Put the Phone Down &Make Something...

"a love letter to your creative, wonderful, slightly chaotic mind"

"Creativity is not a talent reserved for artists. It is a language every single human being was born already knowing."

Hey Sunny, 💛

First things first, an apology. 🌸

I was not here last week, and I owe you an explanation. Your girl was deep in the trenches of her late luteal phase and honestly, burnout had fully moved in, unpacked its bags and made itself comfortable. The newsletter did go out to subscribed sunnies though. So, if you haven't subscribed yet, please do! Monthly love letters and exclusive content are waiting for you on the other side. Okay. Now that we've addressed that, let's get into it....

TikTok Got Me Again. Surprise...

"The internet giveth inspiration and the internet taketh it away, usually in the same comment section."

Yes. TikTok. Again. I know, I know, at this point we simply have to accept that TikTok is basically the primary source of all my references, half my personality and approximately seventy percent of my opinions. I have made peace with this. You should too. 😌

So, there I was, minding my business in the streets of TikTok, which is what I call it because it genuinely feels like wandering through a very chaotic, very entertaining city where something wild is always happening on the next corner. Anyway, I came across a video of a dad who had made live frames for his family using their TV. Like, built them himself. From scratch. With his hands and his creativity and his love. And it was genuinely so wholesome and sweet that my little heart did a thing.

And then I made the mistake of reading the comments. As one always does, even knowing it will end badly.

"You know they sell those, right?"

"Why would you make it when you can just buy it?"

And various other flavors of completely unsolicited negativity from people who apparently have never experienced the particular joy of making something with their own hands. The audacity. The sheer, unbothered audacity. 🙃

Yes, They Sell Those. That's Not the Point...

"He didn't make it because he had to. He made it because something in him needed to create. That is the whole point."

Here is what I said to myself reading those comments, and what I am now saying to you, loud and with my full chest: of course, he knows they sell those. He's a grown adult with access to the internet and presumably a functioning Amazon account. The point was never that he couldn't buy it. The point was that he wanted to make it. Because making things is different. Making things is, frankly, a whole experience that no flat-packed, next-day-delivery alternative can replicate.

There is something that happens when you decide to create something from scratch. Your brain shifts gears. Your hands get busy. Your mind, which is usually nineteen tabs open and running a background commentary on everything you need to do this week suddenly gets quiet and focused on just this one thing. That is not nothing. That is, dare I say it, magic. 🌿

Me, a DIY Girlie, and My Entirely Unhinged Projects...

"She didn't always have the budget. But she always had the vision. And honestly, the vision carried."

I should formally introduce myself as a DIY girlie, in case that wasn't already obvious. I love making things from scratch with a passion that is probably disproportionate, but I have decided to lean into fully. No notes. No regrets.

Sometimes it comes from necessity, as in, I cannot currently afford the thing, but I can absolutely figure out how to make a version of the thing with what I have, a YouTube tutorial, and an unreasonable amount of optimism. But honestly? Most of the time it's not even about the money. It's about the process.

There is something so genuinely satisfying about starting with raw materials; fabric, paper, ingredients, wood, absolutely nothing and ending up with something that did not exist before you decided to make it exist. You get to learn the process. You get to do it in your own style. You are the only one who knows exactly what you like, and when you make something yourself, it shows. It has your fingerprints on it in the most beautiful, literal and figurative way.

And yes, sometimes it goes catastrophically wrong. Sometimes the DIY gods are not with you and the thing you made looks absolutely nothing like the Pinterest photo that inspired it. That is also fine. That is also part of it. That is also, in retrospect, usually quite funny. 😅

Why Channeling Your Creativity Actually Matters...

"Making something with your hands is one of the oldest forms of self-care there is."

Let's talk about why these matters. Beyond the joy of annoying comment sections on TikTok. Because channeling your creativity isn't just a fun hobby or a way to save money on home décor. It is genuinely, meaningfully good for you. And I will die on this hill.

• It quiets the noise in your head. ~ When your hands are busy making something, your mind gets a rare break from overthinking. It's basically meditation but with something to show for it at the end.

• It builds confidence in the most unexpected way. ~ Every time you finish something you made yourself, some quiet part of you thinks, oh. I can do things. I am capable of things. And that feeling carries over into everything else.

• It connects you to yourself. ~ Creativity is deeply personal. What you make, how you make it, what you're drawn to, all of it is a conversation with yourself that you don't get to have any other way.

• It breaks the scroll cycle. ~ Instead of consuming endlessly, you get to produce. And producing something, anything that feels fundamentally different in your body than scrolling ever does.

• It is genuinely, unashamedly fun. ~ And fun is deeply underrated as a reason to do something. You are allowed to do things just because they bring you joy. Full stop. No further justification required.

