As children, arts and crafts were an integral part of many of our routines. Art class at school ensured that we kept our imaginations active and our creativity fresh, and many of us came home to scribble in coloring books or create little projects to present to our parents as gifts. But somewhere down the line, many of us stopped making time to incorporate crafting into our daily routines. We become busy with the hustle and bustle of adult life and forget that it can actually be extremely peaceful and calming to dive into a cross stitch or painting every now and then.

We hope this list will inspire you to get back to your roots and embark on an arts and crafts project of your own. You don’t need to be an expert or turn DIY into your entire life, but remember how rewarding it can feel to complete a project. Arts and crafts can be great fun, and there is nothing more satisfying than being able to say, “I made that myself!” As one of the posts in the Craft Projects subreddit says, “Why buy it for $7 when you can make it yourself with $92 of craft supplies!” 

To learn more about crafting from an expert, we reached out to Brandy, the woman behind the crafting blog Gluesticks. She told Bored Panda that she had originally had a family blog, but she found herself sharing so many DIY projects on it that she eventually decided to create a separate blog to showcase her creative side. Thus, Gluesticks was born!

We asked Brandy what her favorite part of crafting is, and she told us she loves the process. “Sometimes it turns out exactly like what I envisioned, other times it doesn’t turn out at all, and sometimes it turns out better than I could have imagined,” Brandy shared. “No matter what, I learn something new!”

We also wanted to know if there were any craft or DIY projects that Brandy is particularly proud of. “The most popular thing I ever shared was my Pop Tart gingerbread house in 2020,” she told Bored Panda. “It was so fun to see so many families make pop tart houses that year, but I think the project that I am most proud of are my sock pumpkins!”

“I love projects that are EASY (my pumpkins take 10 minutes), but are cute and things you’d want to display in your home,” Brandy shared. “I made them with a group of 20 girls at my church’s youth group, and it was so fun to see how excited they were to take their pumpkins home.”

And according to Brandy, crafting can be for anyone and everyone. “I think we all have the desire to create,” she shared. “Whether it’s food, crafts, a cozy home, writing, etc. Just remember that it’s a learning process. Many, many recipes and crafts that I made when I was first starting out ended up in the trash.”

“I remember my husband taking a sewing project out of the trash and saying, ‘I think you may want to come back to this when you’ve calmed down.’ And he was right,” Brandy shared with a laugh. “If you find yourself making stupid mistakes, stop and pick it up again another day.”

If you'd like to learn more about Brandy's best crafts or find some inspiration for what to make yourself, you can find her blog Gluesticks right here!

We also reached out to crafting expert and the woman behind Merriment Design, Kathy Beymer, to hear her thoughts on this topic. Kathy told Bored Panda that she started Merriment Design as a creative outlet from her day job as a digital user experience designer. "I wanted to make physical things with my hands again and start a relaxing hobby. Then my handmade wedding invitations and decorations got picked up as a two-page feature in The Knot Magazine, and my coworker suggested that I start a blog," she shared.

And when it comes to what Kathy loves most about crafting, she told us, "My favorite thing is when I'm able to come up with a unique craft idea that's simple and clever. Simple and clever is my sweet spot." Kathy also noted that she likes that crafting is "all her", as she works with clients for her day job. "Another thing I like about crafting is that making physical things is very different than digital creations," she added.

We also asked Kathy if she could share about some of the projects she's made that she is particularly proud of. "I like making 'all the things' so I'll give a couple different types of projects," she shared. "Halloween costumes for my kids that I designed for DIY Network: My toddler son's Bull in a China Shop costume and my young daughter's artist watercolor paintbox costume with giant pool noodle paintbrush." Okay, those are both absolutely adorable.

Kathy also shared links to a felt stove for kids she made that rolls up for storage (which you can find right here) and a beautiful mermaid cake that she made for her daughter's 9th birthday (which you can see right here). "I started sketching cake ideas and came up with the idea of a number 9 cake with a mermaid tail," she shared. "I still can't believe I created this cake. I'm just an amateur baker. It's a reader favorite."

Some of Kathy's other incredible creations are a campfire playset with pretend marshmallows, including adorable burned ones, a DIY jewelry organizer, and a DIY cardboard treehouse party decoration. And for the holidays, some of Kathy's favorites are gingerbread friends with ugly sweaters, felt mitten ornaments, mittens gift card holders, and washi tape candles.

And although Kathy is an expert, she still believes that crafting is for everyone. "I think that people who label themselves as not creative are probably afraid of making something that's not Etsy perfect. But the thing about crafting is that it's not actually supposed to look perfect," she shared. "Perfect isn't the goal because perfect is manufactured, perfect is factory-made. Crafts are better when they have some personality and life to them. When you're following a DIY tutorial like my free projects that I post at Merriment Design, it's very important to remember that yours isn't supposed to look exactly like mine. That's the point of crafting something yourself, that what you make takes on a little bit of you."

