buying crafty

I've been a stay at home mom for almost 5 months now. So far I have mainly been shopping online. I am not trying to be glib, truly, this is how I have been spending my days. I know the mailman and UPS guy better than I should. I have been asked if I am expecting anything, and have responded with a genuine "no" only to be given five packages.

I've been supporting a lot of crafty mama's since Ryleigh was born because I love all things handmade yet I can not make anything with these hands. Etsy, Hyena Cart, Pinterest and Paypal are permanently open tabs on my browser. I'm obsessed with cloth diapering, and now Waldorf Dolls, and for all the hours I spend with an infant attached to my boob there are twice as many spent scanning the web for diapers and dolls.

I made myself some cloth wipes, which was easy enough even for me. But making 8x8 squares to wipe butts with isn't the most satisfying of projects. I long to be able to knit, sew, crochet and make my own diapers, dolls, toys and clothes. Yet I continue to spend all of my time devoted to seeking out the best that money can buy that someone else made. That is the art I have perfected.

I am now an expert on stalking and stockings and getting my hands on hard-to-finds. I have collected more diapers than I could possibly need even if I was diapering triplets. It was starting to lose it's thrill to be honest. Then I stumbled across Bamboletta dolls (www.bamboletta.com), and I lost my heart and all my passion for diaper stalking and wholeheartedly threw myself into my new obsession. I think the time between discovering these dolls and being horrified by their price, and one arriving at my doorstep, was about a month. And as soon as I opened that box and saw this $300 beauty, I knew I had to have more.

The doll world opened it's arms to me just as the cloth diapering world did about a year before. There were instantly spreadsheets and wish lists and a number of Facebook groups added to my favorites. I'm a sponge and I am soaking it up. There will be more, many more I am sure. I am likely to be sent back to work in shame fairly soon.

In an effort to quell the craziness I want to learn how to make these dolls. A lofty goal indeed since I can't even sew on a button. I didn't know I was so granola, but the further I get along the parenthood journey I realize there is a good amount of crunch in this nut. That in itself is a whole other post which I mention only the hopes to remind myself to actually write it. But I digress. I have put in my request to the hubs for Christmas - a sewing machine - and I did so in plenty of time to ensure that as usual, I will get what I want. And I am going to buy some knitting needles and learn to knit. I have a mother who can do it, a grandmother that is pretty darn good at it, and YouTube, surely that's enough? I have been researching furiously in between making my wish list of dolls (which will cost as much as some people's cars) and am hoping that one day, in the not too distant future, I can blog about making Ryleigh a doll that her mama, not someone else's, made with love. For now though, I will keep writing about what I know best - my fast fingers that click "buy" after the crafty mamas rest theirs...