Hello! Welcome to episode 31 of I’d Rather Stay In. This week we are joined by our friend Lindsay Ponta from Shrimp Salad Circus (@shrimpsaladcircus) to talk all about crafting and making.

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Perfectly imperfect

Lindsay started her blog as a way to encourage people to find the freedom to be messy.

She is also into applying the idea of “perfect imperfection” to sustainability. She has an IG account called Imperfectly Eco Friendly.

SCRAP Creative Reuse is a store she recently discovered in Baltimore to buy “secondhand” craft supplies, but they also have locations around the country.

She also attended a retreat with Lady Farmer that inspired her to start sewing some of her own clothes.

How to start learning a craft

Start online! Figure out if you like doing something before you put a lot of money into books about it. Maybe start with something quick and affordable.

You can also find lots of kits online so you don’t have to buy all of the materials in case you don’t love the process.

You can also check out local “buy nothing” groups to borrow or swap for crafting materials to see if you like them before you buy.

Lindsay has a membership to Creativebug and loves it for finding tutorials, patterns, etc. She’s also used Instructables and Craft Gawker to figure out how to do certain things.

Other stuff we mentioned in this episode

There’s a new Hunger Games novel out: A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Lindsay made her daughter a Sophie the Giraffe costume for her first Halloween.

Lindsay has lots of DIY bath and body tutorials on her site.

These are Lindsay’s infamous beaded shoes.

Bluprint, formerly Craftsy, is closing.

Megan and her oldest son are watching all of the Marvel movies in chronological order.