1. A 5-pound bucket of Crayola Air Dry Clay to let you finally follow your inner pottery dreams without all the mess and effort of taking classes. After you pull the clay out to shape it, it'll harden on its own — no oven or any effort required! From there you can leave it as is or paint over it for a fun vibe.
Psst — a lot of reviewers use silicone or plastic molds to get specific shapes! Promising review: "It’s honestly just a really nice material to work with! If you want to create things with clay, this is definitely a good choice! It’s definitely not for professional use, but I feel like that’s a given? I mean, it is Crayola. But all in all, great for those who want to use it for fun!" — Amazon Customer Get it from Amazon for $10.62.
2. A beginner's embroidery kit for adults , so you can have something soothing to do with your hands while you binge yet another podcast full of murder, murder, and a side of..
.well, murder. (At least now your stitching will be tighter than the main suspect's alibi!) Each kit comes with a simple design, a cotton cloth, a bamboo embroidery hoop, a little scissor, colored threads, embroidery needles, and instructions, so you should be raring to go when it arrives! Promising review: "I’ve never done anything like this before .
.. but I like to try new things, and I’ve just recently moved and wanted to decorate my house with some handmade decor.
This kit is a great value for the price! It came with the hoop, more than enough thread, and two needles! The printed pattern is very clear and easy to follow , and the little sheet of instructions on what stitch to use and how to do it is clear enough (and anything I don’t understand, I just watch a tutorial on YouTube). I’m about three hours into the project already, and I didn’t want to put it down last night." — Abby Get it from Amazon for $7.
99 (available in four different patterns). 3. A "Through The Seasons" Reverse Coloring Book , which is a newer edition of the original Reverse Coloring Book that took the internet by storm — reviewers swear by this easy, calming artistic outlet to help ease their anxiety, relieve stress, and unleash their inner creativity without taking up too much brainpower.
For those new to the concept — Instead of adding the color to these, you add the lines to create images within the colors. Sort of like a Rorschach test, but make it whimsical. Check out a TikTok of the reverse coloring book in action.
Promising review : "Kendra Norton’s beautiful art books, Reverse Coloring books, have changed my world! My whole life, I thought I was not creative and therefore, had zero artistic ability. Now, this has become my favorite form of artistic expression. I turn on music and/or an audiobook and allow myself to go for an adventure outside of my mind, beyond my mind, if you will.
T his has become my favorite way to process through difficult emotions and experiences I’m working through ." — K. DeWitt Get it from Amazon for $8.
29 . (Psst — check out these cult-fave black fine point pens for $8.99 on Amazon for a good doodling option!) 4.
And a stress relief flower coloring book for adults so instead of trying to outrun your problems, you can out- color them, and have a bunch of darling pieces of art to show for it. Psst — you can pick up a cult-fave colored pencil set on Amazon for $9.99! Promising review: "Great stress reliever.
Stimulates my creativity. I have taken pictures of what I colored and have made it my wall paper for my cellphone. Very glad I made this purchase.
" — Dawn62 Get it from Amazon for $7.39 . 5.
A beginner-friendly mini pottery wheel kit with everything you need to start making your teensy creations, and/or recreate that scene from Ghost as cheaply as possible. Each kit comes with a pottery wheel machine, a power adapter, eight sculpting tools, two paint brushes, three packs of air-dry clay, and 12 paints. Promising review: "I am amazed how well thought through this product is.
It is very compact and has everything you need to get started and trying your hand at pottery! My kids immensely enjoyed using it and were very excited with their creations. It's very compact, built with very good quality materials. The wheel is very stable and you can control the speed as you get the hang of it.
It's well priced for a starter kit and overall a great kit." — Synghal Get it from Amazon for $49.99 (clip the $20 off coupon on the product page for this price).
6. A compact, beginner-friendly watercolor palette that comes with everything you need to start creating your own masterpieces, including 100 (!!) colors to choose from. Next stop, the Louvre.
Each set comes with a 100-color palette, a sketch pencil, a sponge, a swatch sheet, and three water brush pens. Promising review: "Love collecting watercolor sets, and this one is amazing — so many exquisite colors to paint with. Creativity is everything, and imagination with all these colors is unlimited.
