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When our kids head to sleepaway camp for the summer, I celebrate with a few traditions.
#1: I gleefully lock up the stove, kissing cooking goodbye for several weeks and texting my husband, “Dinner is C.Y.O.A. (Choose Your Own Adventure) until August.”
#2: I indulge in 5 PM workouts, just like I did in my child-free 20s and early 30s.
#3: I undertake an art project.
In 2024, I recreated a resin gummy bear shadow box I saw for $1,000 on Instagram, finishing it off with a “Break in Case of Emergency” sticker from Etsy.
Last summer, I took a stab at cross-stitch, embroidering a tangle of colorful flowers around the words “Be Badass” while binge-watching Severance. I started this artsy tradition because I’m always reading (and writing about) how important it is to challenge your mind as you age.
Considering that perimenopause has turned my brain into mush — my primary mode of communication these days is Charades — I need any cognitive boost I can get. Just like crossword puzzles or learning a new instrument, arts and crafts projects can help strengthen your memory.
It turns out that getting crafty benefits your brain in other ways as well.
It forces you to slow down and trust the process.
Elena Rodriguez, lead arts instructor at Cataloochee Ranch in Maggie Valley, NC, says she loves watercolors because “you just have to take a deep breath and go with it. Sometimes it soaks into the paper; other times, gravity takes the paint across the painting. It doesn’t always go according to plan but in the end, you’ll always get a beautiful picture. It’s a delightful metaphor for life.”
Seattle-based licensed counselor and nutritionist Brooke Brandeberry, LMHC, says many Gen X women “who've spent decades people-pleasing” can benefit from the go-with-the-flow nature of hand-building with air-dry clay (not wheel throwing). “The imperfection is the point — you can't control clay the way you control your public image. I've watched women who hadn't touched art supplies since childhood find that creating wonky bowls or abstract sculptures gave them permission to be imperfect in other areas of life.”
Try:
Splatter & Bloom Large Watercolor Painting Kit, $38, splatterandbloom.com
Sculpd Pottery Kit, $65, sculpd.com
It strengthens friendships (and helps build new ones).
When Tricia Shuler, 43, signed up for Cataloochee Ranch’s Cowgirl Camp with a longtime friend, she was excited for horseback riding, good food and sleep. What the community relations manager and mom of three didn’t expect was to make new girlfriends while learning the art of botanical monoprinting. After foraging for leaves and flowers on the ranch property, the group of eight women gathered around a large table to create cards, pressing their ink-covered foliage onto paper. In the process, “we became tremendous friends,” she says.
“There was music playing, no phones, everyone was very present,” adds Shuler, who majored in art in college but rarely indulges these days other than the occasional craft project with her kids. “Being in a creative space makes it feel more sacred and breaks down barriers. We were talking about things you normally wouldn’t discuss at, say, a cocktail party.”
The next day, while making mugs and bowls in the pottery studio, “The wheel was going, clay was everywhere, our hands were dirty and we were laughing, thinking, ‘How awesome that we get to do this on a Saturday afternoon?’”
Rodriguez isn’t surprised to hear that Shuler’s group still keep in touch via text. “Coming together to try something new is always a bonding experience,” she says. “Like team building exercises [at work] or trying a new food together, memories are built when you learn at the same time. I can’t tell you how many friendships I’ve built because we’ve been able to sit down and do some art together.”
For Detroit-based transformation strategist Stephanie Rose, 46, matching paint-by-number kits have helped her keep in touch with a friend who lives 500 miles away in Washington, D.C. Stephanie says their occasional Facetime “paint dates” are “a great way to let the conversation flow while we focus on filling in the tiny numbers and go deeper than if we were just catching up over coffee or talking on the phone.”
Try:
A BYOB paint-and-sip class with your girlfriends, such as Painting with a Twist, usually $40-$48/person, paintingwithatwist.com
Cratejoy’s Adults & Crafts Crate, $35/month for 3 months, cratejoy.com
It’s therapeutic.
New York-based psychotherapist Linda Kocieniewski, LCSW, says tactile, repetitive crafts like clay, needle felting and mosaic art can pave the way towards significant mental healing.
Take mosaics using broken ceramics, for instance. "The process of breaking something further then rebuilding it into beauty, literally rewires how the brain processes difficult memories,” says Kocieniewski. “I've watched women transform actual broken dishes from their past marriages into stunning art pieces.”
Working with clay offers a similar type of metaphorical healing and also taps into the power of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), a psychotherapy modality designed to ease the pain associated with traumatic memories. “The repetitive kneading and shaping naturally activate both brain hemispheres, creating similar calming effects to formal EMDR sessions,” she explains.
Rage-crafting projects like dumpster fire crochet kits or clever protest signs can be particularly cathartic for women who find themselves angry or stressed over current events or just life in general, says Sarah White, chief maker at Our Daily Craft, a blog about creativity for busy people.
“There’s a big movement to craft our feelings right now,” says White, adding that the result needn’t look angry. Whether you’re scribbling on a coloring page like a toddler, crafting blankets to donate to unhoused people or taking photographs to capture the beauty that still exists in the world, “making is stress-relieving.”
Try:
CraftClub Moss Coaster Kits, $36, craftclubco.com
The Artsy Atelier Weaving Class and Supply Kit, $41.25 and up, etsy.com/shop/TheArtsyAtelier
Incraftables Emotional Support Dumpster Fire Crochet Kit, $20.67, etsy.com/shop/SpreadPositiveGift
Do YOU do anything crafty? Let us know in the comments below.
