DIY – Feel the Power

Learning what you CAN do for yourself (as opposed to buy) can be a real economic lifesaver.

When we relocated to central Mexico for several years in a brief flirtation with retirement, there were many things I was accustomed to that simply weren’t available. For example, I wasn't able to buy canned roasted red peppers which I love to use in cooking. When I learned how to make them myself, I thought "Wow, is that all there is to it?!"

That started me on a fascinating quest to learn how to do things for myself. I've ground my own flour and peanut butter, grown herbs and "exotic" (in the sense that most people wouldn't think to try growing them) produce like strawberries, potatoes and asparagus.

Being crafty, I started making my own greeting and calling cards and giving them as presents. No more store bought gifts for me. I sewed presents, painted them and decoupaged them. When decorative items were damaged, I figured out how to repair them seamlessly rather than discard them.

Meanwhile, in the blink of an eye (or so it seemed), we lost half our retirement portfolio in the dot.com market collapse. It was devastating. My heart truly goes out to all the people today who are dealing with similar financial reverses.

My DH and I came up with the idea of a crafting website using all the DIY skills I had acquired. Still we teetered on the brink of bankruptcy for four harrowing years until The Artful Crafter was well-established.

DIY-ing is very empowering. Whether you use it to save money in difficult times or actually make a career of it as I did, I highly recommend Doing It Yourself.