Pure happiness!" — pve Get it from Amazon for $29.99+ (available in four sizes). 7.
A gorgeous pastel paint-by-number you can get in all kinds of intricate, deeply satisfying patterns for anyone who is looking for an activity that pairs perfectly with a screen-free night in. Each set comes with a detailed numbered outline, four brushes, and a set of numbered acrylic paints with extra to spare. Promising review : "Colorful and fun! This is the third paint-by-number I’ve done, and by far the most challenging.
Lots of fine point detail, and the paint brushes included were adequate, unlike other PBN sets I’ve bought." — Emily cox Get it from Amazon for $15.99+ (available in 12 styles).
8. Wreck This Journal , a full color journal with prompts for you to write, paint, shred, and, in the words of Taylor Swift, "have a marvelous time ruining everything." Some of the prompts include one to close the journal and scribble on the edges; another to cut out colors from a magazine and tape them all over the page; another is a "Stain Log," which you can use to classify stains in your life, from red wine to nail polishes to food dyes.
Basically, if you turn the page in this journal, odds are it's going to look *nothing* like it originally did by the time you're through. Get it from Amazon for $9.49 or Bookshop for $14.
88 . 9. A compact, travel-friendly microwave flower press kit so you can preserve the beauty of the flowers you find on your adventures no matter where you roam, and keep them in a little flower press journal to admire.
This is unique from other methods because the microwave makes it a minutes-long process instead of days, and helps preserve the vibrant colors! Microfleur is a small business that specializes in unique flower-pressing products. Promising review : "Such a unique and easy-to-use product . I preserve dried flowers in resin, and this has been such a time saver.
In literally minutes, you have a perfectly preserved flower. I’ve never had any burned or overcooked flowers doing it this way and it definitely beats pressing them in a book . I can’t wait to buy these as gifts for a few other plant lovers in my life .
" — Jessie Get it from Amazon for $36.99 . 10.
A succulent monster needle felting kit that beginners especially love because there's no "wrong" way to make one of these little gremlins. Which is good, because you're about to be dealing with four or more of them, if you buy this kit. Woolbuddy is a small business that specializes in felting kits.
Promising review: "I was really excited when I got this kit. It comes with all the tools you need, including a variety of colors, and it inspires such fun creature ideas! It also includes a QR code that takes you to several (short) tutorials for different shapes, and teaches you the basics of needle felting! I thought it was going to be much harder than it was. (You don’t even need to watch the whole tutorial to pick it up.
) I actually bought the same kit for a friend, who loved it also!" — David Get it from Amazon for $26.99 . 11.
A rose-shaped silicone mold reviewers love to use for everything from ice in ~aesthetic~ cocktails to floral soap to gummy and chocolate roses. They're also a Big Mood to use in a cooler for events like weddings and showers! Psst — you can use these to freeze iced coffee or juice to add to your morning iced coffee or cocktails to cool them without watering them down! Promising review: "I was at a restaurant, and they put one of these roses in my cocktail. I knew right then I had to make these at home and ordered these while at the restaurant.
These are easy to fill and have rubber snaps that lock them tight. They come right out, and you can even take just one out and leave the others for the next time. These are a hit at all of my dinner parties, too! I have already ordered more as my friends all want these in their drinks!" — Siri US Get it from Amazon for $7.
99 . 12. A beginner's guide to calligraphy that is far more thorough and specific about technique and ink types than other versions, and will have you writing inspirational messages to your friends and drafting fancy invitations to your dog's birthday party in NO time.
Paper Peony Press is a Texas-based boutique publishing company that specializes in purpose-driven books. Promising review: "I’ve tried several instructional books on hand lettering. This book is the best by far .
I won’t say the names of the other books, but suffice it to say they are all at the top of the list when you search for hand lettering. It is the only book that gives practice for the base strokes and also discusses posture and how to hold the pen, and at what angle to the paper. It is also a lovely book to work with; nice art work/illustrations.
I recommend this book to other beginners out there!" — Karen Rorick Get it from Amazon for $19.99 . 13.
A beginner's wood carving kit to get you started on an oh-so-satisfying, soothing hobby, so you can start gifting your loved ones with carved bluejays and cardinals in no time. Each kit includes two wood carving blocks (one cherry and one basswood), a carving knife, sharpening supplies, a template, and three types of sandpaper. Promising review: "I don’t usually leave reviews, but I just had to leave one.
This product is amazing. It took me around three hours to finish. This made me appreciate my own hard work with something unique to me and tangible.
It makes me proud to look at every day." — LuisAngel Estrada Get it from Amazon for $34.99 .
14. A crochet starter kit with clear, easy instructional videos to make two new tiny friends, because you can never have too many "coworkers" on your desk cheering you on. Promising review: "Great for beginners.
I loved the YouTube step-by-step. I wouldn’t have done it without that. Such a fun result.
Super easy to figure out because of the videos." — Rachel Get it from Amazon for $16.99 (available as elephants, frogs, or leopards).
15. An origami starter kit so easy to use that it's perfect for kids *and* adults, guiding you through 38 different fun projects with clear, straightforward instructions and images. It even comes with high-quality origami paper to get you started! Promising review : "This is everything you could want for an introduction to the art of origami! It has clear instructions, a variety of options and paper too! This has been an entertainment piece for the family for a few nights, as the kids want to try new projects each time.
Fun for all!" — Bookbum Get it from Amazon for $12.49 . 16.
A beginner-friendly diamond painting coaster set perfect for anyone who has ever thought to themselves, "You know what the only thing better than cat coasters would be? Glittery cat coasters." The universe has delivered. Promising review: "The designs and colors are the same as shown on Amazon.
Finished coasters sparkle, and the vibrant colors create eight very cute cats. There were plenty of beads to complete the project and adhesion was excellent. Letters and numbers were sharp and easy to follow.
I am delighted with these coasters." — PackLeaderJ Get it from Amazon for $9.99 (available in five styles).
17. And a DIY glass mosaic tile coaster kit to let you mix and match beautiful colors that go with your home's ~aesthetic~, plus unlock a cool new skill that will make you a VERY popular gift-giver on birthdays and holidays. Each set comes with enough materials to make four coasters.
Promising review: "This is a very fun hobby to do at home both by yourself or with friends or family. It’s fun and pretty simple to make. Just need to be very steady with your hands and take time.
I received many compliments when I showed them to everyone. I might buy more later and do it again. I totally recommend it if you want a little hobby to do.
" — Lilylove75 Get it from Amazon for $26.99. 18.
A National Geographic geodes science kit for all the budding geologists out there, young and old — this kit lets you break open and discover your own crystals while keeping you up to speed with a learning guide filled with info on geodes, volcanoes, and gemstones. Next stop, a cameo in an Indiana Jones movie! Each kit includes four natural crystal-filled geodes, one pair of safety goggles, one display stand, and one learning guide. Promising review: "I’m an adult in my thirties, but I was such a rock nerd as a kid, so when I saw this kit, I knew I had to buy it! I ended up buying it for myself and my adult siblings as a Christmas present — we had so much fun cracking open the rocks on Christmas Day, it brought be back to my childhood! Highly recommend this kit.
You get a lot of rocks for the price, and it’s so fun cracking open a rock and discovering what’s inside." — Anna Get it from Amazon for $19.99+ (available in four sizes).
19. A set of Shrinky Dinks sheets to transport you so immediately to your childhood pastime of Making Everything Very Small that you'll be gifting every single person you know a kitschy keychain against their will. If you are unfamiliar with this glorious witchcraft, Shrinky Dink paper lets you color designs on it that you can then cut out and bake to shrink them down, giving them a stained glass effect that makes them great for keychains, suncatchers, and little trinkets.
Promising review: "Fun for ALL ages! Recently remembered how fun these were. I have a smaller daughter, so it gave me an excuse to buy these. They're secretly for me — half kidding.
These are so simple to use and create great crafts. These will keep your little one's imagination going, occupied and helps practice fine motor skills. I would definitely recommend to ANYONE, not just little humans.
