Sometimes I feel like I’ve just jumped on the bandwagon of the maker craze. But then I stop and think about it, and I’m reminded that making has been a part of me since childhood. I remember watching my mom do all the canning and preserving that she did each year so that we could have veggies, jellies, and jams every winter. I remember one year, I was sick and had to stay home from school. So I laid on a church bench in our kitchen and read while mom and her cousin Beulah made chow-chow: a type of pickled relish that’s GREAT on pinto beans.
I also watched my mom sew. She could make anything out of practically nothing. She made many of my clothes as I was growing up, and like most kids, I never really appreciated it until adulthood. When I attempted to sew my wedding outfit, it was Mom who saved the day and helped complete it to where I could actually wear it. I also watched her take prom and wedding dresses that where 2 sizes too big/small and work her same magic. She could completely tear a dress apart and put it back together to where it would fit perfectly. I’m talking dresses that hundreds of dollars.
My dad, well, he’s also a maker. I can’t begin to describe all of the wonderful things he’s made during my life. Scroll saw crafts that were so intricate I was afraid to touch them. For years, one of his favorite things to do was carve. He could take a plain piece of wood and turn it into ANYTHING he wanted. He also made magic tricks, toys, you name it.
Finally, my brother is also a maker. He’s built pieces of furniture that would have brought a thousand dollars in bigger cities, but where we’re from, no one has that kind of money. I have pieces of furniture in my house that he’s made, as well as framed pictures that he not only took the photograph, but then built the custom frame to go with it. Now, the two of us craft laser projects, 3D projects, sublimation items, and more.
So no, I did not jump on the maker craze. It’s always been a part of who I am by virtue of my family and my desire to create things. Here’s to many years of making.
