For people who don't want to be forced to spend CE to craft, I propose a system that allows a player to craft a specific item at their own pace. This system would allow you to deposit as much or as little energy as you see fit into the item to be crafted over x period of time, until enough energy has been accumulated in the item to craft it. I.E adding Energy to the item over time rather than all at once.
in this way, players can slowly add Mist to an item they want to craft as it regenerates without having to spend CE to do it. It would take a long time for 4*-5* items, obviously, and the item wouldn't actually be crafted until the Energy requirement has been met, but it would allow players to craft stuff at their own pace and not have to buy CE in order to do it.
Umm.. instead of depositing mist and stare at it while it refills, you can actually play the game, get the crowns, buy the energy and just craft.
Way more fun this way.
Or I can put it this way: by your system you spend some mist and lose precious time to play the game. By doing it the normal way, you use the mist to play and enjoy the game while getting profit to buy more energy and keep playing/crafting.