What to make when bored?

Do you ever find yourself with some extra time on your hands but no idea what to do with it? We all experience boredom now and then, but instead of just scrolling through social media or watching TV, why not make something fun and creative!

Making things is not only entertaining, it’s also fulfilling and can help boost your mood. Plus, having an end product gives you a sense of accomplishment. Whether you’re into arts and crafts, baking, woodworking, or just putting things together, there are endless possibilities when you decide to make something.

Arts and Crafts Projects

Arts and crafts are a great way to tap into your creative side and make something with your own two hands. Here are some arts and crafts project ideas to try when bored:

  • Make friendship bracelets out of embroidery floss or string. You can look up bracelet patterns online or come up with your own designs.
  • Decorate notebooks, make collages, or customize clothing with puffy paint, fabric markers, rhinestones, appliques, or other embellishments.
  • Sew stuffed animals, pillows, or other soft decorations. Use fabric scraps or old clothing to give your creations a unique look.
  • Make trendy wall art with painted canvas, wood slices, string art, decoupage, or vinyl lettering.
  • Upcycle used containers like jars or tin cans into pencil holders, vases, organizers, or other decor.
  • Make your own soaps, candles, lip balm, or bath bombs using silicone molds and ingredients like melted glycerin soap, soy wax, and essential oils.
  • Crochet or knit scarves, hats, headbands, blankets, amigurumi stuffed animals, and other accessories and home goods.
  • Make DIY jewelry like beaded necklaces and bracelets, wire wrapped rings or pendants, or upcycled jewelry from old buttons and chains.

The options for easy, creative arts and crafts are endless! Use whatever spare materials you already have at home or shop for inexpensive project supplies. Making arts and crafts is relaxing and allows you to express your creativity.

Baking and Cooking

For those who enjoy being in the kitchen, baking and cooking are productive ways to pass the time when bored. Plus, you get to enjoy tasty homemade treats! Here are some ideas for baking and cooking projects:

  • Bake cookies, cakes, pies, or other desserts using fun shaped pans or getting creative with decorating.
  • Make homemade candy like brittle, fudge, truffles, or chocolate covered treats.
  • Try new recipes you’ve been wanting to attempt like homemade bread, pasta, or pizza dough.
  • Experiment with canning or pickling fruits and veggies to make jams, sauces, salsas, or pickled vegetables.
  • Learn how to make classic cocktails, mocktails, infused water, or your own specialty coffee drinks.
  • Host a themed cooking night like Taco Tuesday, Italian night, or a bake-off to make it more exciting.
  • Make party foods and appetizers to enjoy yourself or share with family like homemade chips and salsa.
  • Try your hand at dehydrating fruits, making beef jerky, or curing meats like bacon or lox at home.

Baking is especially fun because in addition to delicious treats, you also have something decorative to show for your efforts. Use sites like Pinterest to find endless baking and cooking ideas.

DIY Home Projects

Tackling some DIY home improvement projects is a great way to fix up your living space while keeping yourself busy. You can make functional and decorative upgrades to your home. DIY project ideas include:

  • Paint or stencil decorative designs onto walls, furniture, terra cotta pots, canvas shoes, and other items.
  • Build your own furniture like benches, tables, shelves, or picture frames using wood and simple tools.
  • Make macrame hangings, yarn wall art, or pom pom curtains to decorate your walls and windows.
  • Organize your home with DIY projects like personalized storage boxes, photo albums, clothing racks, or staircase bookshelves.
  • Update old furniture with new knobs or handles, a fresh coat of paint, or distressed paint techniques.
  • Make your own candles, soaps, linen spray, or other home goods you can use to decorate.
  • Redo an old teacup and saucer into a cute succulent planter for your windowsill.
  • Create your own terrarium or aquarium using kits, plants, rocks, and recycled glass containers.

Not only are DIY home projects rewarding to make, but they also improve your living space functionally and aesthetically. Make things you’ll actually use around the house.

Woodworking Projects

For those who like working with their hands, woodworking is an engaging hobby that allows you to make functional and decorative projects. Here are beginner woodworking ideas to try when bored:

  • Build a birdhouse, bird feeder, or bat house to erect in your yard or give as a gift.
  • Construct a raised garden bed for your backyard using simple wood boards.
  • Make wooden signs to paint quotes, family names, or home decor on using stencils.
  • Upcycle crates, pallets, or barrels into coffee tables, side tables, shelves, or picture frames.
  • Build an outdoor bench, chair, or picnic table to enjoy your yard or garden.
  • Craft wooden serving trays, cutting boards, bowls, utensils, or other kitchen items.
  • Make unique wooden ornaments, candle holders, or decor items for different holidays.
  • Construct simple wooden children’s toys like blocks, puzzles, cars, or building sets.

Woodworking may involve some investment in tools and learning skills, but you can start small with beginner projects. It’s satisfying to take raw wood and turn it into polished creations.

Electronics and Robotics

For a technical challenge, electronics and robotics kits are fun ways to learn and make cool technological creations with your own two hands. Electronics project ideas include:

  • Assemble radio kits that let you build crystal radio receivers or amplifiers for broadcasting.
  • Make your own speakers, headphones, or mini guitar amplifiers using electronic component kits.
  • Build basic circuitry like LED light displays, digital clocks, or mini Tesla coils to learn electronics.
  • Program microcontrollers like Arduino or Raspberry Pi to make gadgets like motion sensors, weather stations, or magic mirrors.
  • Construct DIY robots that can draw, sweep floors, sort objects, or complete other automated tasks.
  • Make fun electronic toys like a homemade theremin, Makey Makey, or retro game console for unique gifts.
  • Experiment with e-textiles by sewing circuits into wearables like illuminated bracelets or musical jackets.

