the disastrous tale of #9 on my bucket list

Start a successful crafting group--a group that consistently has at least four people attending is #9 on my 23 before 23 bucket list. You see, goals are supposed to be specific and measurable, and since the list that first got me into one-year bucket lists had items that were very non-specific and not really measurable, I wanted to make sure my items were pretty specific. However, I was apparently overreaching because this goal has been a difficult one!

I started my craft-group efforts in May--right after my list's creation. I would post about it on my ward Facebook page--advertising friendship, treats, and fun times crafting--but it was less successful than I would have hoped. Every month, from May to January (I may have missed a month or two), I have had a craft day, but of those 8 months, there were only four people there (besides me) twice. TWICE! And despite my efforts to revamp the group in November [switching from a general broadcast to a more specific call for crafters (and then the creation of a new craft-group page)] I still haven't found much success.

One of the times there were four people!
Kaytlen, Whitney, Ellen, me, and Aleisha

One problem is perhaps that people don't feel specifically wanted. When you invite someone individually to something, they're more likely to accept because it's personal. When you invite someone in general situation, it's much easier for them to blow it off. Though I knew this the whole time, it's hard to know who is a crafter or who has the time. Also, part of creating this group was to find new friends who shared my love of crafting, so it had to be a general invitation to any who might fit that category. But alas, a definite roadblock to my 4-person caveat.

Another problem is that my craft group is a "bring your own ideas and supplies" kind of craft group. I'm not one to make random crafts that I'm not necessarily interested in, so I didn't want those kind of constraints placed on myself or others. If you want to make home decor crafts, that's an option. If you want to scrapbook, that's an option. Cross-stitching, quilt-making, ornament-making, and Christmas-present making were other things that various people brought to do. But for those who need to be shown the steps or even shown what they "should" be making, or even for those whose budgets prevented them from purchasing materials, this may have been what stood in the way of them coming.

And the final problem, which has most recently become a problem for me, is that once every month might be too often to craft. Of course we all have hundreds of ideas pinned on Pinterest (maybe that's just me?), but we have only one life, one house, one husband. We can't make every single DIY we have pinned because it may be enough to fill every house in the neighborhood. Though I know I will do more crafts in my life, I'm kind of in a crafty drought right now, so I didn't even host a craft day in February and I don't plan to host one in March. I'm out of ideas, I'm out of supplies, and I'm busy with other obligations. Maybe other people climbed into this boat before I did.

But since I definitely devoted a lot of effort to this task, I'm going to consider it finished, and perhaps try to find a better way of doing things in the near future. In the meantime, check out a few of the crafts I've worked on/finished over the last several months of having a craft group! If nothing else, this goal made sure I was doing crafts on a regular basis.

the silver pinecone petal tree (left) and the gold trim tree (right)
were both done in the early days of the craft group.

After seeing Tattered to Taylored's tutorial for painting straw bags, I made a bunch, including these two :)

In fashion typical of me, I worked on some 4th of July decor . . . after the 4th had already passed. I still need to hang
that star on the canvas, but the painting of the canvas and the mason jars happened with the craft group :)

This Christmas advent calendar was not made in time for Christmas 2014
(I finished it a few days before Christmas), but it will be ready this year!

I worked on a few other things, but they're not finished enough to show :)

So if you're a fellow crafter, I'd love for you to come to my group sometime! I'm always looking for more people--obviously ha ;) Let me know if you're interested :)