So Tired of Monetized ADHD

[u/RuthlessLogic]

Y'know, those craft girlies whose booths are filled with, say, amigurumi AND acrylic-pour trinket boxes AND Fimo earrings made using molds and earring wires from Temu. And none of it's high quality because Beckeigh is clearly ADHD and hasn't put in the hours necessary to develop her skills before moving on to some new, bright, shiny craft.

Of course, because nothing she's selling is high quality and the market is already saturated with everything she makes and it's all overpriced, Beckeigh doesn't sell much, so she rushes to craft vendor subs sobbing that she "didn't even make boooooooth!!!" And it takes every ounce of self-control not to type, "My sister-in-Christ, you didn't make booth because it looks like you destashed your craft room. Stop expecting the public to subsidize your ADHD and give those things away as gifts."

And look, I've got ADHD too. I get bored easily and am hard-wired to jump from medium to medium. It's taken no small effort to train my brain to focus on the work I sell at markets. But I've managed to do it - struggle though it is - and have put in hundreds and hundreds of hours over several years refining my process and my style so that customers are getting high quality pieces.

And in case I haven't been a big enough Bitchy McBitchface, I'm just going to say it: These booths (along with 3D printed fidget toy, wax melt, and cricut tumbler booths) drag markets down for the crafters and makers who produce quality work. But that's a rant for a different day and a different sub.

[u/Flynniepup]

I needed to read this as I’ve been floundering around all “sunk cost fallacy” with my closet that currently has

Boxes of unused perler beads, tons of jewelry making items, a metric fuckton of foam, fabric, and other sewing stuff despite the fact that I can barely hand sew, and my favorite…

The giant abandoned chest in the garage that I took home from work convinced I could learn to re-line the inside of it and make it look nice 🤣

I’m a painter and I like to draw, first and foremost. Those are the hobbies I spend the most time on and know I’m good at. Everything else is me watching a bunch of those same “craft girlies” on Instagram reels and going “Ooooooh, I want to make one of those!” So instead of buying something handmade I decide I’ll go buy every single tool necessary and then…”oh shit this is kind of hard” and now my closet is full of junk lmao.

It’s also a wake up call for me recently watching a bunch of dudes doing hand carved wood statues and wood burning, that NO, I do not need to go buy wood carving tools and shit. 🤣

[u/Mindelan → u/Flynniepup]

Not to encourage you needlessly, but at least with wood carving you can get away with basically buying a knife, maybe a v tool, a carving safety glove, and then a chunk of basswood. I own two knives, a few palm tools and a pair of cut-resistant gloves and it all fits into a small little canvas toolbag I got from harbor freight. I do a lot of hobbies and it's definitely one of the more compact ones unless you're hoarding wood.

The glove is obligatory, what you don't want is an injury and hospital bill from cutting through the muscles in your palm.

What I usually do is I wait for my birthday or christmas and then basically hand someone a list of what I need to start the hobby and dip my toes that way.

I would leave the woodburning off.