Easy Crafting Ideas to Keep Creativity Flowing

The whole world is now experiencing extended home time. In my family (as with many), when boredom sets in, the creative forces go into overdrive. Being creative helps exercise the mind and steer it away from fears of the surrounding world, be it something effecting us globally or just in our own communities or homes.

To help find something for restless hands, minds, and spirits, I embarked on some home wandering to look for some easy no-big-instructions-needed crafting ideas that we’ve done during extended stay-at-home times brought on by weather or illness.

Here are some creative project ideas we’ve tackled, many of which utilize or upcycle items you can find around the house.

Got some old “freebie” magnets? Cut them up and use them to make magnets out of other favorite keepsakes

Twist some craft wire or pipe cleaners into cobwebs, and decorate them with a bauble or plastic spider ring. Hang them in corners. My older daughter made these for all of us.

Cover plain plastic outlet or switch plate covers with origami paper, comic pages, or printed images to brighten a room. Find old scrap wood or cardboard pieces to use as a fun alternative to paper. The simple roadrunner image shown was made by an artist many years ago from pieces of an old farmhouse.

Those missing their theme park attractions can take the wood painting idea to the next level. Use wood pieces to recreate miniature sign replicas of your favorite rides. This can be as simple as just painting a shaped piece of wood and can become a great parent-kid project. There are tons of pictures of Disney, Universal, and other attraction signs online for ideas.

You can make a simple scrap clay figure piece by making a small ball (head) and placing it on a cone (body)… then use your imagination to make a favorite character. These both started the same way, and we used little flat pieces of clay for the clothes and hair.

Paint some old corks to make little knights or “calavera” skulls.

Make little paper mini-albums, just perfect for your kids’ school pictures. This is something fun you can give them when they graduate.

If you have a bunch of souvenir pins from trips or events you don’t know what to do with, use them to decorate wood frames with a picture of that trip.

Little wads of tissue paper on an old branch can bring a blossoming tree indoors for spring decorating.

I hope these little ideas bring some short relief to those restless in spirit. No matter the circumstances, creativity is never canceled!