Just to be clear this article is mostly in jest and something I think most crafters can identify with.
I am a crafter, creator, and nik-nak maker. I love my job, really I do but sometimes people say the strangest and stupidest things to me about my crafts or just about being a crafter. So here are 5 things that I think every crafter would hate to be asked or told, but have probably heard at least once.
1.) Why?
This question can range from why are you making something to why would anyone buy that from you. It can be a frustraiting question that makes you feel like you have to justify your desision to make something or even your choice to try and sell it.
Example—A relative recently saw me at the store buying a box of polly-fill, and asked what I was going to do with it. I told them I was making stuffed Santas and snowmen to sell. You guessed it they asked why, their question I discovered as we talked was more about why someone would buy something like that from me when they can surely get something simular at the store.
So for any crafter out there who wants to make something, to sell, for yourself, or just to see if you can. My advice go for it, you don’t need a reason or to justify that to someone else.
2.) Do you think anyone will buy that?
This one is touched on with the first question but I still think it deserves its own place. Now I have asked myself this question before when deciding about what to make for a craft show or to put in a booth, I have heard a lot a crafters ask each other and it can be an honest way to look at what your making and where you are trying to sell it at.. When said by a non crafter it usually means something else. I have heard this one the most as a way for the other person to say they don’t like what I’ve made or that they would never buy it. To this I say everyone has different tastes and I believe someone will like the item. Do not be discouraged by someone who just doesn’t share your taste.
3.) It must be great to make crafts for a living.
This can be meant in a nice way but in my experience its more along the lines of. (It must be nice to do nothing but make cute things all day that people buy so you don’t have to have a real job.) If that’s how the person means it it will be obvious real quick. People who do not craft often do not understand the amount of hard work that goes into what you make, putting them out there to sell or the terrifying feeling that no one will want to buy your creations and all your hard work will be for naught.
4.) I can make that too.
This tends to be said by someone who wants a better price and somehow thinks that by telling you this, that you will jump at the chance to give them a better price so they won’t go do that. Sadly I have seen this work on some vendors. If you ever get told this in that circumstance just tell the person good luck. You deserve to get paid for your hard work.
5.) I bet your house is amazing.
I hate when people say this to me, not because their being mean but because they couldn’t be further from the truth if they tried. This is my own personal perspective and their might be other crafters out there who decorate with all their cute creations and have a organized craft space but I do not. People I meet who find out I’m a crafter think my house must be a wonderland of things to create with or that I must really decorate with all the things I make. Truthfully I do not have time to decorate to the degree some think when I am making things for craft shows or getting out orders. My craft space is usually a mess and I seldom keep many of my crafts since I am trying to make a living by selling them.
So this is my list if anyone has any other saying or questions they get asked as a crafter that are annoying, funny or just weird leave them in the comments below. Thank you for reading.
