#trying to buy my sister a 3d printer for Christmas lol

[zooophagous]

Overstock print sale. Get this shit out of my house!

These are all extras that have been sitting in a box in my cupboard forever and I'm tired of looking at them. These bad boys are ready to ship, come signed, and ship free within the US ($5 shipping to anywhere worldwide that can receive American mail)

These have been reduced to 25$ each. Pm me to claim.

[pancakeke]

How were you able to get into so many different crafts? Do you have a dedicated craft room? (Ur entire setup is aspirational to me as a college student!)

I have an office that has become my craft room!! My computer is in there and I work from home so I work in there too, but most of the space is dedicated to different tools/workspaces.

MESSY but here's the majority of my office. I have 3 desks in a big C shape. The left desk has all my sewing stuff, middle has my cricut and computer, then right has all my resin casting stuff and little SLA 3D printer. There's a paper drying station above it that I made from vinyl record racks mounted sideways lol

Off to the far left you can see part of an enormous shelf where I store other tools abd materials (keyboard building stuff, rug making stuff, knitting machine, spray paints, bulky sewing materials, dremel kit, serger, regular printer, sewing patterns, unfinished sewing projects, my old sewing machine, packaging for my store, god what else...)

If you want to get into a lot of hobbies it will seem really daunting with how many tools you need to buy, but realistically you shouldn't expect to get everything you want/need all at once. (DON'T get into leathercraft unless you can buy a lot of stuff immediately btw)

I started just with sewing years ago. The sewing machine I had was a tiny little Kenmore my mom got me for Christmas when I was in 5th or 6th grade. I stuck with that for a long time while slowly picking up more stuff.

Second hand is the best way to go for getting new tools when you join a hobby. Ebay is ok but people will try to rip you off sometimes. Shopgoodwill randomly has amazing deals on equipment. I you can get lucky with them for sergers and sewing machines if you're ok waiting around for specific models or buying older models that are available.

Joann Fabrics has great sales every so often on various sewing machines, but I've become partial to Ken's Sewing Center because they carry refurbished items with pretty decent discounts. Costco also has sewing machine deals but I haven't explored that option super well. Heads up though sewing machine and the like prices have gone up a lot the past 2 years :/

My knitting machine I got for an AMAZING deal on eBay because it was from an estate sale (like $100 shipped, which is nuts), and the serger I'm "borrowing" from my sister. Also I got a TON of knitting needles and crochet hooks from goodwill once for next to nothing.

Being buddies with boomers can get you cheap or free tools too. My stepdad gave me a dremel he never used and also a hot knife that I have somewhere. Also keep your ideal purchases in mind and watch out for sales rather than impulse buying. My 3D printer was on sale for $100 from $150 so that guy wasn't too costly.

Um I kind of went off here lol but just keep a list of what interests you and have patience and you can build up a mighty collection of tools. Just be careful because space becomes a premium after a while :')

As for actually getting into different crafts, I like to see what other artists are making and watch tutorial videos for random stuff to see if the craft seems fun. and like 99% of the time whatever the thing is does seem super fun to me. it's especially interesting when a new craft is something I can incorporate with a craft I already know to expand upon a skill I already have.

This is why I love when my friends show off their art and why I set up a discord for sharing your art. It's so inspiring just to be around other artists and bounce ideas around with them!!

I think the only craft that's ever turned me off though was macrame because you have to be ORGANIZED to do that and omg I am not.