"For people new to crafting: Start by choosing a material that sounds fun to play around with, like felt, colorful paper, beads, paint, shrink plastic, fabric, or clay. Recyclables like cardboard, glass bottles, and old jeans can also work great. Choose them in your favorite colors," Kathy told Bored Panda. "I think DIY gifts and cards are a great place to start. Start by making something to give to your parents or grandparents. They'll love that you took the time to make them something."

If you'd like to check out more of the awesome crafts Kathy creates and shares on Merriment Design, be sure to visit her website right here! And if you do create any of her projects, she told us she loves to see them online, so don't forget to share your artwork and tag Kathy on Instagram @kathybeymer!

If you’re looking for some motivation to begin your arts and crafts journey, one great reason might be to build a sense of community or to strengthen your relationships with others. Creating together can be a bonding experience, if you work with someone else or value their input on your project, and you will both feel a sense of accomplishment after you’ve completed your pieces. 

If you’ve made something to display in your home, you’ll both have a permanent, tangible reminder of the time you spent together, and this shared hobby can be a way to strengthen your relationship even more in the future. You’ll always have something to discuss and do together. If you’re a parent, crafting with your kids can be a great activity to encourage as well. You can help them take pride in their work, and you’ll never run out of artwork for the refrigerator, walls and their bedroom. 

Crafting can also be a great way to relieve stress. Most of us spend at least 8 hours a day working for someone else, unable to commit that time and energy to anything we are really passionate about. Because of this, it’s important to have ways to unwind after clocking out for the day. Arts and crafts can be a great way to do this because they often don’t require a great amount of brain power. Getting out of your head and into your hands to work on a piece of visual art can be a great way to clear your mind, and focusing on a repetitive task such as knitting or crocheting can allow your brain to relax. 

There have even been scientific studies on how relaxing crafting can be, as one study found that patients recovering from anorexia reported feeling much less anxiety, and instead a feeling of satisfaction, pride and accomplishment, after being given knitting lessons and access to free supplies. Once they occupied their hands and had something to focus on aside from their disordered thoughts, these women made great progress in their recovery. 

Art projects and crafting can also be great ways to express ourselves, particularly when we can’t easily articulate our feelings. When words fail, art is the perfect form of expression. A picture is supposedly worth a thousand words anyway. So if you prefer to process traumatic events or the stress of your daily life through shapes and images on a canvas, that is perfectly valid. If you want to create a sculpture that depicts your inner turmoil, it can be quite therapeutic to put that out into the world. Bottling up our emotions and feelings is never healthy, but there are a variety of ways we can let them out. If your favorite vehicle for unleashing stress, anger and/or sadness is through a paintbrush and canvas, more power to you! Experience the sweet catharsis and turn those emotions into something tangible that you can be proud of.

Crafting is valuable even when it’s simply a hobby, as it can add enjoyment and satisfaction to your life. But if you are passionate about your crafting and you want to turn it into a source of income, selling impressive art projects online can be quite profitable. People will pay big bucks on sites like Etsy to get their hands on expertly crafted goods that they can’t find anywhere else. I personally love Etsy and have purchased some fantastic items from the site, like a phone case with dried fruits and flowers imprinted into it and gorgeous bandanas that slide perfectly onto my dog’s collar. But if you need some ideas of what you can sell online, first you’ll want to look at your strengths and consider what is trending at the moment.    

Some popular crafts that are commonly sold on Etsy are prints, ceramics, jewelry, phone cases, headbands, stickers, candles, homemade soaps, mugs, jewelry and blankets. You can sell almost anything and everything on the site though, so if none of those options stand out to you, I’m sure you can still think of a profitable craft that you’re capable of perfecting. If you’re a photographer, you can sell prints. If you’re a painter, you can sell paintings or other objects that you’ve painted. If you’re great at sewing, you can sell pillow cases or articles of clothing. And if you’re great at needlework, cross stitches with cute designs or funny sayings are quite trendy as well. 

Are you feeling inspired to head down to your local arts and crafts store and go on a spending spree? Try not to get too carried away, but feel free to enjoy the bliss of pure, unadulterated crafting. Whether you plan to paint a canvas, sew a pillowcase, fill up a scrapbook or start a woodworking project, we hope you can find a little DIY time in your life. And if you can’t, no worries. You can always live vicariously through the members of r/Crafts. Keep upvoting the pics of projects you find particularly impressive, and then if your appetite for art project inspiration still isn’t satiated, you can find our last article on the same topic right here.