Why Try A DIY
Many people tend to hear the acronym DIY once or twice a day. Most of the times its from someone who posted an idea or a project on a social media site, on Pinterest, a friend who made an item that made their life easier, or even on tv. For those who do not know, DIY stands for Do It Yourself. This acronym can be used for any project or idea that usually would cost tons of money when you pay a professional to do it or buy it off someone’s website or a big-name brand store. My mom always told me, "If you can look it up online or YouTube it, then you can do it yourself." Ever since then I have made sure to at least try to DIY whatever I needed or wanted before I went to spend what could be unnecessary money. I have done DIY projects from making my own body sugar scrub to building a firepit for me and my friends to hang out at. A DIY is your best friend when it comes to trying to save money.
There are 3 things you need to know before going into attempting a DIY project. First you need to make sure that you can follow directions. Many may think of course I can follow directions; how do you think I got through school or work? But unless you are a construction worker the directions of a DIY can be difficult. Sometimes you must have certain wood or screws, or paint, or tools and some people think they can find something similar or switch it up and that can be the downfall to the entire project. Next you need to be open minded and willing to put in the work. Most people see the price of an item and immediately think the price is worth not having to put the work in. Or that the item online looks just as good as the one on that girl’s DIY YouTube page. But at the end of the project the satisfaction of doing it yourself and not putting out as much money as you would have online or in store is more rewarding and make you admire the piece even more.
The last ingredient to a successful DIY is patience. Painting may be easy, gluing may be easy, cutting may be easy but certain directions may be something you never have done before and may require a bit of practice before being able to create your project. Do not only be patient with the items you are working with but be patient with yourself. Do not give up after the second or third try. Sometimes certain steps may require more research on an easier or a clearer way on how to do them. We have all heard of the saying practice makes perfect so if your project does not turn out perfectly the first time, do not give up. With time come knowledge and you will be the queen or king of DIYs in no time.
DIY projects don’t just have to be something that you use for yourself or in your home, they can be gifts or even become a small company of products that you sell to other people. People find the ideas for different projects on all sorts of platforms. If you Google DIY so many things will come up and it may be hard to sort through them all just to find the perfect “how to” for your project. Places to look with that are easy to find with easy instructions are YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, HGTV, Etsy, and the DIY Network.
Often times people do a DIY to save money, but some spend just as much because they get expensive products from places like Home Depot, Lowes, or a Hardware store. Also, just because the name literally means “do it yourself” does not mean that you have to work on the project alone. These projects can become a family project or even ask a friend to help. Depending on the project you are trying to create also can determine where you can get the products you need to construct the product for the lowest prices. Here are a few places to get the same good quality materials for a lesser price and maybe more quantity if you plan on doing more than one projects: Dollar Tree, Walmart, Target, Thrift Store, Junk Yard, or even Dumpster Diving.
After a while, some people may get tired of doing DIY’s or think that its too much work and would rather spend the money to have someone else do it for them or just go to the store and buy the product that they need. Others fall in love with these projects. Many people have done a DIY project just for fun or to save money and realize they want to do more projects or make multiple of the same project. It is not rare that some decide to make a small business out of a DIY. Some people do small things like keychain or picture frames while others do furniture building or house painting. Regardless of the project everyone should try to it themselves just for the fun of it or knowing you could do it if you really wanted.
With everything going on in the world right now with the pandemic and things changing, this would be the perfect time to try a project. Try it and gift it to someone, try it and sell it, try it and put it in your house or even try it and let all your anger out by destroying it. Either way you may find out something new about yourself and unlock a side of you that you did not know that you had. Make this a New Year’s resolution and do not give up until you’re finished. It may be easy, or it may be hard, but the outcome could be magical or life changing. What do you think you will make?