving him all sorts of stuff to build and take apart. Other kids we know love to write, draw, do science, and more. It’s great to see children innately drawn to DIY before they grow older and more complacent.
The thing is, these folks are all amateurs (and so am I). They’re not trained pros. They do these things because they love to, and this passion aids their performance. When they fail (as they inevitably do), they try again. (I think Craig has built his mud oven at least three times because it keeps falling apart.) These amateurs find ways to succeed, even if it’s not a success in the eyes of the world.
There are a lot of people who dislike amateur work because they think it’s poorer quality than that put out by the pros. That’s fine. I get that perspective. But for myself, I get much more value for my money when I pay five or ten bucks to see a community theater perform than when I pay fifty or one hundred to see a Broadway show.
I’m not saying that you have to choose one or the other; I’m saying there’s room for both. But for some reason, we’ve abandoned the stuff of talent shows and living-room concerts. I’d like to see more of that. I want to be awed by the stuff my friends make and do.
Action is everything
As always when I dwell on this subject, I’m reminded of Sarah Dyer’s manifesto, “Action Girl’s Guide to Living”. I’ve linked to this many times before, and nobody seems to like it as much as I do, but that’s okay. I think it’s great, especially this abbreviated bit (which I think I pulled from an actual Action Girl comic book):
ACTION IS EVERYTHING! Our society, even when it’s trying to be “alternative” usually just promotes a consumerist mentality. Buying things isn’t evil, but if that’s all you do, your life is pretty pointless. Be an ACTION GIRL! (Or boy!) It’s great to read / listen to / watch other people’s creative output, but it’s even cooler to do it yourself. Don’t think you could play in a band? Try anyway! Or maybe think about putting on shows or starting a label. Don’t have time/energy to do a website yourself? Contribute to someone else’s website. Not everyone is suited to doing projects on their own, but everyone has something to contribute. So do something with all that positive energy!
I love that. And I think it has everything to do with personal finance and happiness. (When I say, “Nobody cares more about your money than you do“, I’m thinking of Action Girl and the DIY ethic.)
What I value most
My father died in 1995, ten days shy of his 50th birthday. I wasn’t very close to him at the time; our relationship had grown strained over the last few years of his life. But in recent years, I’ve become more and more sentimental about all the stuff he knew and did.
A few years ago, I realized that nobody in our family actually owned a food grinder or a wheat grinder from the old Harvest Mills days thirty years ago. How was that even possible? I managed to track down a food dryer via Craigslist, but the wheat grinder was more elusive.
One of my father’s first food dryers, made by hand.
Then one day, we were scouring our favorite annual garage sale. And there, sitting on a table, was a Harvest Mills wheat grinder. I knew it instantly from its shape, even though I hadn’t seen one since the 1970s. It was marked at $100. Being a frugal fellow, I tried to bargain with the owner. No go. He wanted $100. That was fine, though. I gladly paid the man the money. I would have paid $1000, if that’s what it would have taken.
Like most Americans, Kris and I own a lot of Stuff. Some of it, like the computer I’m using to write this post, is actually worth a fair bit of money. But you know what? None of it is worth as much to me as my father’s food dryer or the painting of Kermit the Frog that Jolie just made for me. This computer (and most of the other stuff in my life) is impersonal and mass produced, but these other things were created by people I know.
So, please: Make stuff. Don’t just consume the things produced by others. If you don’t already, try to find something that you enjoy doing, something that you can make by hand. Or make a homemade gift that will mean the world to someone. Don’t be afraid to fail. When you make things, you make the world a better place.
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There are 98 comments to "Made by Hand: In Praise of Amateurs".
This is my dad!
1. Builds things on his ownsome! – check
2. Has an awesome sense of design – check
3. Can do attitude – check
4. Amazing artist – check
5. Extremely poor financial sense – check!
I find myself in much the same situation as you! But then, I wouldn’t trade my happy childhood for anything the world!
I remember the first episode of the classic BBC science series “Connections” from over 30 years ago. The host, James Burke, challenged people to take everything out of their pockets or purse, and try to find anything that wasn’t manufactured by machine. I never forgot that, and I told my sister about it. She decided she’d always carry something non-manufactured, like a shiny pebble or a small piece of driftwood. She gave me a fossilized shark’s tooth to carry around.
I’m preserving a hand-made traditional art, I’m probably one of the last practitioners of an old photo method that dates back to the 1860s. It’s a lost art, and I’m preserving it, in an era where photography has become commoditized through digital technology and cheap inkjet prints. And nobody has the slightest interest in my work, but I’ll keep doing it anyway. As long as there is paper and a few cheap chemicals, people will always be able to do photography without expensive digital crap.
I don’t care if it was long. I thoroughly enjoyed this post. It’s a kick in the pants I needed. Being a “creative”, I was taught that I didn’t matter as much as someone who was “business-minded” or a “professional”. It’s hard to make money being a creative, I was told, so give it up and work in an office where you have “stable” employment. This reminds me that I was taught others’ values and they don’t have to be my own. Wanna come to Virginia and have some awesome chocolate chunk cookies while listening to a violinist play Devil’s Dream Wheel?
I put down new wood flooring throughout most of my house by myself. I am so proud of that!
I couldn’t figure out to do with this one step that is in our living room. This weekend I figured out what I wanted to do and started working on it. It’s going to look fantastic when done. I am so proud of myself for doing it. I almost hired someone a few times.
I enjoyed reading this post. My experience at DIY isn’t extensive but at least I know how to fix general things around the house, put together furnitures, fix the drywall, paint the walls, caulk around the bathtub, change doorknobs, and simple things like that.
J.D. – a great tribute to your father!
