1 Easy Trick To Beat Cold Feet In The Craft Room

You’ve Got Crafting Cold Feet

Tell me if this sounds familiar. You’ve gathered together a ton of really inspiring objects to use in your junk journaling or craft project. You’ve made the time, your craft table is all set up and ready to go, and… you’re stuck. You’ve watched a ton of tutorials and craft-along, and a sneaking suspicion is growing inside you that this has all just been some elaborate form of procrastination. Because you haven’t actually attached or made anything, and the day is disappearing. You just sort of stare at everything and feel frozen. Is this you?

Here, let me knit you some virtual socks really quickly, and warm those up for you. First, I just wanted to say that I totally feel you with the second-guessing, the “what if I need this bit later but it’s already glued down” and the whole *doubty shebang. I’ve been a maker my whole life and I sometimes STILL experience that when working with precious materials I’ve hoarded into my dragon’s lair…

“Why are you like this? Just glue it down already!”

… I tell myself to no avail. It is a good question though. Ask yourself what the source of the crafting anxiety actually is. And be honest! Nobody can hear your answer, so what’s the harm? I’ll start with the thing that gives me the worst crafting cold feet:

I often have way too many ideas and want to do my best. If it isn’t clear what “the best” is, I can get frozen, procrastinate, and then do nothing. That’s what it feels like at first, but if I’m really digging it out, the answer’s much simpler than that.

It’s different for everyone, but I’m hesitant to use things up in case I think of a better way to go later. After it’s glued down, it’s too late to unglue it and improve – eek!

Can you identify? What do you have to lose, really, though, other than some materials? Even if you mess up, you’ll have learned, and nobody gets hurt. Easier thought than done though, right?

But if I use my treasures, they’ll be gone!

It is a bit perfectionist, but what’s actually happening at those times is that I’m not trusting my craft intuition. Which is RIDICULOUS. In my regular life, I’m a professional studio artist. And in my studio, I have total trust. But there’s something different about craft, isn’t there? Think about it, though. How can you learn to trust your craft intuition, if you don’t try a bunch of things and make a ton of mistakes? If you don’t make mistakes, you won’t learn anything!

Does this sound familiar? If it does, read on for the best way to get over cold feet and procrastination in the craft room.

This 1 easy craft hack should get you over the fear of commitment.

Let’s get you popping the top off that glue stick in no time!

It’s different for everyone, but I find that using printables frees me up to make visual decisions and take creative risks. I know that if I’m not pleased with the result I can simply print it over and try again. Maybe that will help next time? It’s a bit of a hack, but it skips the actual commitment bit… *Why don’t you hop on over to the library and grab some free printables to get you started?

The more mistakes you make, the wiser your craft intuition will become. Trusting that intuition will become easier when you’ve given it a vast pool of experience to draw from.

So go forth, and try to make as many craft mistakes as possible!

*You’re right, ‘doubty’ is not a word. I made it up. Fits though, doesn’t it?
*By the way, if you also offer free printables, feel free to pop a direct link to your freebies into the comments below, so my craft friends can find you!

These are all free printables for junk journaling, collage, and papercraft: