Best Fun & Creative Crafts To Do When You’re Stuck At Home
Best Fun & Creative Crafts To Do When You’re Stuck At Home
When you’re stuck at home, it’s actually the perfect time to start some easy crafts. A DIY project or DIY craft is a great activity to pass the time. I’ve rounded up some creative ideas with step-by-step instructions as well as my go-to supply list so you have easy projects for hours of fun.
Although you don’t need them, I would argue that some basic art supplies may be just what you want to make these long days more fun.
My Go-To Creative Crafts Supplies List
Affiliate disclaimer: Although I stand by all of the products I use, I can receive a small commission from any products purchased via my affiliate links.
Construction paper
Googly eyes
Pipe cleaners
Sculpey clay
Popsicle sticks
Acrylic paint
Flower vases
Old picture frames
Tissue paper for paper flowers
Wood or wood pallets
Silicone molds
Extra toilet paper rolls and plastic bottles
Glue guns
The best thing? These versatile materials are perfect to have on hand when you want to tap into your creative side. I like to keep a craft kit at home that I can easily tap into. You can find most supplies at a craft store, Dollar Tree or thrift store. Also, with a little online shopping, you can buy your materials for all craft projects.
Don’t forget, you can always you simple items for a craft idea, too. You’d be amazed at how household items can morph into fun crafts.
Here’s the list of fun activities you can do together for quality time among kids of all ages in the comfort of your own home. Most of these projects can be completed in about an hour and is a great time for the whole family.
OK, ready to beat your cabin fever? You’re going to love this list of popular crafts.
FAMILY COLLAGE
If you’re anything like me, you probably have lots of catalogs and magazines hanging around the house. If so, this is the project for you. This is such a fun way to spend time as a family – for all ages (little kids can look for pictures and older kids can look for words).
I just did this project with my own family and also this week with a classroom of older kids — everyone seemed to love it. The best part? Both in my classes and at home, everyone seemed to enjoy finding words or photos that described people other than themselves.
It became such a thoughtful exercise – “hey, you’re so athletic, do you want this picture?” or “Don’t you love to bake? Maybe this word would be good for you?”
What do you need?
scissors – these are my favorite scissors because they don’t hurt my thumb
glue stick – if you have kids, check their backpacks to see if they have one before you buy
foam brush – they often have these at the dollar store
magazines or catalogs
mod podge – if you’re able to get out, they often have mod podge at the local dollar store
Here’s what you do:
Go through old magazines and catalogs and cut out pictures or words that represent you or your family.
Use a glue stick to glue everything down (this can be done on paper, canvas or poster board)
Use a foam brush or a paint brush to seal the collage (this will prevent it from turning yellow or peeling off)
Below are some pictures:
cutting out images from magazines and gluing them onto a canvas
Several collages displayed together make a nice piece of modern art
A finished collage
HOLE PUNCHED CRAFTS
This is another fan favorite. All you need is a butterfly punch and some double sided tape. I think these paper cut collages look amazing inside a shadow box. Ikea has two sizes, the 9” and one much larger. Michaels has the 12 x 12 which are perfect for people who don’t have the patience for a long term project.
What do you need?
Butterfly hole punch (or whichever shape you choose) – feel free to purchase a few different sizes
double sided tape – for a permanent art installation, use this or this. Otherwise double sided tape should do the trick.
shadow box frame – not necessary but definitely gives it a finished look. You can find these at any craft store or Ikea. Use coupons when shopping at your local craft store
colorful paper – you can probably find paper around your home, but if not, scrapbook paper is always nice to use Here’s what you do:
Use the hole puncher to punch butterfly shaped holes in the paper
Make 20-50 punch outs depending on the size of your frame
Gently fold the butterfly without making a tight crease
Stick the butterflies to a piece of strong paper (usually a frame comes with a piece of paper but anything as strong as cardstock works great)
Be creative! Cluster the butterflies or keep them more organized – the possibilities are endless!
Below are some photos:
This is a collection of hole punched art projects from one of my classes
This person layered the hearts to make them even more 3D
PUSH PIN CRAFT
If you’ve got push pins in your house, you’re already one step ahead. This two ingredient craft is easy and fun. If not, they always have these at the dollar store and I guarantee people aren’t hoarding them. The gold ones are easily found there, too.
