Zarina Sotero, Staffwriter |
Social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic has given people more free time on their hands. A great way to spend all your newly found free time is with arts and crafts. There are a lot of benefits to engaging in DIY (Do It Yourself) projects, such as easing your mental stress.
Public health experts have claimed that doing arts and crafts can effectively help you reduce anxiety and stress. Plus, they can stimulate your brain and improve hand-eye coordination. Here are some fun and easy arts and crafts you can do at home with supplies you may already have or ones you can buy from the dollar store or Amazon!
One of the simplest arts and crafts you can do at home is melted crayon art. All you need is a canvas, crayons, a hair dryer (or a heat gun if you happen to have one of those laying around) and a hot glue gun (optional).
The first step is to remove the paper jacket off your crayons. After this step, it’s pretty much a free-for-all. Take a crayon, hold it over your canvas and use your hair dryer to melt the color onto the canvas.
A popular method of making melted crayon art is to arrange all of your crayons in the order that you want (a lot of people do the rainbow), line them up against one of the edges on the canvas and hot glue them in place. Then, you can use your hair dryer or heat gun to melt the crayon wax down the canvas. Heat guns are better for a drip effect while hair dryers give more of a splattered effect.
Water-marbling with nail polish is another simple project. For this project you’ll need nail polish, toothpicks, what you want to marble (mug, planter, mason jar, phone case) and a Tupperware container large enough to hold your object. First, fill your container with warm water.
Second, drop a few drops of nail polish into the center of the water. The nail polish should spread out and stay on the surface of the water. If you want to do a two-tone marble, take a different nail polish and drip a few drops into the center of the water. Next, take a toothpick and use it to swirl the nail polish around to make a quick design. Finally, dip your item straight down into the water and then lift it out.
Repeat this process a few times to cover more surface area. If you’re using a mug or anything that will need to be washed, consider coating it with dish-washer safe Mod Podge after the nail polish dries to ensure the design doesn’t get ruined.
DIY stress balls are another project to consider. There are two methods: The first way is with water beads, like Orbeez, and a balloon. Take some water beads and let them soak in a bowl of water for a few hours or overnight.
Next, drain the water and put the water beads into an empty plastic water bottle. Then, blow up your balloon to make space for the water beads. Twist the opening of the balloon to keep the air in and then stretch the opening of the balloon over the top of the water bottle.
Next, untwist the balloon and turn the water bottle upside down to pour the water beads into the balloon. Finally, remove the balloon from the water bottle, squeeze out the excess air and tie off the balloon. The other method to making a stress ball is essentially the same, but with flour instead of water beads. Pour flour into a water bottle and follow the same steps as the first method.
Arts and crafts are a fun way to spend your free time. Try some out with your friends and family, either the ones in your house, or have an arts and crafts Zoom party! There are so many projects you can try at home––let your creativity flow!
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