He sounds much like my girlfriend’s dad – a Jack of all trades:
A wonderful chef (so he transforms raw materials into magic every day!)
A gardener (grows vegetables, herbs and flowers as well as landscaping and building garden furniture)
An accomplished carpenter (lays floors, crafts gifts and sells handmade items in gift shops)
An amateur electrician (he recently thought a heated water bath for sous vide cooking was too expensive and so designed and made his own for 1/5 of the price)
Can fix a computer in a pinch
Then again, he grew up on a farm and being practical is very much the order of the day. What sort of background is your father from J.D.?
I think this is occurring more and more with music and concerts. Partly out of necessity, as the record contracts of old don’t really supply a living like they used to. But so what? If I can go see a concert put on by people that are passionate about music and playing their best, I find that it is just as enjoyable and often similar caliber to some “professional” musicians. The lower ticket prices are nice too!
In terms of DIY around the house, sure, it’d be faster for me to hire a contractor and even possibly cheaper given my hourly “rate” that I have calculated in the past (not very high, but things take me a while). But the intangible thing that many people overlook when doing this calculation is that you gain the knowledge for the next time you’re doing this kind of work. That part of the equation is invaluable.
Yet again, Get Rich Slowly feeds my soul. I think it’s really great how you inspire me to spend less and live more each week. I love your personal stories and reflections upon how you got to where you are. It’s a nourishing ramble. I hope others think so too. 🙂
New here…great post. My husband and his toys–I mean, tools, have built us kitchen cabinets, coffee tables, toy boxes, etc etc…At first I saw it as just a hobby, but he has saved us thousands and the pride he/we have in his work is awesome! He’s rubbed off on me–I (w/his help!) just tiled our bathroom floors. We could’ve found some cheap labor, but it was great fun to learn how to do it and I smile every time I walk into the bathroom now!
-kristiina
Learning how to learn is, in my opinion, one of the most important skills a person can have. Great post!
Wonderful post- and wonderful tribute. 50! that is really young. I am sorry for your loss of your father. The person he was is what made the US great. I have so few students who are still encouraged at home to “just make it yourself!”
One of your best J.D. I am also blessed to be surrounded by similar folks.
“Why tip someone for a job I’m capable of doing myself? I can deliver food. I can drive a taxi. I can, and do, cut my own hair. I did, however, tip my urologist, because I am unable to pulverize my own kidney stones.” -Dwight Schrute
I highly recommend finding out if there is a Pecha Kucha event near you.
http://www.pecha-kucha.org/
Each city has it’s own flavor, but the concept is the same everywhere. A presenter gets to talk about something they do or are interested or passionate about for 20 slides for 20 seconds each. For the most part, it’s not about what people do for a living, but what they do for a hobby that makes for the best presentations.
The last one I went to included a sculptor, a chef talking about local food sources, someone who sailed around the world, a landscape designer, a curator’s trip to research Latin American roadside shrines, a tattooer who talked about his apprenticeship, a mixed media artist’s take on a concept album, and a local NPR host discussing the history of public radio.
It’s a fun way to find out about something totally new and support creativity and DIY mentality in your own community.
Your dad sounds like my dad. He sounds like my grandfather.
I make things with my hands every day and dearly hope that my small son will enjoy that also.
I was glad to hear that you treasured something your dad made. Knowing that would mean the world to him. I think that everyone who makes things with their hands hopes that someone they care about will love and value that thing.
Good Job.
-Jim
People often say “I’m just an amateur” to discount or qualify their work. Saying this to my brother, he reminded me that the word amateur comes from the Latin word for love, and means “lover of” in French. It is in contrast to a professional, who does something for a living/money. To be called an amateur is something we should be proud of, to do something for the love of it.
My parents are the same way! My dad has built an airplane, a 3-wheeled car powered by a motorcycle engine, and a huge pond in his backyard (quite the feat in Central Texas where you only have to dig a few inches to hit bedrock). Growing up my mom made my clothes and we always had a garden with tomatoes and carrots and the like.
I fought it for a while but a few years ago the urge hit me and I learned to sew. I have vegetable plants on my porch in Chicago. I bake my own bread. I’m going to end up just like them.
I love DIY! Gardening, woodworking, home repairs, electronics, car repairs, finance…I’m willing to break it all.
I’m pretty sure I inherited it from my grandpa along with his boxes of screwdrivers and piles of current testers.
I love this post. My father also made a boat by hand – a fibreglass rowboat. My mother could knit and crochet beautifully. My husband, an engineer got his start tinkering with old radios and televisions, building his own computers as a teen(this was before the IBM PC or Apple got their start). He built his own telescope too (I’ve seen Jupiter, Mars, Venus and most lovely of all, Saturn).
I enjoy sewing, knitting, gardening and cardmaking. I find it very rewarding to be creative. Apparently I hum away happily as I create. I’ve noticed my husband whistles when he putters in his shop/office. Sometimes we save money with our DIY pursuits, other times not really (materials can be expensive), but we find it quite satisfying.
Remember too, that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful!
I really enjoy reading your thoughts.
First of all – Thank you, thank you, and thank you for sharing!
Secondly, oftentimes we, consumers, are left to choose between one or another product or service. The choices we have are limited. I have read, and re-read, these books by Aman Motwane: “The Power of Wisdom” and “Yes, You Can Change the World” and by changing our perspective can allow us to make the choice for “both.”
The Wisdom of Duality allows us to choose both: We can go to the Broadway show to enjoy the first class performance and also go to the local show for the passionate amateur performance. The same can be said about professional baseball and Little League games. The youngsters display an abundance of sportmanship!
The second book is ideal for the parent-child relationship. I recommend this book because of how we look at (or back to) the moments in our life that define us or clarify the ‘aha’ moments. Motwane uses parable prose and describes how a son learns about his father from complete strangers. I have thought a lot about my father after reading this book. The DIY tale also takes me back to my dad’s wooden dusty office floors. He was renovating a warehouse and changing it into an office space.
I have learned, and am continuing to learn, the simple truth of life is: Helping other people while fulfilling one’s own obligations.
One of the better “Make Stuff” websites on woodworking I’ve found over the years is this:
http://www.knockoffwood.blogspot.com
Ana lays out simple plans to build furniture inspired by Pottery Barn and other major furniture retailers. It’s pretty amazing what you can accomplish (and save!) with your hands and a few tools!
God bless your father and all the do-it-yourselfers out there. They are the salt of the earth
My husband and I take pleasure in the things we do ourselves — and you know what? We do a pretty decent job.
1) We make our own maple syrup
2) We make jam every year, it’s delicious and it’s fun to share
3) I sew baby blankets for friends with new babies (or sew ribbons onto diaper clothes for burping)
Some of the things I’m most proud of though, include
1) Painting our garage/barn. We had our house painted, and you know, we did a much better job, even if it took us much longer.
2) Digging the holes for our fence and installing the whole thing. It looks great, and I feel better knowing my kids are safer.
3) Making our own patio. I love our patio, it really adds to our home.
These are just a few of the things we’ve done in our house. The thing is, every little thing we did ourselves, even though it’s not perfect and we learn as we go, I take *pride* in it. It makes my home so much more an extension of me and my family.
I have similar thoughts about my father. He also was an amateur inventor. He built so many different things over the years, some of which never got out of the “beta” phase. I think his crowning achievement was his tractor that he built out of nothing. He used a small car engine and transmission, fabricated all of the transmission linkage, and used parts that he found from all kinds of places. It was really a fascinating machine (and it worked!). I always envisioned having that after he died. Tragically the tractor, along with every other invention that he made over his lifetime burned up in a massive fire a few years ago, two weeks before he died of a heart attack. I think seeing all those things lost in the fire probably contributed to his death.
I was just at my mom’s house this weekend going through old photos and happened upon some pictures of him and some of his inventions. While the items weren’t worth much to a stranger, they were priceless to us because they were “made” by my dad.
Hazzard
Thanks Toph for bringing up the origin of the word “amateur.” I was thinking about that too.
I’m visiting my brother, who has a machine shop in his living room instead of a sofa and TV. Anyone who doesn’t believe a machine shop could be beautiful should see this place. He made all the wooden workbenches themselves, and they’re not only practical, but well-proportioned and with beautiful detailing.
His hobby as a machinist informs his career as an engineer, and his artistic skill informs them both. You won’t see many engineers dressed as snappily as my bro. He’d never compromise the performance of a machine just to make it look better; but the machines he designs for his technology startup company do have a certain air of elegance. Does this get them more buzz at tradeshows? Probably.
The older I get, the more I see my friends’ hobbies and DIY projects blend into their professional careers in surprising and mysterious ways. Just because you can’t make a living at something, doesn’t mean it won’t enrich your life a hundredfold to just jump in and try it. The biggest difference between accomplished amateurs and wistful wannabes, is that the former jump in and try stuff, don’t get too bent out of shape if they fail, and then they try again.
Which is exactly the same attitude that makes for a successful career.
Last year, my father helped me install a new vent hood over my range. Neither of us had ever done any duct work before, but it turned out OK (it plugs into an existing outlet, so there was no electrical involved). My father and his siblings are all the ones who fix stuff in their households, and it’s not so much that they learned a lot about how to fix stuff growing up, they just have confidence that they can find out how to do it and then do it.
Making things myself/DIY has been the biggest sacrifice involved with being a parent while working outside the home. The little free time that I have, I’d rather spend with my kids than making a mess in the basement. However, I miss the learning and the creativity.
Thankfully now that my kids are a bit older (7 & 9), they are being to be able to work on some projects with me.
Thanks JD, it’s such a nice article to read in a cloudy Monday morning! From where I grew up – an Asian country – the handmade stuff are usually very cheap because of the low labor cost and thus handmade things are not as really well recognized and well respected as they are here in US. My dad makes bamboo music instruments such as flutes, t’rung – a xylophone look-alike.. or stone marimbas. Those instruments were highly considered by westerners who came to my country and loved to know our culture, however they (the handmade instruments) are just cheap ugly toys to most local people. My mother used to tell me exactly what Melinda (#3) was told: “It’s hard to make money being a creative, so give it up and work in an office where you have “stable” employment.”
My mother was very surprised when I told her that my husband and I have a garden, we grow vegetables and several Vietnamese chili-pepper plants, or we tiled the whole basement (I cut tiles and mixed mortar, my husband laid them), etc.. One thing we think we would never do-it-ourself again is to sand the wood floor. The Home Depot ad had shown us a smiling contractor holding the floor orbital sander, however.. my husband was swung to the wall while the sander was jumping up and down and making several swirls on our hardwood floor before it stopped. (We were lucky to be able to blend those swirls to the rest of the floor with a hand sander).
We love the Knock-off-wood blog also. We hope to build some furniture for our vacation house someday.
Wonderful post! My SO and I are confirmed DIY-ers. My Dad could build anything and my Mom could sew anything. Years ago I heard musician Sawn Colvin encouraging her audience to play music for themselves. She said, “Music is too important to be left in the hands of the professionals.” I think you can substitute just about anything (except surgery) for music and have it be true. Amatuers (people who engage in an activity for the love of it)enrich the field they’re engaged in through their energy as well as enriching their own lives by just by doing. This ties in with April’s piece about the rewards of delayed gratification and how it’s all about the journey.
