tldr; i realized early on in quarantine that i can actually still get creative, even in a pandemic
I started a list of 'Things I did in quarantine' when things were new in March/April... I quickly abandoned it. But looking back on it, I could be adding so, so much to it. In fact, I think I have a post sitting in my drafts about it (I say as if I can't go check right now ... I'm just lazy ok?). But a common theme in said list is all the home projects and little DIY things I've done every few weeks or whatever.
How it started: At my house the basement is finished, but we're still trying to perfect its functionality. It was just for storage when we moved in. Then it turned into a half-rec-room-half-bedroom situation. Then it was just a super open rec-room with books and movies completely filling our two bookshelves. Now, it's half a gym and half a rec-room... In any case there's a wall that sits under where the inside of the garage starts upstairs and there's no art or anything on it, and I'm not allowed to paint it. Around the time it was very tiktok trendy to paint *those* geometric shapes on your wall, I did my own take on it but by cutting chevrons out of paper instead of painting them! It took a long time, lots of measuring and tape to get it to sit right, but I still think it looked amazing. I actually don't have photo proof anymore but it was great - the white paper on the dark grey (gray?) walls. My mom and sister hated it but I was doing my best to make the basement feel homey, but in the end it ended up looking like a college student house with mismatched used furniture (but in a cute, cozy way).
How it's going: That made me feel super accomplished, so then I took my big oak bookshelf (so old it looked orange) and painted it white to look like the one from Ikea. The best part was that we already had the paint, so it literally cost me $0. Then I moved around my entire room (I highly recommend it, it's not just a novelty feeling from your childhood). And then I went out and bought a newer light fixture for my room from Facebook Marketplace. And then my sister got a new bookshelf and we built that, but some of the dowels broke when we moved things so I had to get creative and find a way to get them out of the holes. In between it all I was working on photoshopping and creating items for my friends for their birthdays and/or Christmas, and that's always a lot of fun. If you look at my Sasha Claus Gift Guide blog, I talk about ways to make gifts that are sentimental rather than costly. I currently am juggling 2 jobs with 0 days off and while I have mornings or afternoons off (depending on the day), I'm too lazy to do my next project: I have a little storage drawer situation (it looks exactly like this one, only lime green) for makeup and whatnot that I want to paint white. If it looks terrible I won't be offended, but I'm so over the green and it's OLD as hell and I hate it (but it's functional still so I'm keeping it).
How I stay creative: I don't know? I've just always been a creative person. In a time where we can't travel, can't get together, can't really go out anywhere, and can't do anything, all the time and energy I'd have spent on those things has gone to creating different things so they can be new in my home, and in some cases that grants me the excuse to hit up Michael's or something (the 'going out' part!).
I'd love to know how you also get creative. Do you art? Do you fix? Do you DIY?
xx
S PS: I couldn't post this without mentioning that this entire blog/website was created out of absolute boredom and lack of new things to keep me creative and busy. I have a client who I get to do fun creative stuff for with her blog and website too.
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