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Think merry thoughts

Wednesday, 30 December 2015 by Irene Hoofs

Glad to be joined by the lovely and joyful ladies of The Merrythought all the way from New York in our latest issue of the Bloesem Gazette in our Craft and Design section.. Their blog is a space for DIYs projects, yummy Instagram-worthy recipes, and their own inspirations, but we say they are pretty inspiring people themselves!

Read on for our little chat - where we remembered favourite projects, talked trends, and shared pro tips we could all take home..

What is you favourite DIY project so far?

One of our favourite projects is our hanging table. We love it because it's simple, natural and still very practical. It also uses wood from a tree that once stood at our family's farm which makes it extra special!

That's really cool! So I guess wood is one of your favourite materials to work with?

Wood and clay. They're raw and simple and the possibilities for projects are endless.

Where's the best place to go to for craft materials then?

We love to repurpose items when we can, so we often use things we already have or have found at thrift stores or garage sales. We also incorporate nature when we can, so a walk through the woods for scavenged items is a favorite. The stores we visit the most for materials are usually Home Depot, local lumberyards, and Michaels.

Where are some places you go to find DIY inspiration?

We love to browse Pinterest - it’s a great place for inspiration as well as to see what trends people are currently into.

Any crafters you guys find really inspiring?

We love Fall For DIY, Monsters Circus, Almost Makes Perfect, Homey Oh My, and the Crafted Life!

How do you avoid crafter's block?

Take breaks! And if a project doesn't inspire you, just leave it behind. If you're forcing yourself to do crafts that you don't want to do, you'll end up giving up on the crafts you did want to do as well.

What about avoiding a DIY flop? Any tips?

Do your research and make sure you make accurate measurements. We can't tell you the number of times we go to start a project only to realise we don't have the correct supplies or we cut a bunch of wood and was slightly off in the measurements and we have to go back and recut everything. So take your time. There are a lot of projects that we have tried over the years that have failed but it's just part of the process. Occasionally those failed projects turn into or inspire you to make a completely different project than what you originally had in mind too. So just go for it!