Projects have a lot of moving parts.
It can feel intimidating to create something new.
This is why I have decided to give you a few ideas that you can start using today to either jumpstart your creativity or to feel a rush of accomplishment from start to finish. These “mini-projects” are ideal for anyone and can really brighten another person’s day.
3 Ideas for Projects You Can Start Today
Project 1: Greeting Card or Postcard
In the digital age that we live in, it’s not often that we receive mail. At least not mail we want. Most of the time we get bills, bills, and more bills. This is why a simple, but heartwarming project you could take on is creating either a greeting card or postcard.
These cards can be complex with cut-out images that pop right out at the individual receiving it or simple with a couple of nicely written lines. You can send greeting cards just to say hello, to wish someone a happy birthday, or to thank them for something they did or simply being apart of your life. Since the message is what counts, you do not need to stress about making it ‘perfect’, the fact that you made it will be enough.
This year, I’ve decided to theme all my birthday cards with a ‘Jar’ theme. You can view some of my creations on Pinterest to see how they evolve over time. The theme comes from a stamp that I purchased at Michaels. It saves me time from thinking about what am I going to create and instead I can just focus on filling the jar with things that the person loves. You could get a very similar stamp on Amazon which you can find here.
Project 2: Themed Pieces
If you find yourself unsure of what to create. Pick a theme, any theme. This could be the alphabet, colors, states within the United States, or songs in an album. Then spend 15 to 30 minutes creating something within that theme. This could be a short story, a drawing, a poem, a song, or even a sentence
What makes this project really interesting picking a theme that has a limited number of topics such as 26 letters in an alphabet, 50 states in the United States, or 10 songs in an album. By doing this, the sum of your pieces are make the final product that much better. While you may have only a handful of great standalone works, if you put them all together it creates a complete set.
Some quick ideas of what I mean are compiling your pieces into a self-published book, creating individual videos about them, or even sharing them on Instagram.
Need a prompt?
Take the 10 Week Prompt Challenge
What I’ve been doing is writing pieces on another blog about individual items in my life. While my subject matter is not entirely limited by numbers (since I could have a practically unlimited amount of items to cover), it’s still a great starting off point whenever I feel mentally blocked.
By forcing yourself to focus on a single subject matter, you will gradually start to find the restriction rather liberating. If you just write about the alphabet, it reduces the amount of stress you may feel about picking a subject. It also forces you to be creative when you encounter letters such as ‘x’, ‘y’, and ‘z’ which may get you to think out of the box since you are put outside of your comfort zone.
Project 3: Gifts
Gifts make good projects. While they are not always simple and quick, they do provide a good reason for you to stop thinking and start creating. Similar to greeting cards, handmade gifts tend to be less about creating something perfect and more about making something the other person would appreciate.
Christmas tends to be a holiday in which the spirit of creativity and gift-giving is most apparent.
However if you use a social media platform such as Facebook, you could quickly see who in your network has an upcoming birthday. This puts a restriction on you on who to pick since the date of their birth would be the deciding factor of the theme of your creation as opposed to having to decide who to choose. Similar to how picking a theme will encourage you think creatively, picking someone who you usually wouldn’t create a gift for will motivate you to do some quick research on their likes and dislikes.
These gifts do not need to “break the bank”. They could be an illustration, a quirky poem, or anything that you could create that you know would make them smile.
The best example I can give is how during the holiday season, I know someone who will create a series of gifts (sculptures, Christmas ornaments, etc) that will be themed around the person who will be receiving it. The sculptures would be the favorite animal of the recipient or the Christmas ornaments will be the person’s favorite color.
What Projects Are You Working On?
Are you working on any creative projects? They could be big or small. The most important part of your project is that you are working on it everyday, even if it’s just for 15 minutes. Feel free to share your progress or your project in the comments.
Otherwise, if you are struggling with how to incorporate creativity into your life, there are ways you can slowly but gradually start being more creative.