[This is the original introduction page to the erstwhile Innovation DIY website 2020-2022]
Hello and welcome to Innovation DIY!
Hello and welcome! My name is Christina Engela, and I hail from Port Elizabeth, South Africa!
I have a wide variety of interests, crafts and hobbies – and I not only pursue them, I indulge them!
Not to brag (but since I’ve been asked to write this, it’s honesty time) I’ve always been artistic, creative and good with my hands. I love making things and producing simple solutions for difficult problems, or fixing things other people feel are past their abilities to repair or repurpose. That always felt like pulling off a magic trick to me!
I’m a writer first and foremost, but by vocation I’m a computer technician and IT instructor – and when it comes to things like woodwork, metalwork and refurbishing or revamping household items or décor, I’ve been a Jacqueline of all trades for pretty much all my life!
I feel that by doing these creative things myself, I’m expressing my creativity, artfulness, ingenuity and skill – so yes there’s an element of ‘showing off’ to it, I admit – but the most important reason to do it yourself is to save money. Why pay hundreds of rands for a simple wooden box for décor when you could make one just like it or better – and uniquely your own – for far less, or even, for nothing? Some things are simply either unavailable (like cardboard cat castles) or only available as expensive plastic or wooden kits imported from overseas!
Some spend thousands and thousands on buying décor items to impress visitors – but what impresses me is how they innovated a creative solution to a problem themselves, or decorated their home tastefully and purposefully with things they made that are uniquely theirs.
One of the biggest benefits to being able to do these things yourself is that you regain independence! You don’t need anyone else to hang a light or make a quick shelf – you can do it yourself!
It’s also challenging, and each successful project gives me a sense of accomplishment! If I need to do something, I research it or figure it out on my own, and do it – so that essentially means I’m self-taught! Let me show you what I’ve done – and inspire you to DIY too!
Thanks to the Weekend Post, readers in the Eastern Cape will also be able to read my articles in my column “DIY On A Dime” as of November 2020!
These are all projects I made myself at home, sometimes with a little help from my other half, Wendy! Hopefully they will serve to inspire you with ideas you can use yourself in your environment!
Comments welcome! 🙂
[Christina Engela and her wife Wendy K. (“Kay”) Engela live in Richmond Hill, Port Elizabeth with their three fur-children, Ash, Lily and Nyx.]
All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2021.