A very stirring post, especially for Monday morning.
Another book in this vein that others might find interesting is Matthew B. Crawford’s “Shop Class As Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into The Value Of Work”
Excerpt: “Service manuals were once written by people who worked on and lived with the machines they wrote about … the writers of modern manuals are neither mechanics nor engineers but rather technical writers. This is a profession that is institutionalized on the assumption that it has its own principals that can be mastered without the writer being immersed in any particular problem; it is universal rather than situated. technical writers know that, but they don’t know how” (p176-177)
jd,
this is a very well written article. it is neither too long or too short.
people who build their own things tend to be the one who INVENT and CREATE which make this country and the world a better place to live in.
i build my own home stereo speakers and write a few personal finance program on ms access. these task give me great pleasure although i never profit from it.
thanks again for writing this post.
I was beginning to think that this blog was starting to lose the JD personality and then, wow, a post like this. Love it. I, too, am reminded of my parents who did things. Neat things. I think as a grown up I’ve turned into a scaredy cat afraid of screwing up. Years of being snarky, watching too much tv and overly self aware coming back to haunt me? I need/want the push to get out there and try things.
Thanks JD.
wonderful wonderful post. Your Dad sounds one of a kind!
Hear hear!! 😀 Between my husband and I, I’m definitely the “handyman”, as the guys at the hardware stores have dubbed me. 🙂 I’ve gradually taught myself enough to be confident installing grounded 3-prong outlets in place of ungrounded 2-prongs, changing light fixtures, installing a dishwasher where there hasn’t been one before, building kitchen cabinets and drawers… we could afford to hire someone to do it for us, but I can’t tell you how much more fun it is to load up the dishwasher when you drilled the holes through the walls and installed it yourself. 🙂
This type of post is the reason I read most blogs, trying to find that nugget of gold that really hits home. My dad is a lot like yours, JD. He is a self taught chef, plays piano, is a great artist, and rebuilt his own deck. And that’s just scratching the surface.
Thanks for this post. Shows you what we all could do with a little creativity.
HollyP – I understand the pressures of kids (I have three) and working, but please don’t let it stop you from making things. They don’t have to be “projects”. Do little stuff – We had a blast one day making fairy houses with glue guns and sticks we picked up from the yard (that’s how I got them to clean the yard!) They hung around for a while, then we threw them out as they were – shall we say – architecturally unsound. But we got a half day of play out of the cost of a few glue sticks, and a valuable lesson about making instead of buying playthings.
Great post!
Knowing when to pay someone else to do something, and when it can be a huge benefit to do it yourself is a great skill to have, too.
Great post, J.D.! I love doing things myself as well. It’s not always the best choice financially, but the satisfaction I get from it is worth quite a bit to me. Saying “I did that.” or “I built that.” just feels good. Combined with the fact that I’m learning while doing and probably spending my time in a better way (rather than watching TV), I think DIY is a great “hobby” to have. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. I truly enjoyed reading your post – even if you think it was a bit “amateurish”. 🙂
JD – probably one of the best blog posts I’ve read in months, on any blog – thank you!
What a sweet post.
I am 30, up until I was 5 or 6 we lived in Vermont, where my dad:
– Built a house for my mom as a wedding present
– Grew much of our own food in a large garden
– Raised our own chickens and pigs
– Made our own maple syrup
Sadly, I don’t remember any of this except the garden and the syrup. By the time I was 9 we lived in a Floridian suburb and had “crossed over” in that way. I am proud of the fact that I can do minor repairs around the house (replacing our front doorknob/lock, that type of thing) and do quite a bit of cooking from scratch – but then, we are vegetarian and if you want something delicious that’s pretty much the only way to get it. My boyfriend is a whiz with computers and electronics.
We rent a condo with a tiny backyard so a) don’t have to do any of the maintenance ourselves, anyway, because that’s why we pay the landlord, and b) there isn’t room to grow much food, and we live in Phoenix anyway and it’s so hot here and the soil’s so poor that it would take a lot more time than I have to really yield anything. But I do think I had a very special kind of childhood that is slowly disappearing.
I loved the post – it gave me something to think about. Thanks for sharing your dad’s story.
JD’s father sounds very much like my grandfather, my parents, and my father-in-law. My husband and I are homegrown DIYers, initially due to financial necessity, but also ability and desire. We have a full vegetable garden (in our small suburban yard), make enough pesto, pasta sauce, and salsa to share freely all summer, just added a full 2nd bathroom to our home, and will be taking on a kitchen remodel next year.
I agree with many of the other posters who say that it’s not only more cost effective (hugely so, in the case of remodeling), but also much more satisfying to accomplish these things ourselves. I hope to instill this in our 2 young daughters as they get older, though peer pressure for store bought things can be hard to overcome. We made beautiful valentines for their classmates this year, but my 4-year-old was a bit jealous of her friends’ dime-a-dozen purchased cards…
J.D., it sounds like you’ve got a lot of your dad’s varied interests and enthusiasms! That bit about him looking at his blood in a microscope is so bittersweet. What a great guy.
I’ve never heard of pecha-kucha, but it sounds great. However I think the link from your site has crashed their server 🙂
I’ve gotten increasingly interested in DIY. Just this weekend I managed to repair rubbing alcohol damage to my apartment’s hardwood floors without resorting to stripping the finish (WHEW).
Riveting post; no need to apologize for rambling at all. You did your dad and amateurs all over the world proud with this testimonial.
JD, this is an awesome post. Thank you.
Personally, I suck at DIY. I’m lucky if I can hang a picture on the wall without making a mess of it. So as much as I’d like to repair drywall or redo the bathroom myself, I’m just going to have to hire someone.
However I do appreciate the value of creating. I just recently started writing – a one-off for an essay contest (which I won handily) cascaded into a blog of nature poetry, and I find myself inspired by my own work! My friends are starting to read and like it too, and my sister (a photographer) and I are planning to put together an art book for family members this xmas. I’ve also just begun serious planting in the yard. I’m an expert at killing things, but my grandmother created a low-maintenance garden plan for me, and I’m going slowly and carefully. It’s wonderful to plant things and watch them grow and thrive; I have two trees and a rosemary plant succeeding so far, and I planted another tree and some climbing vines this weekend.
I’ve never considered myself a creative type but it really is rewarding. 🙂
Great post. I really enjoyed this. It actually reminded me of a lot ofthe posts over on http://www.TheArtOfManliness.com
I think people would be a lot happier and much better off if they (myself included) would become more self-reliant
Long time lurker here. Excellent post. I’ve always strived to do things myself. I love to learn new things or at least know how things work eventhough I know I can’t physically do some of them myself. Being the only girl, I’m blessed to have three brothers each with different passions they love to share. I’ve done auto mechanic stuff like change my own radiator, brakes, etc. Do outdoor things like fly fish, camp, road cycling, rock climbing all because of people like my brothers and by checking out library books to learn how to get started.
Great post!
My inlaws (being from the west coast) are very much like your parents. Owned their own businesses, and instilled that sense of control over one’s destiny in their sons. My parents (east coast) instilled a sense of DIY for the luxuries in life, my mom has always had a huge rose garden where she cuts her own flowers to fill her house all summer long. My dad used to do stained glass, and my mother sewed lots of clothes for us growing up. Her insistance that my sister and I learn to sew (prom/fancy dresses are WAY cheaper to sew than to buy), resulted in my sister becoming a first rate fashion designer.
Thanks for this post. I really needed it today.
Excellent post! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can’t say that I (or my Dad) am all that handy, but I enjoy trying whenever a mess-up won’t be too costly.
I enjoy marveling at a good engineer’s work. That’s really interesting that your Dad made the machines/processes at the box factory. I’d like to hear more about that one day.
Thanks for the article!
Fun post. You seem to have great childhood memories. I confess I can’t (or maybe have chosen not to) do much myself. But you sure can save money if you can. A friend’s father buys very old cars and then does all the work on them himself. Once he hits a problem he can’t fix and the car is truly dead, the car goes for scrap. Saves tons of money.
I think I will take the inspiration from this post to learn to sew buttons onto my clothes. It’s only a small step, but its something!
Terrific piece, J.D. There must be something in the water – a related essay appeared on Soul Shelter today.
So…”make stuff” but don’t be a consumer of other people “stuff” even though the materials to make the “stuff” could cost as much or more, the making of much more waste from your mistakes, etc, than actually buying similar items of “stuff” that doesn’t waste as much energy, etc, from other people/companies?
There is a reason while Home Depot, Michael’s, Fry’s Electronics, and other “maker havens” are billion dollar industries.
I completely get it about having pride of ownership in items and crafts, solving problems around the house, etc. I love Make magazine and try my hand once in a while on cooking and electronics…but an item made is an item made regardless if it’s from Wal-Mart or Aunt Martha and will take as much or more energy and materials.
Great article! I didn’t mind the length of it at all. I am happy to read of so many other “amateurs” out there that are keeping the tradition of doing their own things. The people I work with tell me I was born one or two generations late. Some even ask if I have any Amish in my blood. I love to make things and fix broken things. I buy things new, but always try to see if I can fix or repurpose what is being replaced.
This article exemplifies everything that American’s need to do. Get out there and do something with your hands. Create something that you can be proud of. I have a friend that tells me that his only tool in his tool box is a check book. That’s sad. He doesn’t even own a hammer! That’s just sad.
Great post. While my DIY projects have not been stellar, and I definitely have not showed anybody my creations for fear of ridicule – the most fun I had one summer was when I disassembled an old couch and re-used the wood to make a free standing shelf for our pantry. It was ugly, but it served its purpose, and it made me smile every time I went to get another bottle of my mom’s garden grown green beans.
I am going to take more pride in my DIY regardless of how the projects turn out. Thanks for the inspiration.
I love the sense of accomplishment from a successful DIY project. I’m not terribly handy, and most of my attempts fail pretty badly, which makes victories that much sweeter.
This post was a lot of fun to read – thanks!
Great post! Your father sounds like quite a guy.
My husband and I are city slickers with desk jobs. But he grew up on a farm and his parents still live there. One of the many things I love about him is his ability to fix things himself – even if he doesn’t know how, he’ll try – I think this is an artifact of growing up on the farm.
We visit his parents sometimes when the county fair is going on. I am very impressed when I see the displays of the various skills – canning, sewing, weaving, furniture and model making, vegetable growing.. you name it. I jokingly told my husband if we ever suffer from some kind of apocalyptic disaster, the farm people will be able to fend for themselves, and we are screwed!
Great post, J.D.! You are totally right about the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction you get from doing things yourself. Recently I built a website for my friend’s company. At first I didn’t think I could do it, but I pushed myself and now I am so proud of myself for what I did. All that tinkering with free Geocities sites when I was a kid helped more than I would have thought.
Cooking takes time, but when I prepare a delicious meal from scratch I am very pleased with myself.
There is definitely a lot to be said about doing some things yourself and taking pleasure in the things others do. Who cares if they’re not pros?
J.D,
Despite your initial skepticism about posting this article, I feel it had multiple and very valuable points:
1) Value the postive efforts of our parents — no matter how our relationship with them was/ is.
2) There is a sense of accomplishment associated with DIY that is revered by most and simply cannot be purchased in any store.
