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Taking care of our mental health can come in many forms. Sometimes it is reading a book, taking a break or even a nap. Taking time to involve yourself in arts and crafts can be incredibly healing. After all, art therapy is a thing!
But I’m not crafty!
Me either! Many times people will hear “arts and crafts” and determine it is not for them because they are not “artistic”. Trust me, no one is lining up to purchase my creations.
Just like we tell the parents of our preschoolers, crafts are about the process, not about the end product. Sure, it would be great to create a beautiful craft that you can sell at a craft fair. But that’s not the type of crafting we are talking about.
This kind of crafting is about taking time to do something calming and creative. I have a few that I enjoy. Jewelry making is a great craft when you need to focus, be calm but yet need to be productive. You get to wear custom jewelry on top of it!
The one craft I have been enjoying is art journaling. There’s no rhyme or reason. There is no prompt to follow. It’s simply an art journal and any art materials you want to use.
Art Journal
There are so many types of art journals. Different sizes, types of paper, etc. The one I have is mixed media. There are burlap pages, thick pages, regular weight paper. This allows you to be even more creative than in a typical notebook.
When I first got my art journal I was so tempted to head over to Pinterest and find all the art journal prompts. But instead, I decided to just take a page and decide what I wanted to do.
I designed two pages. One with a quote from Alice in Wonderland and the other with my word of the year (2017). There was no template to follow, it was just me and my thoughts. I focused on the lay out and the design. I took a break from all my worries and “real life” responsibilities.
Taking that time allowed me to reset myself. Sometimes we get so buried in our daily worries, stresses and responsibilities that we forget to take time for ourselves.
On a hard day, when everything was just not going right at all, I took a moment to create a two page spread to focus on all the things I love. It’s not quite finished, that way if I have another day like this, I can add to it. Sometimes it’s a little activitiy like this one that will help change your perspective. Having a different mindset can make all the difference in the world.
This is an example of creating a page of just color. Green is my favorite color, so I found all the craft materials in green and just created a green page. It’s a color that makes me happy. Creating it was a mood boost and something I can enjoy on less happy days.
What fun craft can you do that will help you maintain good mental health?
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