While there will always be a segment of the population that’s overscheduled, most people have low-ebb points in their week. That low-ebb is perfect for taking up activities to pass the time or finishing up some DIY projects.
In fact, it turns out that having a hobby can actually benefit your mental health. Of course, not everyone has a readymade hobby to fall back on. If you’re one of those, don’t stress out.
Keep reading for five crafty projects that can help you pass the time when your schedule goes from too full to too empty.
1. Coasters
Nothing is more annoying than rings on your tables from cold cans and glasses. Even better, you can create your own coasters from nearly anything that can take paint or some other kind of finish.
Keep an eye out for small pieces of flat wood in craft stores or the craft sections of retail outlets.
2. Macrame
If making coasters feels a little too much like shop class, you take things in the other directions with some handmade textiles. If you’re not familiar with macrame, it uses knotted cord to cover objects or create patterns.
You can find cord in a variety of sizes, but the medium size 3mm macrame cord is a suitable choice for beginners. If you find it’s too big or too small for your project, you can always get a different size cord.
3. Tissue Paper Flowers
One of the best things about tissue paper flowers is that you can get tissue paper almost anywhere from retail outlets to grocery stores. Just as importantly, it’s pretty inexpensive. That means you can make a whole lot of imperfect flowers without feeling too bad about it.
Once you perfect your technique, you can bust out the green pipe cleaners. Now you can have a vase filled with a tissue paper flower bouquet.
4. Painted Vase
Put even a little bit of effort into it and you can find paint in almost any home. You can get a glass vase for a few dollars at big box stores or craft stores. Of course, those clear glass vases aren’t really eye-catching.
You can put that leftover paint to good use and make your own hand-painted vase.
5. Tie-Dye
If you want something a bit more involved, you can double-down with some tie-dye. Cheap white t-shirts are a popular option, but tie-dye works with almost any kind of white cloth. Plus, it’s great a Sixties-themed party when you’re done.
Crafty Projects and You
If you aren’t ready for a full-blown hobby like learning an instrument but have too much free time, you can fall back on crafty projects. The ones listed above are just a tiny sample of the almost countless fun projects you can take on.
Just remember that you should select the projects based on the amount of time you expect you’ll have free. Painting a vase is a short afternoon, while macrame may call for a lot of evenings.
Looking for more crafty ideas? Check out the posts in our Lifestyle section.