Introduction and Rules

Hello, everyone!

I am Sam, and I am a craft supplies hoarder.  I like to consider myself a very crafty person, and over the years, I have dabbled in soap making, candle making, polymer clay work, embroidery, jewelry making, knitting, calligraphy, sewing, painting, etching, and so much more.  I've done a lot of craft work for both personal projects, and also costume, prop, and set making for my dear college theatre group. A repertoire of that caliber results in a ridiculous amount of tools, supplies, and just stuff.  Lately, I've been sitting in this mindset that I have so much stuff sitting around that I should make an effort to use as much of it as I can before I embark on any new endeavors.

So here I am, January 10, 2018 (One day before my 23rd birthday, mind you), and I look into my wallet to decide how much I'm going to #TreatYoSelf, and in it, I spot three $1 bills, and one good ol' Benjamin Franklin looking up at me, and the idea for this blog was born.  This year, instead of a traditional resolution, I decided I'm going to challenge myself to make at least 1 new project every week, using primarily the things I already have, and only allowing myself to spend a total of $100 on additional supplies for the rest of the year.

My rules:

1. I will spend no more than $100 on supplies for this challenge for the year.
2. I will create a total of 52 projects.
3. Any supplies I already have can be used toward this challenge.
4. If I purchase supplies for one week's project, I can use leftover supplies for a future project.
5. If I have supplies left over from a side project unrelated to this challenge, I can use those in future projects, but I will not intentionally buy extra supplies to have leftovers for this challenge.
6. I will not ask people to purchase supplies for me.
7. If friends freely choose to give me supplies, I must find a way to incorporate it into the project I am currently working on, and then can use it freely in future projects.
8. Sales tax and shipping fees do NOT count toward the $100 limit.
9. If I sell an item that I make as a part of this challenge, I can use the proceeds (Up to $10) to use as a bonus in the next month's budget, but it won't roll over to the month after.
10. Everything I make must be something I am willing to wear, use, sell, or give as a gift. It's no fun if I just crumple up some newspaper and call it abstract art.  The goal here is to challenge myself to make something cool.
11. Extreme couponing is allowed, but the point is to use up stuff I already have, not wind up with more than I had to start with.

So to help budget, let's do some math real quick.

1 year = 52 weeks

100/52 = ~1.92

So I should be aiming to be spending about $1.92 per project.

1 year = 12 months

100/12 = ~8.33

So that works out to spending about $8.33 a month.

Now, I already know this isn't going to be easy. However, since I have a RIDICULOUS amount of supplies to start with in a very wide variety of disciplines, I don't know if this would be really feasible for everyone, but if you'd like to join me in this challenge, feel free!  You can also adjust the rules however you'd like, but announce it somewhere so you'll be more likely to hold yourself accountable. I'll be posting with the hashtag #1year1ben on social media, so if you join me, post there so I can see what you're doing as well.

If you'd like to know more about me, I have another blog that I haven't updated in forever that can be found here.  My Instagram handle is @SamisSamazing.  For my bigger or cooler projects, I'll probably be making and uploading videos to my YouTube, which you can find here.