5 Low-Cost Ways to Tap into Your Creative Side

If you’re tired of coming home after work and binge watching another show on Netflix, it might be time to start a creative project. You don’t have to be artistic to be creative either. If all your Pinterest projects have been massive disasters, and you’re not quite ready to invest a hundred dollars into paints and canvases when you’ve never picked up a brush before, try these five low-cost ways to tap into your creative side first.

1) Write in a journal.
You don’t need to be a writer to keep a journal. A journal can be a place for jotting down your feelings about your day, that rant that you really shouldn’t post on Facebook, that dream no one wants to hear about, the strangest things you’ve observed on the train, or a rave about a new restaurant you tried. It’s great to have a record of your life where you don’t have to censor yourself for an audience. You can also save great ideas from your journal to use in bigger projects.

2) Start a mood board.
Mood boards are ideal for visual thinkers who have absolutely no talent for visual arts, which is why I love them so much. Collect cool pieces of fabric, pictures of beautiful places, or quotes from the books you’re reading. Pinterest and Tumblr can be a digital mood board, but personally, I’m a fan of physical mood boards.

3) Let yourself daydream.
While you might not want to try this at work, turning off all your devices and giving your brain time to rest and imagine is important. We often become so focused on producing something that we don’t let ourselves relax and play with different ideas.

4) Bring your creativity to the kitchen.
At some point, sandwiches and macaroni and cheese start to get really old. Try out new recipes. Experiment with foods you’ve never tried before. The worst case scenario is that you’ll make something that tastes bad, but at least it won’t be boring.

5) Learn origami.
When I was working as an afterschool teacher, origami was a favorite activity. It was cheap for the school, and fun for the students (who picked up on it much faster than I did). There are dozens of patterns on Pinterest, from easy to advanced. Origami requires focus, and the ability to imagine what shape each fold will create and how something is going to fit together. Also, once you get past the incredibly frustrating phase, it’s actually a lot of fun.