I wanted to write about my feelings on DIY and what that means to me. DIY stands for "Do It Yourself". To start, I have a love of retro kitsch and popular culture in general. I love 1940's to 1960's imagery. Whenever I wanted something cool with a cool popular culture design (like a shirt or necklace, etc...) I would go to the regular corporate stores like Hot Topic to look for cool things. Sometimes I would get lucky and find something really cool but for the most part, everything out there I found was lame or expensive. I am sure a lot of you have had the same experience.

As a student, so many things were expensive and I wanted stuff I could afford. Therefore, I started to make things myself. Things I wished stores carried. Things that were good quality but inexpensive.  I figured out how to make my own DIY items after careful consideration of how to design something I would like. I first started making necklaces for myself. When I started wearing them, people noticed-they had not seen anything like them! Some friends thought they were cool, so I started to make some for them too. I had so many compliments from people asking me where I "bought" my necklaces, I decided to see how they would sell on ebay. I also thought about how cool my necklaces would be on more people. (there is satisfaction knowing someone somewhere is wearing something you made as any DIYer knows!) I figure cool people are going to want my stuff so I knew that any potential customers would be a bit like me-out of the norm, unique and into fashion and culture. When you really like the people who you are designing for,  it becomes easy  in choosing and making DIY designs. Because I knew that for the most part, that the people who would buy my stuff are probably like me, I made sure that when I started to sell my DIY, that I would offer my creations at reasonable prices using designs I liked at prices I could afford. Shouldn't you use yourself as ameasure for your products?

Sure, I want to make money, but I also want others to wear my DIY creations. My items are not things you can buy in a store and most DIYers know that. Though I have sold a lot of items by now, I cannot ever imagine anyone running into someone else with my DIY creations. They are truly unique in that sense and every DIYer should strive for that. All DIY handmade items have minute imperfections, but I am not a robot or a machine and DIYers are like craftspeople of the past. I handmake almost every aspect of my necklaces. I use a kiln and hand cast 98% of the settings/pendants I use. I handpaint, hand coat twice, and use actual paint, a kiln, etc... I do not think a machine would even be able to be applied to my process of making my creations and this is something you should strive for in your own items. Hand assembly is a DIY cornerstone! Be creative in designing your own packaging-for that is also part of your DIY design. Make everything yourself the way DIY things should be made. If you can't make the product 100% by yourself, try to do as much of the product yourself as possible!

One thing that I am proud of in my design choices is that I feel I have a good grip on what is cool. I have been collecting popular culture stuff for a while now, am fanatical about art, especially lowbrow, goth, and tattoo artwork, and chose and make designs  that express what I think most of us outside the norm think is cool in design and culture. Uniqueness is something I cherish and every DIYer should try to do in making their own stuff. DIY  handmade stuff is not mainstream and  it will never go that way.

Doing DIY craft work represents individuality, creativity, and uniqueness. A thing that is handmade and unique and that is what I want to impart to anyone that buys or makes any DIY handmade stuff. Be in touch with what you make. Make stuff you would wear and enjoy!

If you are doing DIY for a business, sell  items at reasonable prices. DO DIY not just because you want to earn money, but also because you want people to wear things you created with my own hands. Things that are truly cool and unique. These are my thoughts on DIY. I appreciate anyone who reads this and hope this guide helps in any way!