" — Alex Soper Get a 25-sheet set from Amazon for $17.98 (available in four styles). 20.
A shea butter lip balm DIY kit so you can create a customized one for every single day of the week *and* gift a few of them to your friends to match. Urban Kangaroo is a small California-based, woman-owned business that specializes in DIY kits with all-natural ingredients. Each kit includes materials to make 10 lip balms , including beeswax, shea butter, grapeseed oil, peach flavor oil, vitamin E capsule, eight lip balm tubes, two aluminum tins, filling pipettes, stirring sticks, 48 stickers, and instructions.
Promising review: "I was interested because of the clean ingredients. My daughter and I have very sensitive skin so most lip balm doesn't work or is unreasonably expensive. This seemed like a good way to control the ingredients at a great price.
The product exceeded my expectations for sure, and the kids had fun doing the parts they could do (ages 7 and 9). Probably better for kids over 10 or who have long attention spans and good fine motor skills. Lip balm turned out smooth and silky.
Love it!." — UKjane Get it from Amazon for $39.95 .
21. A delightfully wacky spin and paint art set that yes, is designed for kids, but will *absolutely* thrill any adult looking to make 2024 their unrepentant colorful chaos era. I'm not NOT saying your kitchen deserves to be revamped in bright rainbow neon splatter colors after you frame these gems .
...
Promising review : "I'm an adult artist. I got this on a lark to have some fun with it. I think a child would have a lot of fun with it.
I've discovered you can use any tempera or acrylic paint (just put some in small squeeze bottles). I'm actually having fun experimenting it." — Lynn M.
Farkas Get it from Amazon for $19.97 . 22.
A starter's weaving kit to make gorgeous pastel tapestries and help il-loom-inate you to what just might be your coziest hobby yet. Wool Couture Company is a UK-based Etsy shop established in 2014 that specializes in knitting, crochet, weaving, and macrame craft kits. You can get one of three kinds of kits: a Basic Kit , which comes with a loom and instructions; a Starter Kit , which comes with a loom, two weaving needles, instructions, a mounting bar for hanging, and a cotton ball of warp to hold your work; and a Quintessential Kit , which comes with everything in the Starter Kit, plus the merino wool for weaving.
Promising review: "It’s simple to use, the wool I received in the set is high quality, and the service was smooth and communicative. Can not recommend this highly enough from a first-time weaver." — DivineDerbyshire Get it from Wool Couture Company on Etsy for $40.
01+ (available in eight styles and three different kinds of kits). 23. A unicorn slime making kit , because truly the most universal human experience is that deep down inside we all just want to stretch out a big ol' glop of bright pink glittery slime.
Each kit comes with clear written instructions and access to video tutorials to make over 100 different kinds of slime, from unicorn slime to glitter slime to fluffy cloud slime to floam putty. You can personalize the colors, textures, add-ins, *and* the smell — the box comes with beads, scents, glitter, ink, foam balls, the ingredients needed to make the slime, and containers to keep it in. Promising review: "Purchased for daughter's birthday.
She loves it. I was very apprehensive about letting her use slime, but it has everything a parent could dream of to keep it all in one place and organized without the mess!" — Jay Get it from Amazon for $28.99 .
24. A pack of mini rainbow scratch art notes that will transport you back to your youth so fast that you will suddenly have a craving for Goldfish crackers and apple juice so aggressive it CANNOT BE IGNORED. Promising review: "I love this little scratch art pad.
Sometimes I just need a break and a little distraction to let my brain breathe, so I pull this out and make all sorts of designs. You do get a little of a mess by scratching the black off but I usually have a big mess cause I end up scratching the whole thing off. Can't help it.
Kid at heart, I guess." — Jane Get a pack of 125 notes from Amazon for $12.84 (available in five styles).
25. A friendship bracelet making kit so you can live your best Babysitter's Club life and start sending them in personalized colors to everyone you know. Choose Friendship is a small business that specializes in friendship bracelet makers.
Each set comes with the holder mount and 20 pre-cut threads in 10 colors as well as access to an online instruction manual for all kinds of different designs. Promising review: "I bought this for my daughter for a craft night. I made friendship bracelets when I was a kid but could not remember how to make them.
