I come from a family heritage of Do-It-Yourself long before pinterest or the acronym D.I.Y. came on the scene.
My paternal grandfather built a television set himself in the 60's. He bought a kit and a book and built a T.V. He taught his children that you could learn to do anything and never pay someone to do something that you can figure out how to do yourself.
My dad, of course, caught the spirit. I grew up knowing that he really could do just about anything. To this day I think that any "real man" knows how to fix everything. Luckily I snagged my Hot Italian who tries to fix just about everything. They're a rare breed these days.
My maternal grandmother has always sewed. Growing up we had a quilt that she made from an old set of curtains (salvaged from the neighbor's garbage can), a mattress pad (also salvaged from the neighbor's garbage can), and pieced together jeans my mom and aunt had grown out of. Even though my mom claims she was mortified by my grandma's extreme frugality, she carried on the trait and I grew up with mostly hand-me-downs and homemade clothes. I remember showing my mom outfits I liked in the Sunday ads and instead of buying it for me she would replicate it. I hated this as a child, but now I find myself doing the same thing.
When I bought my first home in 2007 I was grateful for my DIY attitude. I went to work changing light fixtures, painting, and doing a little simple plumbing.
This DIY attitude has turned me into quite the hobbiest. I started sewing at age 4. All throughout my childhood and teenage years I did all sorts of crafting. At 15 I started quilting.
This was the first quilt that I made. A project for my Youngwomanhood Recognition award. Want to know how I made it? Leave a comment and I'll add a tutorial in a future post.
I picked up photography in 2008. Part of my photography hobby is making photo greeting cards. My first "project" was my Dad's birthday invitation.
Isn't he cute? If you're interested in some ideas/tutorials on photocard design let me know and I'll add a tutorial on that.
Labels: DIY
