For most of you reading this blog, crafting is not just about expressing your creativity or killing time. It is about promoting your own sense of well being and happiness. Crafting has been shown to reduce anxiety which is why crafting features in therapy environments for healing and calming. It also improves gross and fine motor movements.  A sense of accomplishment is also a good thing for self esteem.

My mother is mentally alert even at 91.  She still crafts every day - usually tatting, crochet and hand quilting. This makes me a firm believer in crafting as one of the means to reduce cognitive decline. After all, she is always counting, figuring out patterns and learning new things from Youtube.   

Winter months in the Northern Hemisphere are our quiet times so that is when crafting happens a lot!  So here are some inspirational DIY craft kits to wet your appetite for handicrafts, and not just jewelry making. 

First up at the top is the miniature DIY dollhouse library book nook kit  (shown above) from HandsCraftUS, a Californian company. The attention to detail is amazing.

Shown below is a beginner wire and paint cloisonne coaster kit based on Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night. It's from Qianwen Ma of China for her shop, ErsennStore.


She has provided a useful Youtube video on how it is done :


Need something for creative teens? Check out this mossy nature inspired craft kit from Canadian artisan, Maritza in British Columbia. Her shop is MossterpieceShop. Clever pun!  She has loads other kits. 


Fyodor of Kazakstan has several kumiko diy kits for home decor, like this one,  in his shop, GoodjobFor. Kumiko is the Japanese art of woodworking where pieces are assembled without nails. 


I really like this alternative macrame plant pot holder because it is designed to hang on the wall. I am always wary of any macrame pot holder hanging from the ceiling for fear of knocking my noggin on it!  This lovely kit is from Massachusetts based Ashley Bulger's shop, WillowandRosebud. 


This craft kit for sun printing is from Australian, Carla, of ElementalLeaf. It is a cyanoprinting kit which is simple to use. Just place something from nature on the special blue paper and then watch as the sun develops the print. The kits are eco-friendly and a sustainable alternative to traditional printing methods. 


Trash pandas (racoons) never look as cute as these in the needle felting kit for beginners! From New York based Woolandgoodies. There are so many other cute felted animal kits available!



Last but not least is this beautiful sunflower stained glass mosaic trivet kit from Minnesotan, Linda of Mosaics attheFarm. She designs each and every mosaic kit and she hand cuts all the glass for them. She purchases the leftover glass from other stained glass artisans. Neat!


Before You Go :



jewelry making supplies
Disclosure 

This blog may contain affiliate links. I do receive a small fee for any products purchased through affiliate links. This goes towards the support of this blog and to provide resource information to readers. The opinions expressed are solely my own. They would be the same whether or not I receive any compensation. 
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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM