Creating Things During Quarantine: Staying Busy and Giving Back!

I’ve been quarantined with my parents for over a month now, and it's definitely been a challenging and strange time! During this time, I've found that creating things is super helpful for keeping my mind off negative things, allowing me to engage with others, and keeping myself busy. By looking to what I can make out of my current situation (literally and figuratively!), I’ve been staying a lot more positive and busy. I've also found that creating things is a great way to connect with people and give back to your community.

Knitting Creating things has allowed me to show how much I care for my friends and family, even if they are physically far away. I recently started knitting a lot more and have been having so much fun creating knitted things for my friends and family, like scarves, hats, and tops. If you don't know how to knit, I really recommend learning through online tutorials—it's pretty simple and a super handy skill! I've also been ordering my wool and any supplies I need online, in order to stay safe during this time.

Crafts For when knitting is a bit too challenging, I’ve been drawing, making cards, and decorating notebooks or plant pots in my spare time. My favourite craft to do is paint plant pots—I've been taking old terra cotta pots around my house, drawing on them with a pencil, and filling my drawings in with acrylic paint! I find repurposing things already in my house to be super fun and relaxing, and also creates great gifts for now or later on.

Cooking I’ve also been spending a lot of time making food for my family, like cooking dinners and making baked goods. I love cooking and baking, so it's a great way to pass the time and also allows me to help out my family. Plus, taking the time to develop my own cooking skills will definitely come in handy post-quarantine! One thing I've been working on a lot is making bread. Though I haven't yet perfected my bread-making skills, my favourite recipe so far has made some pretty good bread!

Community Aid Finally, I've also been trying to help out people around me who I may not know personally. There are many great mutual aid networks in major cities which can connect people who need help right now. For example, an aid network might tell you that you have an elderly neighbour who needs help to get groceries. I find mutual aid networks to be such an impactful way to connect people and help others! Some organizations are also looking for people to sew masks so they can be distributed to healthcare workers—I’m planning to start sewing masks using this pattern, which I think will be a great way to pass the time and help out others.

Have you been creating things during quarantine? How are you staying positive and busy? Let me know in the comments below!