Could crafting be the answer to feeling calmer? Could it save you money? Especially if you’re planning a wedding? Alice finds out why so many adults are becoming crafters!
Capsule x Warehouse Stationery
When the kids start acting like wild animals, I know it’s time to get outside for a quick run around, and then get into a nice, calming activity – normally something craft related (we have an epic craft drawer at the ready, always).
I know what my kids need when they’re overstimulated – so why is it that when I’ve put them to bed, I quickly crack open my laptop to work, put whatever stressful crime TV show I’m watching on, get into bed for a doomscroll and then am somehow surprised when I can’t sleep.
I’ve forgotten how to unwind.
It’s all too easy to think a glass of wine and plonking myself in front of the TV is how to do it – but this month, as the stress has built (and my immune system seems to have crumbled!) I’ve realised it’s time to be more mindful with my evenings.
Which is why, I’ve figured if it’s good enough for calming the kids, it’s good enough for me too – and have been experimenting with crafting myself.
I remember growing up my mum would always get the sewing machine out in the evening, or her knitting needles – and now, I’m toying with the idea of knitting myself.
But in the meantime, here’s what I’ve been trying out.
Am I Demi Moore?
I was a little on the too young side when Ghost first came out, but my Video Ezy membership certainly got a workout checking it out on VHS over the years that followed. It’s hardly surprising that pottery made a huge comeback in the wake of the film – who knew it could be so sexy? – but you don’t have to search far now on Instagram or Tiktok to see that pottery is having a moment again now.
While a pottery class sounds fun, I’m looking for things I can easily do at home, with as little faff as possible involved, which is why I have become a big fan of air dry clay.
There’s something so calming about having your hands in clay. It’s meditative. I highly, highly recommend giving it a go. It doesn’t even have to be about making something amazing – even take that off the table at first and just let yourself have a play. It’s like you’re a kid again, just having a smush around with Playdough and seeing where it takes you.
If you do want to do a project though, there’s so many little trinkets you can make:
- Get yourself some little tealight candles and make little holders. Roll out a round base that’s slightly bigger than your candle, then a long rectangular piece to wrap around it to form the sides. You can cut little stars or shapes, play around with different textures. Go wherever your imagination takes you!
- Make a little personalized dish to put your keys in when you come in the front door, or a little dish to put on your beside table for your earrings when you remember you still have them.
- Make little Christmas ornaments – you can use cookie cutters to create shapes (then use a straw to create a hole to thread a piece of string through to hang), or carve in the names of family members or pets who are no longer with us to remember them. Or, roll out white clay and create a little Christmas village. Make a stencil out of card or heavy paper with the front of the house (maybe a little chimney, a door and windows), then cut it out, and you’re on your way!
I USE: Jovi Air Hardening Clay in White (500g is $8.49 or $14 for 1kg) at Warehouse Stationery
Cricut a Creation
It took me a long time to get into Cricuting because at first I thought everyone was talking about cricket and my brain always completely cuts off and stops working when people discuss it.
But, then I was allowed to borrow a machine – it’s essentially a cutting machine which create designs in more than 300 materials from paper to thick leather. You can also engrave, deboss or add decorative effects to projects with its expandable suite of tools.
We were a week out from going on a Disney cruise and I’d gone down a rabbit hole on Instagram, watching all these families onboard with matching family T-shirts. Bizarrely, in a move I’m still shocked by, my husband was over my shoulder and said, ‘We should do that!’. Jumping on this, whether he was joking or not, I tried to figure out who would make me four shirts with a week’s notice…. Until it dawned on me that I could do it myself.
I found a little graphic of an anchor and then Mickey mouse ears and combined them together to make a little Disney anchor. I got the Cricut to cut out that design and the date to iron on to the front pocket of each of our shirts, then cut out our names in red, plus little sparkling Mickey Mouse ears for the back. It was my first time doing it, but it still only took a few hours, and when we were onboard wearing them, we constantly had people stopping us to ask us where we managed to get them. I felt like a smug Insta momfluencer. And, about 40 washes down, at least, they’re still going strong.
I’ve since made another round of matching shirts for us when we went to Disneyland, I’ve made little squirrel tote bags and shirts for our squirrel-obsessed son – I’ll even use it to quickly print my son’s name into the inside of his clothes to take to kindy.
One of my favourite tasks in the lead-up to our wedding, was making wedding favors for the kids we invited (there were 16 of them!). I bought plain little cotton drawstring bags and filled them with little toys or puzzles or little jewelry making sets, individualized to the kid to keep them entertained during some of the potentially more boring parts of dinner for them. I used the Cricut machine to print their names onto the bags – they were something for them to take away, plus, they created a cute table setting piece!
Now, I get why my mum used to bring out the sewing machine in the evenings – the Cricut is my replacement, and I’m on the hunt for new things to create (thankfully there’s a billion ideas online!).
I USE: Cricut Maker 3 Machine, $789, Cricut Easy Press Mat, $42.98 , Cricut Mat Standard, $19.98, Cricut Smart Iron On Vinyl, $34.99.