Making is an act of resistance. In a world that tells you to consume, that tries to tell you what to do and think and how to spend your time, making something with your own hands is rejection of the status quo.
To bring joy and self-expression into your list is important all the time, but when things are hard it’s even more vital.
(And things feel hard right now, right? Thus the need for a minimalist crafter manifesto.)
What Does Being a Minimalist Crafter Mean?
Being a minimalist crafter is not about making less. It’s not about having less, unless decluttering your craft supplies is a goal you have.
It’s not about a certain aesthetic, though the word minimalism might conjure clean lines and stark spaces.
It’s not necessarily even about buying less, as long as you’re mindful about it.
It is about being mindful about what you buy and what you make. About not getting caught up in trends of FOMO about the latest viral sweater pattern or the coolest new crafting gadget.
It is about using what you have when you can, getting creative with what’s available in your house, upcycling, recycling, gifting and swapping, thrifting and all ways crafting can be a part of bringing us together as a community.
It’s about self expression and making what you really want to (or even need to) make. It’s about adding whimsy and details and creating with care.
It can be mindful of our communities when it leads to making for charity, gifts for new humans, political statements.
Or it can be for ourselves alone, a source of comfort and stress relief that goodness knows we all need right now. Being a minimalist craft (or any kind of maker) is not selfish. It’s the best kind of self care.
Mindful Minimalist Crafting
It’s not about telling you what to do or what to make (though I have ideas, both here and at my other blog, Our Daily Craft).
It is about encouraging you to be mindful of your choices. What you want to make, how you want to make it, what materials you use and where they come from.
If you want or need to not buy craft supplies for a while, it’s about knowing that’s not the end of your creative journey. That in fact constraints can make you more creative.
There is always a way to make and remake. You can do visible mending or put a patch on a shirt, use an old shirt to make a pillowcase and turn and old pillowcase into yarn.
Make art from your junk mail and raid your kids’ art supplies. Get a book from the little free library and make it into a junk journal. Ask friends for supplies and be willing to share what you have in return. Mutualism is creativity.
What do you want to make today?
