I wrote this a few weeks ago, but with this sudden pandemic and with everybody having to spend time indoors, I guess it’s the perfect time to share this with all of you!
You might always feel like you need to be creative. It’s always in the back of your head:
– “I’d love to sit down and draw for a while”
– “It would feel great to practice my calligraphy”
Because seriously: How awesome would it be to have a few minutes a day to be creative in your own home?
I have always had this problem (and more now that we’re living 4,000km away from our first home). IT’S ALWAYS a struggle to find the perfect place in your home to create.
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always traveled a bunch with my family. We lived in different places during our childhood, and while this gave us so many tools and learning experiences, I always struggled with the sense of belonging.
Houses are always that: They’re only houses. Four walls and a roof that keep you dry when it rains and keeps you warm when it’s cold. Don’t get me wrong, that on its own is GREAT. But what really makes your home a home?
My mom, wise as she is, knew how important it was for us as a family to sit and create. I will never forget the beautiful happy moments that she helped us discover together through arts and crafts. We used to go to Michael’s together ALL the time. Once, she got my brother and I some rock-decorating kits and we went all out with a million googly eyes, colorful pipe cleaners, and hundreds of different paint colors. I remember we painted until our fingers were sore and laughed until our bellies hurt.
Our small dining room table moonlighted as our 1-stop creative central. That space in our home became our creative outlet and the source of so many of our inside jokes.
Be it pumpkin carving, making different colored home-made clay from scratch or bedazzling stones, whenever we worked on a project together, it 1-upped our relationship and our family life: we had so many new things to talk about, we grew in our skills together and we created so many beautiful, shared family experiences. The amazing thing is that we ALL participated, mom, dad, brother, and I were always so invested in creating. I wouldn’t trade these moments for anything in the world.
In my adult life, this made me realize just HOW important it is to have a space at home where you can feel free to create and build wonderful and constructive family moments.
So here I’m going to share with you 3 easy tips to create this space in your home.
#1. Get it out of your head that your home isn’t big enough.
When I was growing up, we had 1 room for my siblings and me and another one for my parents. We never had an available room in our house that was EXCLUSIVELY for anything. One of the biggest obstacles in opening up your creative journey is the thought that you’re too cramped for anything else. There is ALWAYS a place to create, you have to be in charge of the opportunities that you find!
#2. Less of “I need to find a perfect space”, more of “I need to find the right mindset”
There is no such thing as a perfect space to create. (Louder for the people in the back!)
It can be anywhere you want it to be. In our family, we almost always designated our dining room table for all of our creative endeavors, this is because it was a table big enough so that we could all see each other from the different ends and it was next to a window (so we had natural lighting).
Get rid of the idea that you need a perfect nook with a perfect ergonomic chair and the most perfect supplies. This is real life, we don’t always have the tools that we see in our favorite Instagram accounts.
What you DO have is the ability to make something your own and add your spark of creativity.
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- Do you have a garage? Take your car out of there and place a beach towel on the floor. Get your family some seeds and a plant pot for each one and get to planting your favorite flowers in there.
- Prop up some chairs in your living room and make a fort out of sheets. Make bracelets out of string.
- Sit in your backyard and share stories of the favorite videos that you’ve all watched this week.
- Hang out in the kitchen. Pick an easy recipe and give everyone different tasks to help with.
Any space works great with a little creativity and a lot of family love!
#3. Make a Creativity SOS kit
You’ll need a big coffee can, basket, cubby, box… Anything that will let you store your favorite art supplies and take them out to craft on a whim!
Some basic supplies can include (but not be limited to):
- Regular printer paper
- A pair of scissors
- A 24-pack of Crayola Supertips markers (my personal faves)
- Gluestick
- Pack of pencils
- Pencil sharpeners
- Washi tape
- Regular scotch tape
- Crayola crayons
- Googly eyes
- White glue
- Modeling clay in different colors
- A pack of recycled paper sheets
This will allow you to make a creative space ANYWHERE. Whip out your Creativity SOS kit and voilà! You’ve got yourself a family fun time.
Starting a creative space is EASY and it will ALWAYS help to make beautiful memories. Remember that no house is “too small”, no space is 100% perfect. Whenever there’s even just a spark of creativity, making a creative space by following these steps is a piece of cake.
Why not start today? Mark it in your calendar as a plan for the weekend. Let me know how it goes by filling out this form with your email address <3 I’ll be sure to send you some more family-friendly tips!
Need more inspiration? Have you checked out the Coronavirus-free Hand Lettering Class? It’s totally free!
