Following the beginning of second semester at Brown, many of us naturally tend to contemplate the habits we hope to create and the things we intend to prioritize as spring unfolds. It’s a time of setting intentions, figuring out schedules, and learning to balance new and old responsibilities alike.
Part of settling into a new semester also means finding outlets that allow you to destress and slow down when things get busy; for me, these outlets are creative hobbies. Often requiring focus and simple, repeated motion, I find art to be a very grounding practice that helps break up the fast pace of life at Brown.
That being said, a busy college student doesn’t necessarily want to spend weeks learning how to handle a new medium, or a fortune on materials. So, in my efforts to include more creative time in my schedule, I’ve compiled a list of a few creative hobbies that are easy to start and continue casually through the semester. The focus is few barriers to entry and satisfying results, so let’s begin, shall we?
1. Cross-Stitching
My first pick is cross-stitching: I’ve recently seen so many videos across social media of beautiful projects featuring cross-stitched designs, and have fallen in love with the look of stitched monograms in particular. It’s such an overlooked way to add a cute and personal touch to items such as journal covers or canvas bags, and beyond personalization, cross-stitching designs on cardstock or fabric makes for easy wall art when framed. Mixed-media projects always yield such visually interesting results, and cross-stitching is truly no exception.
What You’ll Need
1. Journals, leather, fabric, canvas, cardstock, Aida cloth–pretty much whatever you want!
2. Embroidery thread: Amazon has plenty of sets such as this one.
3. Embroidery needle: Once again, find an example set here.
4. Scissors
5. Tape
6. Printed template
Why to Try
You can pick the basics up very quickly, as all you really need to know is how to tie knots to start and end the project, with the rest being pretty self explanatory: the craft just requires a repeated stitching pattern in small x shapes, following a design template of your choosing. Though there are dedicated websites, Pinterest is a great place to start for finding simple cross-stitch patterns.
If you’re working on a harder surface like a journal cover or cardstock, simply print your template out, tape it to your base surface, and use your needle to poke holds into your surface following the pattern of the template. After pre-poking the holes, you can then stitch through them easily.
2. Watercolor Painting
Next up is watercolor painting. The variety of styles within watercolor, from sharper and brighter lines to sheer washes of color, make every painting uniquely beautiful. I’ve seen people turn paintings into greeting cards, bookmarks, post cards, framed wall art, or simply keep them all together in a watercolor paper book. Beyond painting scenes and objects, I’ve also recently started lettering with watercolor paints, and find that a particularly fun use of them.
What You’ll Need
1. Watercolor paints & brushes: I have this set and love it, but you can always buy these items separately too!
2. Watercolor paper: A refillable book like this one is a convenient option.
3. Scissors
4. Water in a small container (like a cup)
Why to Try
Though watercolor paints can seem intimidating if you’re new to them, they’re actually a very forgiving medium–you can really play around with how strong colors and brushstrokes appear using different methods, and keep designs as simple or involved as you’d like to. It might take a round or two to pick up how to use different amounts of water and color for your preferred outcome, but it’s certainly one of the easier paint types to pick up in my experience. You can paint from your imagination, take inspiration from pieces on Pinterest, or even follow step-by-step tutorials–there are plenty of fun ones across TikTok and Youtube.
3. Foil Embossing
Foil embossing was a craft I first tried in an intro art class in high school, and haven’t touched since. That being said, I’ve always thought about coming back to it, and the recent uptick in posts I’ve seen about it has reaffirmed that interest. In particular, I’ve saved inspiration for projects such as embossed ornaments, picture frames, matchbox covers, and simple wall art, but the opportunities are endless.
What You’ll Need
1. Craft Aluminum Foil: A thicker foil like this will hold the shapes you emboss much better than traditional kitchen foil.
2. Embossing tool: A set of styluses like this is a great way to experiment with line thickness, but you can even just use a pencil!