This helped so much! I had to buy another one for me so we could work on them at the same time. Love this product!" — hollyhock Get it from Amazon for $22.99 (available in five styles).
26. A paint-by-sticker set made up of vintage travel posters you can hang up on your walls when you're finished, essentially letting you travel the world without getting up from ye olde couch. Each comes with 12 posters and the stickers to complete them, including iconic travel posters from gondolas in Venice to the pyramids in Cairo.
Promising review: "I love these sticker books! I use them when I'm on conference calls at work to help me stay focused (ADHD over here) . I have gotten a few of these books now and they are a great way to spend time and help you relax a little — the stickers are all labelled so there is no guess work, you just place them where they go and end up with a beautiful scene . It's a great de-stresser for me! " — Sarah Bartz Get it from Amazon for $11.
89 . 27. A string art kit so you can create art with a genuine pop! of dimension in your bedroom that'll have everyone on FaceTime going, "Oooh, where'd you get that?" Or at the very least, get "WHO LIVES IN A PINEAPPLE UNDER THE SEA????" stuck in your head until the end of time.
The kit comes with a crafting board, small hammer, a holder, nails, glue, screws, cotton string, a frame, a pattern, and a detailed instruction manual, so there's no need to buy other supplies. Promising review: "These instructions are easy to follow — I finished it in two hours. This was so much fun and I love my finished results! It looks so beautiful.
It was a gift for my friend. I would buy it again and recommend it to others." — yuyantan Get it from Amazon for $29.
99 (available in ten styles). 28. A calming, beginner-friendly terrarium starter kit to introduce some peace into your human existence when you need it most.
This comes with everything you need to build your own little oasis, including moss, soil, pebbles, plant food, tools, and a comprehensive how-to guide. Cute Farms is a small business that specializes in plant products and DIY terrarium sets. The set comes in three different sizes depending on what kind of structure you're using your your terrarium — if you don't already have one in mind, you can check out some fun terrarium options on Amazon! Promising review: "Love! This kit was super helpful with building my first plant terrarium.
..everything I needed other than the succulents was included.
Thinking I’ll be ordering more to create terrariums for family as gifts (we’re all plant lovers)." —love whisper Get it from Amazon for $19.95+ (available in three sizes).
29. A beeswax candle kit so you can finally live out your "Serenity By Jan" destiny and create an entire shelf full of scented goodness. Each set comes with materials to make six candles , including a melting pot, four bags of beeswax, six candle tins with lids, six scents, 10 cotton wicks, six dye blocks, 10 glue dots, six labels, six stirring sticks, two wick clips, a storage bag, a thermometer, and a user manual.
Promising review: "I purchased this kit because I always wanted to make my own candles. This candle-making kit looked like it had everything I needed, and it definitely does. I am so pleased with it that I will be buying more scented oils and wax so that I can make candles as gifts this holiday season.
It's a very nice kit." — Tracie Craig Get it from Amazon for $28.49 (available in two styles).
30. A light-up tracing pad for kids and adults alike — this lets you easily recreate illustrations so you can either practice to find your own style, or color them in to make your own *custom* versions. Some reviewers even use this as an easy way to practice calligraphy! Promising review: "I am a 30-year-old calligrapher and was in need of a light box.
I needed a light box that fit into my budget and I didn't want to spend too much on one because I wasn't sure how much I would use it. This is by far one of the best purchases to add to my calligraphy arsenal! " — Placeholder Get it from Amazon for $25.99 .
31. A DIY purse-making kit so the next time someone stops you on the street to ask where you got your bag, you can be like, "Oh this lil' thing? I made it myself.😊" Beablinger is a small business that specializes in DIY projects.
Promising review : "I loved putting this purse together! It was so much fun! The final product looks exactly like the picture. As a beginner, the instruction video on YouTube was very easy for me to follow . I would buy this again in a heartbeat!" — Amazon Customer Get it from Amazon for $19.
88 (available in five colors). Reviews have been edited for length and/or clarity..