3) DIY encourages creatity & less consumption.
4) Life is a continual work-in-progress: perfection is seldomly achieved, but it’s the process that we learn the most from.
5) Consumerism is highly over-rated, as some things are worth outsourcing, but many DIY can contribute positively towards enriching your life in more than one sense.
I feel that since your trip, you have a fresh outlook on the modern North American lifestyle, and have grown furthermore to appreciate all that can be accomplished not by factories & mass production: but by the human spirit of tireless ingenuity & creativity.
So basically your dad was MacGyver?! Sounds like my kind of guy. I love DIY but don’t approach that level.
It is frustrating at times, like having to run to Home Depot at 7:45 on a Sunday night when they close at 8, because I bought the 1/2″ nut instead of the 3/8″ for my dishwasher install. But damn it if I got that thing hooked up and running at 11pm that night. A big hug from my wife and the satisfaction of doing the job was all the glory I needed.
I appreciate the DIY mindset. It makes me feel good to know I’ve accomplished something constructive with my own two hands. But I think that a lot of the appeal of DIY is learning how to do something new, as much as it is in creating something yourself. I used to do all my own work on my cars. I got pretty good at it. I built and installed my own engine in my race car (back when I had one). I don’t do car work anymore, though. I’ve given up on modifying cars as a hobby, and so with my relatively new car, all it ever really needs is oil changes. There’s not much more I could learn about changing oil, and so it’s a chore now, not so much fun, and I just pay the dealer to do it for me. I know I could do it myself if I wanted to, though, and that still counts for something in my mind. I don’t feel trapped by the dealer — that’s a convenience that I pay for instead of a necessity I’m forced to buy.
I also try to do things around the house when I can. I generally do most inexpensive household repairs myself. I won’t do expensive ones because I live in a rental and I’m only going to invest so much money into someone else’s property, but still, I’ll fix clogged drains and things like that myself.
I’ve been gardening lately. I grew a lawn (gophers are trying to eat it now) from seed that I was proud of. Plenty of other people have done this and it’s not that complicated, but I’d never done it before, so I felt good about it.
Some other things I find intriguing — I’d like to build my own surfboards, for instance, but surfboards are a challenge. I know the general principal, but surfboard shaping is essentially a form of sculpture. Each board is generally designed custom and one-off, and is essentially like designing a boat hull. There are generally no forms or plans or anything (not unless you make them yourself), you start with a block of foam and carve it into a hull that needs to be symmetrical and hydrodynamically functional. Then you have to fiberglass it which is a bit of an art itself. I’d imagine it’d be easy to build a dozen lousy boards before you got a passable one, and the materials for a surfboard are probably $300+, so it’d be an expensive learning process.
So, I buy handmade surfboards made by a guy here in town. There are several talented surfboard shapers around here, and I do feel good about giving them my business.
Some other cases of “handmade” products seem like more marketing than anything, though. You can buy a handmade bicycle, but it’s made out of tubing that came from a factory, then it’s cut and welded into a bike frame by hand, and then factory-built wheels and pedals and brakes and shifters and handlebars and a seat are all attached. 95% of that bike is still factory built. It’s hand assembled and the frame is hand welded, but it seems a far cry from being built by hand.
Also, anything that requires advanced materials is impossible to build by hand. You couldn’t build a microprocessor by hand if you wanted to, and most carbon fiber applications don’t lend themselves to being hand built.
So, it doesn’t work for everything, but I do think there’s an innate joy to be gained from understanding how and why something is the way it is, and you need to know that to be able to build things. Even if you can’t build everything (you can assemble a computer even if you can’t build the processor in it), you sill get one more level of understanding than you’d have if you just bought the whole thing already complete, and that gives you a bit of that joy of understanding.
If it hasn’t been said already. There are better things to do than watch TV. This article is full of ideas. Cancel your cable and take that money and spend it on a hobby. Something to enrich your life.
As I read this, it strikes me how perfectly this article describes the nature of my own website and its intent. This isn’t intended to be a spam comment, just an observation.
My Dad was a pattern maker and I remember as a child he would come home from work with his metal lunch box and many times inside was a wooden toy he built on his lunch. Over the 29 years I have been married he has helped draw the plans and build our storage shed, patio roof and last my little green house. Even though he is now 80 and has Parkisons that has taken a lot away from him, he still turned their old sewing machine cabinet into a small table last week.
YES! Wonderful post. Thank you.
Hey JD
Did you ever ask your father what motivated him to apply himself towards these pursuits?
You will be hearing from my lawyer. 😉
Seems like maybe you should ramble more often J.D.- your audience sure enjoyed this post! My husband & I have learned a lot about gardening over the years, and have transformed our empty lot into our own little paradise. We took classes at the Arnold Arboretum many years back, and had the supreme pleasure of learning from some of the finest horticultural minds our our time. We’ve done a lot of work with fieldstones, and have many beautiful plants that we enjoy enormously. We also installed the hardwood floors in our house, made and hung shelves and did a lot of smaller projects – not bad for a couple of white-collar workers! As others have noted above, the sense of pride and satisfaction is priceless. When we bought this house it was a borderline teardown; now it’s our honeymoon cottage. We wouldn’t love it nearly so much if we hadn’t put so much of ourselves into it.
Great Post.
The best and most valuable are those that are in good condition are always handmade.
Wow, this is one of the most powerful pieces I’ve ever read here!
You bring up a great point, and one that I’ve been chewing on myself lately! DIYers and inventors are one and the same. Why not try to DIY even if it doesn’t work. It beats hearing about investions that you thought of 10 years ago that are now on the market today (we all have this happen, I know I have…)
Thanks for a great piece that puts this apsect back into our lives!