• It challenges your mind in the best way. ~ Problem-solving, visualizing, figuring out how things work. Creativity keeps your brain active and engaged in a way that doomscrolling simply cannot

Different Ways to Channel Your Creativity...

"You don't have to paint a masterpiece. You just have to make something. Anything. Start there."

Now, before you say, "but I'm not creative". I am going to stop you right there. You have always been creative. Creativity is not exclusively the domain of people who can paint or sew or sculpt. It is so much broader and more accessible than that. Here are some ways to get into it, no art degree required 🌿

📓Journaling & Writing

A blank page is one of the most creative spaces there is. Write freely, write badly, write honestly. Nobody has to see it but you.

🍳Cooking & Recipe Creating

Making food is creativity in its most delicious form. Experiment with flavors, invent recipes, make it yours.

✂️DIY & Crafting

Candles, décor, clothing alterations, upcycled furniture. If you can imagine it, you can probably make a version of it.

📸Photography

Your phone camera is enough. Find beauty in ordinary things and capture it. Train your eye to see differently.

🌿Gardening & Growing

Growing something from a seed is creativity meeting patience meeting pure joy. Even one little plant counts.

🎵Music & Playlists

Making a playlist for a specific mood or moment is genuinely a creative act. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

🖌️Drawing & Painting

It doesn't have to be good. It just has to be yours. Doodle in the margins. Paint badly. It still counts.

🏠Rearranging Your Space

Moving furniture, switching up your décor, creating a new corner you love. Designing your space is creativity too.

And the most important rule of all, there are no rules. You don't have to be good at it. You don't have to share it. You don't have to finish it. You just have to start it, and see what happens.

Buy What You Need. Make What You Can...

"This is not a manifesto against shopping. This is a love letter to the particular magic of making."

I want to be very clear about something, because I am not here to shame anyone's convenient, well-priced, arrives-in-two-days online shopping habits. I have them too. We all have them. They are valid and wonderful and sometimes genuinely the most sensible option. Buy the thing if you need to buy the thing. Absolutely no judgement from me. 🛒

All I am saying or rather, all that lovely TikTok dad was saying, in his own quiet, creative way, is that sometimes making the thing is the point. Not because it's cheaper. Not because the shop-bought version isn't perfectly good. But because the process of making it gives you something the shop-bought version never can: the experience of creating it, the satisfaction of finishing it, and the ability to look at it forever after and think, I made that.

That feeling, by the way, does not get old. Not even slightly.

What I've Been Making Lately...

"She challenged her mind, picked up her pen, stirred her pot and discovered she had been creative all along."

As I mentioned at the start of this year, one of my intentions for 2025 is to limit my time on social media and challenge my mind instead. And channeling my creativity is very much part of that plan. Less scrolling, more making. Less consuming, more creating. That's the vibe.

One of the things I've started is a tea journal. Yes, you read that correctly. A whole journal dedicated to tea. Different blends, brewing notes, how they made me feel, little observations. It is as cozy and lovely as it sounds, and I am completely obsessed with it. I'll be doing a full journal tour in an upcoming newsletter, so if you haven't subscribed yet, what are you waiting for, honestly. 🍵

I've also been experimenting with food recipes, coming up with my own combinations, testing things, occasionally producing something genuinely delicious and occasionally producing something that was a valuable learning experience. I sometimes, share the wins on my Instagram stories, so come find me over there if you want to see what my kitchen experiments look like in real time.

📖

To My Sunnies 🌻

"Your creativity doesn't need an audience. It doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to be yours."

If you've been waiting for permission to start that thing, the recipe, the journal, the DIY project you've had saved on Pinterest for eight months, this is your permission. Right here, right now, from me to you. Go make the thing. 🌿

And please, for the love of everything, do not let a comment section talk you out of creating something that brings you joy. The people commenting "you know they sell those, right?" are not your people. Your people are the ones who see what you made and say wait; you made that yourself? That's incredible. Those are your people.

You have a creative mind. You have always had one. Maybe it just needed a little nudge to remember that. Consider this your nudge. Now go make something wonderful. I can't wait to hear about it. 💛

🌿 ✦ 🎨 ✦ 🌿

Come Create With Us

this little corner is for the makers, the dreamers & the doers

If this post made you want to go make something, even something small, even something messy, then it did exactly what it was supposed to do. Come back next week for more honest, warm, slightly TikTok-influenced conversations about life, self-care and everything in between.

Subscribe to the blog so you never miss a post. Find me on Instagram @_.selfcare_diary where I share my own creative experiments in real time. And if you want longer, cozier chats Navigating Life Diaries is always open. 🎙️