How to get ideas for crafts using Pinterest

How are my crafts born?

Can a craft be born?!!!

I often get asked, “Where do I get all my ideas for my crafts?” “How do I come up with my crafting ideas?” or “Do you just design these crafts on your own?” The theme of these questions can pretty much be summed up as, “How are my crafts born?”
Sometimes it’s just luck and creativeness and they ideas just come to me. Other times I have to look for inspiration else where.
It’s such a fun process that I would like to teach you about. Read on to see how I search for inspiration and create great ideas so my crafts can “be born”.

Step 1: Define your creative mindset:

First off, I need to be in a creative mindset as I set out for inspiration. Knowing your creative mindset will help this process go more smoothly. For me, I like to think of creative mindsets in three different categories:

1. I know what I want to make mindset = I know what I am looking for and what I want.
2. I kinda know what I want to make mindset = I have an idea, but am not certain.
3. I have no idea what I want to make mindset = I have absolutely NO IDEA what I’m looking for. (this is probably the funnest yet most overwhelming mindset to be in–especially if you have a deadline)

Once you have defined your creative mindset, you are going to set out to get ideas.

Step 2: define a way of finding inspiration

One of my favorite ways to search for inspiration, is through Pinterest. There are some mixed feelings about Pinterest out there, but I love it! I love that I can see other people’s creations and gain inspiration from them. I also love that I can see several peoples “same” creations, yet they are so different. And total BONUS!!! I can do it whenever and wherever I want. I can even search in my jammies ;). Did I mention, I can do this without the stress of wrangling children in a store?!

Another way I like to get my inspiration, is by going to a retail store. I make note of what’s around me whenever I am out. If you would like more details on how I find inspiration while shopping, check out this article. How to get ideas for great crafts from a retail store.

Step 3: Searching for ideas on Pinterest with the different mindsets

When I am using Pinterest, I think of the creative mindset I am in. I begin typing in my search criteria accordingly. For this example let’s use a birdhouse as my craft that I am going to make.

If I am in the creative mindset of:

“I know what I want to make” mindset

I think of my simple blue birdhouse with a textured roof.

Knowing I want a simple birdhouse, I type in simple birdhouse and see what type of birdhouses are out there. I look over them and pin a few I really like. After I have pinned a couple different designs I like, I look back through them. I select the one I like or I put a few things together from the ones I like.

Now that I have the design I want, it’s time to figure out the details. Because I know I want it blue, I search for blue color schemes. This brings up several beautiful blue color options to choose from. I pin the few I like, and then sort through those to choose the one I like best. Once, I have my color and design, I am ready to build my simple blue birdhouse.

To sum it up, I know what I want and I search for those details I want for my birdhouse.

“I kinda know what I want to make” mindset

I know I want to make a birdhouse but I don’t know what I want it to look like.
To start off, I search birdhouse ideas. This brings up many amazing options to choose from. I pin the ones I like. When I feel like I keep seeing the same things, I look over the ones I pinned.

Looking at those, I slowly narrow it down to the ones that are more appealing to me. Making note of why they stand out to me such as, color, perch, design, roof, etc. This helps me to narrow it down. Finally I have a few designs I like, colors and details, and now it is time to finalize the design. I mix and match what I like to design the birdhouse.

To sum it up, I have an idea of what I want to make and now I fine tune it.

“I have no idea what I want to make” mindset

I really am not sure what I want to make. It’s Spring time and so I think something Springy might be a good idea. I enter “Spring decor” in the search bar and hit go. This brings SOOO much craftiness options up. I begin looking through all of them, making a mental note of the things I like. For me, viewing all these amazing results sparks inspiration in my head and I start to form ideas. Maybe I see a cute display with a little bird off as a side decoration, and I love that bird. So I start looking for bird-y things.

Now, I am in the “I kinda know what I want to make” mindset. I type in Spring bird decor and watch all the great items pop up. Again, I look through all the results to be inspired. A birdhouse, that’s what I’ll make!

I type in birdhouses and see the results. So many wonderful birdhouses to get inspiration from. At this point I follow the steps as mentioned in the “I know what I want to make” mindset. While in this step, I decide I want to actually make it a yard stake. Now, I am ready to make my birdhouse yard stake.

If you want to make great crafts You’ll want to find your creative mindset, decide a way to search for ideas, and being your search on Pinterest. Get ready to discover some great creativity and ideas to make amazing crafts! You will have fun and will learn that you are actually more creative than you think.

You got this!
Brandee