A lot of us miss creativity in our lives. Even if our job descriptions mention it, it’s usually related to ideas, but we never get to actually try our hand – pun intended – at something creative.
Long gone are the days we learnt crafts from our relatives or a friend in the community. And so now they have become something we buy instead of make.
While we can’t all be artists, there is a pleasure and pride in creating and making something yourself from scratch. We often forget how important the process of learning and creating is: starting from scratch, learning on a rough draft, then coming up with an idea and slowly turning it into reality, accepting the errors in it and its imperfections as something you have made rather than a machine.
So why not give it a try?
You could try a pottery class and create a vessel for your home, or a painting – be it water or glass or maybe ceramic – you could sew a piece of clothing or learn calligraphy to frame a quote you love.
If you want to try your hand at embroidery, why not make a decoration for your phone case. And if you are going to make jewellery, try making beaded earrings or a necklace.
There are endless options of crafts to try, from the ones you can try at home on your own, such as macrame, drawing or making a terrarium garden or book binding (check out page 23 of our Spring edition magazine if this is something you want to try your hand at), to the ones you probably want to join a class for such as pottery and sewing, so you have help on hand and also all the necessary equipment to create your project.
Before you start
Learning something new isn’t easy and it will require perseverance and motivation, so pick something you’ve always wanted to do or have at home. If you’ve always wanted to have the perfect summer dress in the fabric of your choice, then you know what to choose. And if you have a celebration coming up, maybe you want to make it extra-special by making your own invitations?
The goal is not to find a new hobby (unless that’s your choice at the end of the project) but rather to just try out something new and get creating.
If a course over a few weeks is too much commitment for you, pick something that runs for a day or a weekend. Some craft shops even have short afternoon workshops in which you come out having created something yourself.
Where to find courses
- local boards: your council or even local bakery will have an activities board
- local craft shops often run classes or workshops so look to their websites or social pages
- check here for sculpture, pottery, painting and drawing classes near you
- browse social media for simple tutorials to try at home
- find a local group on Meetup
- Classbento has a list of classes including pottery, flower arranging, arts, painting, baking, cooking, and other crafts
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