Hello, 2013! A new year means that for many of us it’s resolution time…do you have a crafty new year’s resolution?
I’ve been mulling over this resolution thing for a few weeks now, and the thing that I keep coming back to is an idea that I saw on my friend’s Facebook page. Rather than write a full-on resolution for the new year, folks choose a word that will be their motto for the coming year. Don’t you kind of love that idea?
Resolutions are so hard to keep, but a motto – that’s a work in progress! It’s something to strive for and to guide you, and I think you could totally apply it to your crafty ethical code, too. After a lot of mulling things over, I think my word for 2013 is going to be kindness. We have a baby on the way, and I want to help create a kinder, gentler world for this babe to live in.
Of course, there are lots of ways to practice kindness in your day-to-day, but how can you apply that to crafting? I thought of a few ways:
- Choosing materials that are kinder to the planet. That could mean organic fabric, upcycled sweaters, found objects…anything!
- Choosing materials that are kinder to people. For me, that means avoiding dirty conventional cotton and trying to source materials that were made ethically, rather than mass-produced in sweat shops.
- Choosing materials that are kind to animals. I’m a vegan crafter, and a big part of veganism for me is about kindness. I choose not to craft with new animal products, because I don’t want my crafting to hurt animals any more than I want it to harm people or the planet.
- Use my crafting to spread kindness. Right now, so much of my crafting is focused on this babe. I’ve been making things for the nursery and toys for him to enjoy, and this year I want to spread that further. Maybe that means making some pieces to donate to auctions for causes I care about or to a crafty charity? We’ll see where it goes!
Of course, there are a million different words that you could use as your motto for 2013, and I would love to hear yours! Are you choosing a guiding word or motto for 2013, or do you have any other crafty new year’s resolution sorted out? I’d love to hear your crafty plans for this year in the comments!
Image Credit: Remixed Creative Commons photo by Takashi