Great article!!! I almost always try to go the DIY route. One thing to remember though is learn to recognize your limitations. Sometimes it’s more costly to have someone else fix a failed project. That said, I am one of those individuals who would try a DIY project at least once just to get it out of my system and find out if I will succeed or not. More often than not, it’s always been a rewarding and satisfying journey.
Let’s see, I built my PC from scratch back in 2005 and I’m still using it. Because I put in every bits and pieces, I’m able to upgrade and update.
I set up my own guitar instead of bringing it to a shop. Now it plays really nice (someday I might build one, who knows).
I have ongoing DIY projects lined up for the house we bought last year (already save a ton of $$$).
Best DIY project I’ve done so far… my daughter’s Photo/Video DVD production for the grandparents. I had to learn Photoshop, Premiere, Encore and other software to make it happen. All I’ve gotten are praises on how well it was done. I realized just started a tradition.
My mom makes document corners for her work. They used to buy them, but she found she could make them cheaper in the downtime she had. I think thats a rare savings for an accountant firm, to have someone hand make document corners.
There is something so satisfiying about hand made things. I would really like to make a guitar one day, just because then when I play it, I know I actually created the sound.
Great post again, keep them coming.
I love this post. Sentimental and honest. It really touched me. Thanks for sharing
A very soulful post. Thank you for sharing the memories of your father.
Both my mother and father seemed to have been quite similar to yours. Both above average ametaurs in their own respects.
They deserve all the credit in the world, it seems they came from a time that has long past most of us. Don’t know why (maybe the onset of technology?) but it seems the entrepreneurial spirit has dimmed quite a bit in this country.
My husband and I make a lot of things. He builds pallets, frames, or whatever is needed to do a job. I knit clothes and accessories (scarves, hats) and make jewelry I sell on Etsy. I’d do more needlepoint, but there’s a limit to how much any house needs of that!
I think DIY is making a big come-back: just look at the knitting TV shows and the many stores on Etsy.
J.D., one of your best and most heartfelt posts ever. As the child of a serial creator, this one really resonated with me.
Great Post! I admire your Dad.. and you this gene runs in the family!
As you have written here several times the secret to finding something fuilfiling is to do to follow our passion. lot’s of lesson to learn from your father.
Jennifer Ressman said it right when she said ‘There are better things to do than watch TV’. I think this is especially true if you have kids. Get off the couch and make stuff with your kids. http://www.makestuffwithyourkid.com is a blog just about that.
It doesn’t have to be something so complex a boat or a greenhouse but anything at all that you take the time to build with your kids. (Although I AM a fan of building a boat 😛 ) It is the time you give them that they will value and the thing you build with them will be a reminder that you love them.
This is a great article which, from the other comments, really resonates with many of us in very different ways. We are all creative beings & even for those who don’t think they are, creativity can be found. For me it’s almost a compulsion that I continue to explore new mediums. If I become too bogged down with day to day activities & don’t take time to create (play), I can become cranky &/or depressed. And the connection with other artists & patrons is an integral part of the process. That connectivity is just as crucial as the creative alone time.
My father has always been tinkering away. He was a mailman for 35 years and would find old rusty mailboxes in the trash. He would bring them home and sand them, patch them, Paint them and replace the ones on his route that were falling apart. He would find old lamps and bring them home and paint them to reuse or gift to people. He wasn’t the most handy person but he tried to do repairs around the house. My Mom wasn’t afraid to do anything (still isn’t) and between the two of them have made more repairs and upgrades to their retirement home in Arizona. My Mother just recently taught me how to turn old CD’s that don’t play anymore (or the free ones you used to get in the mail) into coasters by crocheting yarn around them. Their “try anything” attitude rubbed off and has got me doing things that my husband never thought of. He greatly enjoys seeing my delight in another project done.
As a crafter, DIYer and fan of parental appreciation- I give you much praise JD! I also give praise to all the posters here. I’m gonna go call my folks and thank them and tell them I love them now 🙂
Don’t know if it’s just me being overstressed but this piece made me kind of emotional. I think this is probably the best piece I have ever read here. It really got a reaction from me. I have been trying to spread this message to my friends and family. I love things that they make. I’m definitely going to share this post with everyone I know.
JD, this was a really beautiful piece. You remind us that we’re only really living when we’re creating something–whether it’s a greenhouse, a story, a song, or laughter. It sounds like your father really knew how to live.
JD, this is such a fantastic post, thank you for sharing the story of your amazing dad. What an incredible, inspiring man! I know he would be very proud of your own endeavors and success.
Hubby and I are also DIYers. We completely rehabbed our house in the city for rental (just a few of the projects included redoing the wood floors & installing a new model, second hand furnace – just those 2 projects saved us over $5k). We are slowly remodeling the old 1910 country home that we bought – taking our time because we pay cash as we go, which is fine by us! We built every stick of our 36×48 shop on our own (saved $15k), and we own older, second hand vehicles with minimal electronics so that we can do all basic maintenance & tune ups ourselves.
We automated a savings acct for a large garden, which we’ll be starting next fall. An acre of produce, and 1/2 acre of berry rows. I am out of my mind with excitement about it!
I think the DIY movement is gaining momentum as much as is possible given the urbanization of our civilization. Even my best friend’s husband, a busy civil engineer who didn’t know how to hammer a nail 10 years ago, is now building raised flower beds and garden gates. She sews & knits, and she just installed their new kitchen sink.
DIY can be simultaneously frustrating and deeply satisfying, but it’s seldom boring!
Thanks for this post!
I’m not into crafts, but my favorite pieces of art in our house are the pieces that my husband and I did together.
