Helping you catch up

Dear PropellerHeads: I am one crafty lady, but I'm a little old school and still get most of my ideas from friends and craft books/magazines. I just met a fellow crafter that has her own YouTube channel filled with dozens of tutorials. Can you help me catch up?

A: If you are getting ideas from others at your knitting roundtable or decoupage dinners, I am a little surprised that only one person has mentioned their channel or blog. But you are not the last to be "in the know." I am sure there is someone older, with a thicker sewing callus, in your quilting circle that has never even heard of YouTube.

The good news is that your crafty friend and thousands more like her like to share their ideas, inspiration, and step-by-step guidance to help you get your craft on. If we are talking about how-to's I like the site Instructables (instructables.com) - it seriously has a category called "everything." How-to's on making everything you ever/never knew you wanted to make.

I particularly like the step-by-step for making a duct tape hammock (bit.ly/15pMhFI) and a tutorial on sewing felt donuts (bit.ly/14BKSLb). But there is a little something for everyone there, even us techies.

For additional broad based craft searching I also like Craftgawker (craftgawker.com ). The categories are nicely organized, and the site design is fairly clean with a mixture of how-to's and inspiration boards. You can easily connect and share on social networks. You can also explore the rest of the Gawkerverse, focusing on food, style, and home interests.

It would be difficult to capture all of the resources that are out there for avid crafters like yourself, but my point is you don't have to have your own channel or blog to take advantage of what is out there. I find that what reaps the most benefits is finding what inspires you.

I find myself perusing the shops at Etsy (etsy.com), not just to take advantage of their handmade wares and vintage finds, but to find a catalyst for a project. Etsy's blog also has a feature called

How-Tuesday, which highlights a new project every week for those seeking inspiration. These DIY party accents (etsy.me/155bbrN) have made my to-do list.

If you do feel so inclined to share your work with the crafting consortium and beyond, Etsy makes it easy (etsy.me/12l96VO) to set up shop and become a part of a community that values things made by hand, made with care, on just your scale.

When this PropellerHead had a craftmergency recently when trying to find inspiration for a The Fantastic Mr. Fox themed party (a common problem), I ran a quick YouTube search on how to make a fox mask and came across this gem (bit.ly/13E2qrW). I then promptly viewed the other animal mask how-to's in the related videos and found myself missing the party, but enjoying my own paper animal kingdom instead (again, it could happen to anyone).

As with all Internet searches, craft searches can be a time-suck, and in just a few poorly planned clicks, you can completely lose your next great project idea. While I don't think you need to be a pioneer of the crafting kind, I do think that a nicely organized Pinterest Board (pinterest.com) is just as important as a nicely organized crafting closet...or room...or wing. This way you can organize, refer, and save for later all of those great finds for repurposing felt, amazing your friends with cork, and darn(ing) everything.

So, while I am sure Sally's Sewing Secrets YouTube videos are great, true crafters need only a hot glue gun, some inspiration, and a pin of this hat (bit.ly/14BLEb7) to hold their heads high.

When the PropellerHeads at Data Directions aren't busy with their IT projects, they love to answer questions on business or consumer technology. Email them to questions@askthepropellerheads.com or contact us at Data Directions Inc., 8510 Bell Creek Road, Mechanicsville, VA 23116. Visit our website at www.askthepropellerheads.com.