February 08, 2026
I was 30 years old with 4 young children and I didn't have the energy to climb up the stairs. Really. I had to CRAWL up the stairs to my bedroom...and it happened overnight. After exams and tests and spending a disgusting amount of money on my health, I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue/Fibromyalgia. The next couple of years were spent rebuilding my health, which for me, meant cleaning up my diet, learning to manage stress, and trying to eliminate toxins from my environment. It was HARD, but I got better, praise God!
Many years later, I have vowed that I will do everything in my power to keep from going back to those challenging days. I do not consistently make perfect choices, that's for sure, but once you have experienced poor health, it is a powerful motivator to keep you on the straight and narrow! That is a very brief explanation that forms the basis for this blog post...is it CRAZY to think that even crafting materials can affect our health? It is not. There are a few other reasons that I choose natural crafting materials, as well, so here's my list:
Reason #1: Natural Materials are healthier for ME
I have gardened organically for many years...really, ever since I needed to clean up my diet, as I explained above. Prices for organic produce used to be very high, so with a lot of mouths to feed, I did my best to grow as much of our produce as I could. Thankfully, good-quality produce is now easier to find and more economical as more people are realizing the value of healthy eating. So, some of my vegetable beds have been turned into flower gardens! As I began to grow cut flowers on my farm, I started looking into the flower market and was SHOCKED to find out that 80% of flowers for sale in our country are imported, and flowers are not regulated in the same way as food is. Hence, flowers can be very toxic. A study was done several years ago that looked at the presence of toxic pesticides on the skin of florists at the end of their work day and it showed multiple toxic residues. The skin allows many things to pass through it, which is why clean products are so important for skin care. It was eye-opening for me to realize that supermarket flower bouquets that I had touched, arranged, smelled, and set on the table by my food, contained the very things I was trying so hard to keep away from my body. Even most dried and pressed flowers are imported and dyed with unknown chemicals! Now, I grow and dry my own flowers. I also try my best to source other "clean" materials to include in my craft kits. The craft world is full of chemical resins and adhesives, synthetic styrofoam, petroleum waxes, glitters and dyes. I am trying to find a better way.
Reason #2: They are healthier for our PLANET
Remember those supermarket and florist bouquets I just mentioned that are potentially doused with lots of toxic pesticides? And all the other synthetic craft supplies? When we are done with them, they end up in our landfills...and then in our water. So, when we take better care of ourselves, we also do a bit to keep our world cleaner. I am not trying to guilt-trip you--trust me! If you came to my house today you would still see plastic packaging and non-organic food and plenty of other things on the "naughty" list! I do what I can do, taking into account my time, my finances and availability. When I sit down to design a craft for my business, however, I FEEL SO GOOD pulling down a sweet little bundle of dried flowers and tying it with twine, knowing that it will last a long time, bring beauty to my customers' homes, and when it is someday thrown away, it will not sit in a landfill but nourish the earth that it came from. It seems like just a little thing, but perhaps enough "little things" will make a big difference. I made the below bridal bouquet from my farm-grown and dried florals--clean flowers for a happy day!
Reason #3: They are easy to SOURCE
I will discuss in the next post in this series where to source natural materials for crafting, but here's a sneak peek...many are available right outside your door! Every spring there are a few places on my farm where I know some of my much-loved wildflowers grow, and finding them is like a treasure hunt! My youngest son is disabled, so I will set him in our golf cart and he and I will ride around with a basket and collect wild daisies, roses and yarrow. We'll bring the basket back to my shop and hang the soft white yarrow to dry and lovingly put the daisies and roses in the flower press. No money needed, just a bit of time spent in the sunshine and fresh air. There's nothing like it.
Reason #4: They make crafting more SUCCESSFUL
As I mentioned in my first blog post about "slow" crafting with natural materials, most natural materials are innately beautiful...a cute little bunch of coral-colored dried roses...aged barnwood...sprigs of fragrant lavender...grapevine wrapped into a not-quite-perfect wreath shape...creamy beeswax still holding a faint scent of honey. When I lay materials like this in front of me in my workshop, it is almost like I cannot make a mistake...it's all so pretty! Many people tell me when I invite them to a workshop that they "are not crafty". With natural materials, this rarely matters. Even young children have created stunning floral pieces with bits of dried flowers that they paste into a bed of moss with way-too-much glue on a cotton swab! How I love seeing them look at their project and realizing that it actually looks GOOD...and they made it themselves.
I gently encourage you to try doing more crafting with these precious materials from nature. It will be worth it...I promise.