We took burlap sack, scrunched it up, spray painted it with one color, unscrunched it, rescrunched it, and repeated with a different color until we had the coolest mix of spray paints ever. We then stapled the pieces of burlap over three soft wood frames and have all the pieces together on one wall. They are always going to be my favorites!
I just wanted to add to the chorus that I too loved this post. Thank you for sharing it 🙂
Long time reader, first time posting… very inspiring! Thank you!
I draw and I am currently learning how to craft silver jewelry, btw.
Absolutely lovely post, JD.
I’ve been reading for a few years and this is my first comment. It just hit me on several levels.
Loved this post.
Made me think of my grandfather who built a whole house. Not many people can say that.
My mom (his daughter) didn’t pass on those skills to me but I’ve tried my best to DIY anyway. Some times it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Oh well. 🙂
btw, JD – I love that food dehydrator/dryer that your dad built. Was it electric? I’m getting more and more into DIY food as well – gardening, canning, preserving (you & Kris have done some terrific posts on the subject – is there ANYTHING you two can’t do!?). I’m interested in deydrating food but just can’t figure out the best method for it.
@89 Actually, both of my grandfathers built their own houses. Never saw one, but the other was as sound as the day it was built 45 years later until it burned down in an electrical fire a couple years ago.
Growing up, we didn’t make so much as repaired. My parents are still using the first washer they bought when they got married 30 years ago.
Like the scores of people above, I love this post.
Have you read “The Craftsman” by Richard Sennett?
http://www.amazon.com/Craftsman-Richard-Sennett/dp/0300119097
His central thesis: “making is thinking.” He connects craftsmanship to a larger philosophy of work and ethics. Highly recommended.
Thank you for this post! I loved reading about your dad, and you gave me such an a-ha moment with the observation that it’s about learning how to learn as much as learning how to make or do any particular thing. I suddenly understand my own attraction to the DIY movement, and I’m now wondering how I can take this connection into my classroom. Even with 10-and 11-yos, I hear “I’m gonna pay somebody to do that.” I believe they will need more practical skills that they are developing, but mostly I hope that the fun side of DIY might spark a broader love of learning in some of them.
WOW. That’s what this blog makes me feel to my bones. Just full of WOW. Your dad sounds like he was an amazing role model for never giving up.
You mentioned that your “Action Girl’s Guide to Living” link never seems to garner much appreciation, but it seems so amazing to me. I’ve only skimmed the beginning (and bookmarked for later, leisurely browsing), but it seems almost like a blueprint or pep-talk for the type of life I want to live. Get out there, DO what your heart calls for, and get involved with your community.
Easy to read, easy to think, harder to actually put into action, but worth every effort!
Thanks so much for posting this. Despite your feelings that it might come off as amateurish. The article in its entirety is an inspiration and therefore fits very well with the rest of GRS!
It was wierd that I happened to stumble across this wonderful site. I am an amateur in everything. We loved the size and shape of our couch and loveseat so when the fabric was getting ratty I re-upholstered them. We bought a home that needed a few things done. I am so proud to say that I have repaired everything myself from patching cracks in walls to fixing drainage issues around the foundation. Reading, watching my amateur father, and making a lot of mistakes has been the center of my curriculum. Great thing about making a mistake is there is always something to learn and you can usually go back and fix it. My wife wanted a little chair for my two year old son. Since we liked our loveseat so much and since we had leftover upholstery fabric I am now bulding him a 2/3 scale chair that matches the couch and loveseat. Is my work perfect? No! Does my work have flaws? Yes! However, what a great feeling of accomplishment when you do it yourself! I am excited for when I finish my son’s little chair because maybe not right now but someday he will realize that his dad loved him enough to spend hours every night for two weeks just so he could have a nice overstuffed chair of his own. That beats ploping down $150 for a new one at the store anyday!
Wow! Your dad sounds like he was amazing!
My parents have completely remodeled their house, restructured things, added on, laid hardwood, all that crazy stuff! My dad used to have his own home improvement business and although that seemed really boring to me as a kid, it was actually really cool.
My mom is also an amazing cook, but most especially an amazing baker. She makes the best bread I’ve ever had! She’s also had her own garden for as long as I can remember… And has canned and made jams and all sorts of “crazy” stuff like that.
My older brother taught himself programming on our Atari and now has a great job working on computers and making a ton of money–all with only a GED. He just taught himself so much about computers that he’s indispensable and far more knowledgeable than even the people he works with who went to college for that stuff!
I’m working on becoming more DIY myself. I’ve always made things, although I’ve never done any huge projects. Currently I’m trying to teach myself to sew and crochet well. More than minor repairs. I’ve got a small business I’m trying to get going, but it’s not that easy! I can’t wait to get a house and have a garden and paint things and refinish furniture… All those fun things!
JD, you’ve put into words what I’ve often felt about the power and appeal of DIY, but could never articulate. I love that it pushes us to become lifelong learners, and to embrace lifelong learner, because learning certainly doesn’t end with school! And I’ve found that I really love doing or making things with friends, as opposed to consuming [restaurant meals, movies, etc.] with them. It’s infectious, too – after baking for/with friends a couple of times, they made me a birthday cake last year :-). It was incredibly sweet, and they were so proud. So if you have ideas for more posts on DIY, I hope you write them!
I spin. Wool. I bought a used spinning wheel that I found on Craig’s list and learned to spin. Someone sold me (for $10)two filthy sheep fleeces and I learned how to clean and card the wool. then I learned to dye the wool. so now I have lots and lots of skeins of hand spun, hand dyed wool and I’m knitting a sofa throw.
If you calculated the number of hours that I’ve spent making that throw it would seem like the silliest thing in the world.
But no one will have a sofa throw like mine. And there is something incredible about really understanding where this object came from.
Great post. Great comments.