Electronics and robotics projects range from simple to very complex, but starting small allows you to gradually build skills. Troubleshooting circuits also provides a mental challenge.

Lego Building

You’re never too old to play with Legos! Building Lego sets and creations can be wonderfully calming and meditative. Here are fun ways to enjoy Legos as an adult:

  • Find Lego building challenges online to recreate specific sculptures, models, or scenes from movies/TV shows.
  • Buy retired, seasonal, or special edition Lego sets to build kits you may have missed.
  • Create Lego mosaic art by arranging bricks in patterns or iconic images.
  • Make mini Lego vignettes using your collection of minifigures and accessories.
  • Customize or modify existing Lego sets by tweaking the designs or repurposing the pieces.
  • Sort and organize your Lego collection so you can easily find pieces for future projects.
  • Build Lego versions of real-world architectural landmarks or your own home.
  • Join a virtual Lego community to share your builds and get inspired by others.

Building with Legos flexes your spatial reasoning skills while providing stress relief. There are Lego sets suited for all skill levels.

Papercrafting

Using paper to make decorative, recreational, and functional creations is an artistic craft anyone can enjoy. Some paper project ideas include:

  • Make homemade greeting cards, postcards, gift boxes, gift bags, tags, and other stationery.
  • Fold origami sculptures, flowers, animals, modular shapes, and other intricate creations.
  • Assemble paper model kits of famous landmarks, vehicles, robots, dinosaurs, and more using printed sheets.
  • Quill beautiful calligraphy, hand lettering, or custom monograms onto cards, envelopes, and scrapbook pages.
  • Decorate journals and notebooks with collages, scrapbook embellishments, pressed flowers, or washi tape.
  • Construct 3D paper art, dioramas, shadow boxes, paper cut landscapes, and pop-up cards.
  • Make personalized books, albums, or memory keeping projects using decorative paper techniques.

Paper is an endlessly versatile medium that provides a surface for beautiful works of art, writing, or building paper models. Choose colorful, textured, or patterned papers to make your creations really pop.

Fiber Arts and Textiles

Making items from yarn, thread, and fabric is rewarding and helps you create useful, decorative textiles. Fiber art ideas include:

  • Knit or crochet cozy hats, scarves, socks, sweaters, mittens, and other apparel.
  • Embroider hoops with inspirational quotes, flowers, southwestern designs, or your own unique patterns.
  • Sew clothing items like dresses, skirts, bags, pillows, or sleep masks using fun printed fabrics.
  • Weave wall hangings, placemats, coasters, or baskets using loom kits or DIY looms.
  • Make bears, dolls, animals, or storybook characters by sewing soft sculptures from fabric and stuffing.
  • Felt wool into decorative accessories like earrings, brooches, Christmas ornaments, garlands, and appliance covers.
  • Upcycle worn out clothes into quilts, rag rugs, dog toys, produce bags, headbands, and other items.

The options are endless when making handmade items from yarn, thread, and textiles. Not only do you end up with new creations, but the process itself is meditative.

Jewelry Making

Making DIY jewelry is fun and allows you to accessorize with unique handmade designs. Jewelry making ideas include:

  • String decorative beads and pendants onto bracelets, necklaces, anklets, keychains, and eyeglass chains.
  • Wrap wire into rings, earrings, bangles, and other pieces with wire wrapping techniques.
  • Assemble jewelry from hardware findings like chain, clasps, jump rings, and other connectors.
  • Craft earrings, brooches, hair clips, and rings using shrink plastic, Sculpey polymer clay, or resin molds.
  • Set polished stones like agate, jasper, or obsidian into wire wrapped pendants or rings.
  • Make boho chic jewelry from natural materials like suede, leather, wood, seeds, feathers, or shells.
  • Hammer metal sheets into cuff bracelets or cut metal washers and upcycle into earrings.

You can find inexpensive jewelry making supplies and tools at local craft stores. Repurposing items around your home is also a creative way to make eco-friendly jewelry.

3D Printing

If you have access to a 3D printer, you can produce useful and entertaining plastic objects from digital files. Fun things to 3D print when bored include:

  • Print flexible character figurines, miniature statues, or busts from games, movies, comics, or history.
  • Make fidget toys like magic cubes, gear puzzles, or interlocking objects to keep hands busy.
  • Print organizers and accessories for your hobbies like GoPro mounts, guitar hangers, knitting row counters, etc.
  • Recreate museum artifacts, famous sculptures, or architectural models in miniature on your printer.
  • Design your own DIY tools, kitchen gadgets, electronics enclosures, orparts to repair household items.
  • Print puzzles and mazes with moving components designed to be manipulative toys.
  • Make personalized gifts like photo lamps, nameplates, desk accessories, or ornate vases for others.

3D printing allows you to produce almost any object you can dream up. Browse collections of free printable 3D models online for inspiration.

Conclusion

Instead of defaulting to boredom when you have spare time, use it as an opportunity to make something new! Arts and crafts, baking, woodworking, and DIY projects are all fun ways to express your creativity while keeping yourself entertained and engaged. Learning new making skills also builds your confidence. So next time you’re wondering what to do when bored, try your hand at one of these productive activities to pass the time enjoyably.

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