3. Pencil
4. Paper or printed template
5. Scissors
6. Tape
Why to Try
Foil embossing has always amazed me in that such gorgeous, interesting textures can come out of such simple materials. Most importantly, there’s virtually nothing to learn when it comes to this hobby: all you need to do is pencil sketch or print a design out, tape it to an appropriately sized piece of foil, and start tracing with an embossing tool and a little pressure. This is an easy form of art with immediate results, and is one that you can make as simple or intricate as you’d like–the common theme if you haven’t noticed by now.
4. Collaging
Next on the docket is collaging. Commonly used to create vision boards and a frequent subject of girls’ nights, collaging is no stranger to most. That being said, its honestly pretty underrated, so here’s your reminder that collaging can yield some surprisingly cool results. By mixing textures, colors, patterns, and subjects, this craft offers a really engaging opportunity to play with composition and theme. Besides the obvious posters and wall art, I’ve loved seeing collaged greeting cards, decks of playing cards, and even inserts for clear device cases–there’s a lot you can do with a process as simple as collaging.
What You’ll Need
1. Cardstock, playing cards, greeting cards: Whatever you want to create a collage on.
2. Magazines, newspapers, paper scraps, tickets, etc: Anything flat that can be glued down!
3. Scissors
4. Mod podge or glue sticks
5. Flat brush
Why to Try
Arguably one of the easiest on the list, all collaging requires is cutting out images of your choice, gathering scraps you want to include, and gluing them all down onto your collage base. Collaging really allows peoples’ personal styles to shine through, perhaps unexpectedly, and is an easy project to personalize with items that hold memories. A few examples are paper tickets, receipts, photo booth strips, restaurant napkins, stickers, old sketches, or truly anything that calls to you. A culmination of scraps from so many different places and periods of time is what makes collages uniquely beautiful, and I can say with confidence that they’re popular for a reason.
5. Linocut printing
Finally, linocut printing. While a little more involved in set-up and cost, linocut printing still airs on the side of being easy to start, and the results are so worth it. There’s something so captivating about the outcome of linocut prints with their crisp lines and bold personalities, and if you eventually graduate to multiple layers and colors, the dimension only gets more satisfying. In terms of base materials, it’s pretty much limited to either paper or certain fabrics using fabric paint, but the process promises a lot of fresh and creative results regardless. My favorite projects have been greeting cards, posters, and custom wrapping paper for a sweet gifting touch.
What You’ll Need
1. Cardstock: What You’ll print onto, in a size of your preference.
2. Linoleum blocks: Any brand will do, but find an example here.
3. Carving tool: I love this one by Speedball, with built in storage for different tips.
4. Brayer: An option like this is what you’ll use to apply paint to your carved linocut block, and ensure an even coat.
5. Paint: This set of primary colors is ideal, allowing for easy custom color mixes!
6. Pencil
7. Paper
8. A flat, washable surface: This is usually a sheet of plexiglass for durability and easy cleaning.
Why to Try
From simple little stamps to more involved and larger pieces, linocut-printing follows the trend of being very flexible in commitment. It’s not hard to see rewarding results after trying it just once or twice, and for that reason it’s made it on this list. Simply create a pencil sketch on paper for your design, transfer it to a linoleum block through the graphite transfer method, and start carving your design! It’s a fun challenge to experiment with what you want to leave untouched, and I find the whole process of carving linoleum, in small, repeated motions, to be very therapeutic.
This compilation of crafts is one I’m excited to incorporate into my own schedule this semester, especially as College Hill begins to bloom, and picnic blankets cover the Main Green once again.
I’m a strong believer that art as a whole can teach us a lot, being a reminder to be patient, to forgive imperfections, and to work around mistakes with grace. And beyond the benefits to you, creative projects can honestly make the most meaningful gifts. Any project of these listed is a true testament to the focus, time, and love you’re willing pour into creating. So if you’re in need of a new creative hobby this semester, try these out for yourself, and enjoy the rewarding results!