The nice thing about this project is that you can go really big with this one or make something small and they all come out really nice. Believe it or not, kids and adults love this project. You can easily make this over time since there’s no glue or drying time.
And here’s the cool part: you can make this on a canvas or anything Styrofoam. We’ve made these on pumpkins and canvases and old text books. Perhaps you have a somewhat porous surface that works even better. If so, please let me know – I am always up for some new ideas!
*disclaimer – be careful using sharp objects around young children or pets
What do you need?
push pins – also readily available at the dollar store
canvas – you can also use an old book, cardboard, Styrofoam or foam core. I am loving the deal on this multi-pack of canvases.
Here’s what you do:
Freehand sketch a letter or a number onto your canvas using pencil. If you do not trust your writing, you can always cut something from a magazine or print it off the web
Go around the border of the letter until it makes its way around
Fill in the letter or word.
When you finish, the back might be sharp. You can cover the back with pretty scrapbooking paper. You can either glue the paper onto the back or use pushpins to attach it to the canvas (see below, right), but if you’re planning to hang this on the wall, this is not a necessary step… Below are some photos:
Proud student with their thumbtack art
Class set of these. They all came out beautifully!
Here’s a photo of the back of a canvas
SHARPIE ART
Sharpies are a great art supply to have stocked in your house because there are so many great projects you can do with them. This project is one of my all time favorites.
What do you need?
Sharpies
blank tile, mug, plate or any ceramic item
stickers
Here’s what you do:
Clean and dry the ceramic object. If you can spare some rubbing alcohol, use it to clean the surface.
Wait for the surface to fully dry and then apply a sticker with a recognizable shape (letters, numbers, hearts and stars all work well)
Use sharpies to draw small dots around the sticker. Be sure to use the sharpies directly onto the border of the sticker. Keep going…the more sharpie dots, the better it looks
Peel sticker and reveal the shape
so colorful!
finished work for 3rd/4th graders
each one is so different
SOCK ANIMALS or snowmen
I know we are moving away from snow season here in the Midwest, but these sock snowmen are still fun to make. You can also make them into penguins, bears, birds, etc. If you can avoid using any metal, you can also use these as a heating pad. In that case, use markers for the eyes and nose. The possibilities are endless!
What do you need?
Socks: The cheap ones from the dollar store are great
Sewing Pins:These little guys make great eyes and a mouth. Just make sure that you do not put your snowmen in the microwave if you use these as heating pads because of the metal. If you decide to make your snowmen into a heating pad or hand warmer then you might want to draw the face on directly.
I love these ball pins because they are sorted by color which is much easier than digging through a container of sharp pins! You can get them here.
Kid Fuzzy Socks: I got mine at the dollar tree but they also have great ones on amazon. OR…just go through your drawers. I am sure you will find some mismatched socks. Who doesn’t have a ton of those lonely little guys hanging around? These also do not need to be fuzzy socks but the fuzzy ones looks so cute!
Rice:This is what you will use to fill the snowman. You can get the rice at the dollar tree, too, but if you plan on making several, you might want to buy it in bulk. Otherwise, beans, old socks and cotton balls work well, too!
A Glass or Cup: This will make it less messy to get the rice into the sock. You can also use a funnel.
Rubberbands: The rubberbands keep the rice inside so you’ll have no messy spills.
Scissors: These are pretty self explanatory
Craft Glue: I love Aleene’s but any craft glue or hot glue will work.
How do you do it?
I recently did an extensive blog post on these adorable little guys. You can see the instructions right here.
Fill the sock with rice
rubber band to make a head. Add the pins and glue on a hat and scarf
finished product – so cute
Balloon flip flops
In this video, I show you how to easily make dollar store balloon flip flops. Year after year balloon flip flops are a fan favorite in every class I teach. Parents love making these at home with their kids because they are mess-free and cheap! The entire project costs $2! Dollar store flip flops and dollar store water balloons – that is it!
You will need:
- balloons
- flip flops
How do you do it?
watch this video to see the step by step process:
If you try any of these, please tag me! Stay healthy and happy crafting everyone!
Want to see more crafts for teens? Check out this page!
