When I came to college, I did not realize that I needed to bring a bucket of craft supplies with me. Things like mod podge, glitter, primer, and acrylics were never used back home before college because I was never painting canvases, coolers, or bubba kegs. However, when I did come to college, all of this changed with the first date function I ever went on.
In all honesty, I do not enjoy making crafts. Yes, they are great gifts for your dates and sisters, but the work required to make them just sucks. I know many people say crafting is a therapeutic to them, but if you’re like me, then crafting is a pain in the a**. Every time I go into starting a craft, I think of how long it will take and what I should be drinking with it to pass the time.
It is my third year here at UF, and I can say that have learned how to become a bit craftier from my time here. In general, these tips have put me at ease, and I hope they can help you get through a craft or two. First and foremost, what are you going to make? Well if you run into the problem where you have literally no idea what your date likes—yes, you could be set up with a random date or even just don’t really know your date well enough—then try to find out his favorite drink, music, food, sports team, or anything else generic enough to put on a craft. If you can find his favorite logo (I once did a Gatorade bottle Bubba Keg), then you can write his name in that font and make an awesome personalized gift. Not only that, if he’s in a fraternity or club that he’s really passionate about, you can always ask if he wants that design to be on his craft. Honestly, from all the times I have made guys crafts, I have just asked them what they like and then gone from there. They’re not going to be mad that you don’t know what to make; it might even be better to know what they actually want so they will use it more, especially a craft that you drink out of.
So, besides crafting for guys, you might be placed to craft for yourself or other sisters, especially for Big-Little season. Now this can be tricky because for most of us, we don’t want to use the same old generic lily pattern or chevron print. So, with that being said, what are you going to make? Well, you have a couple of options here: you can go online and research what you want to make, you can ask for help from a friend to get new ideas, or you can buy materials like fabric and glitter to cover your craft instead of painting. By trying out these options, making canvases, coolers, room décor, and other crafts will be a lot easier to handle. You can even look up how to do your project step-by-step online if you’ve never done it before.
In general, do not fear crafting like I once did. It can be a long process, but in the end, you can make something really awesome for yourself or someone special. Trust me, crafting is what you make of it, and if you set your mind to it, you can become an excellent crafter despite how much you don’t want to do it. So for the next time you have to craft, keep some of these tips in the back of your mind so that crafting does not become an ultimate disaster.
