Five Awesome Day-Long Projects to do While at Home

While the idea of spending a few days curled up on the sofa in front of Netflix can sound appealing at first, the novelty soon wears thin. If quarantine’s starting to drive you to distraction, it’s time to put all that extra time on your hands to good use. With a little creativity and a dash of ingenuity, you’ll find plenty of things to keep you occupied. Even better, you might discover one or two hidden talents you never knew you had… and even if you don’t, you’re guaranteed to have a lot more fun than you’ll have sitting around staring at those same four walls. If you’re raring to go, get started with one of these awesome day-long projects to do at home.

Spring Clean

The Spruce has some great ideas for keeping ideal hands busy, chief among them being the top-to-toe spring clean. Granted, the thought of cleaning is rarely pleasant, but once you get going, you’ll be amazed at how much you get into it. And the satisfaction of having a squeaky-clean, clutter-free home at the end of it? Priceless. Get the process underway by de-cluttering. Make 3 piles in each room: one for things too old, too useless, or too otherwise undesirable to pass on; a second for items to donate or sell; and a third for what you want to keep. Be slightly ruthless in your approach: if there’s an item in your wardrobe you haven’t worn for 6 months, it’s gone. If there’s something in the living room that lends neither function nor beauty, out it goes.

Once you’ve finished decluttering, it’s time to grab the cleaning product basket and get down to some serious scrubbing. Starting from the ceiling down (don’t forget those lighting fixtures: they’re one of the biggest dust traps in the house), clean, scrub, and vacuum your way around every square inch of the house. While you’re at it, give those windows a good polish too: it’ll make a big difference to the amount of light they let in. Once the heavy-duty cleaning’s done, take a few minutes to swap your winter accessories for some springtime alternatives. Floral scented candles, a few flower sprigs in a vase, a change from darker linens to light… small details, maybe, but ones that’ll leave your home looking transformed.

Create a Scrapbook

If you’ve got piles of old photos hanging around gathering dust in boxes, why not put them, and all your excess time, to good use by creating a scrapbook? Sites like Everything about Scrapbooking have some great ideas to get you started, and trust me, once you start to get into it, you’ll be amazed at how quickly the time flies. To get going, gather together some cardstocks and patterned papers (these will serve as the photo mats and background papers), a pair of scissors, an adhesive, a pen, a scrapbooking album, and some embellishments to decorate your pages (these can be anything from ribbons and buttons to metal frames and glitter). Before you start, think about what you want your scrapbook to be about… do you want to tell the story of your baby’s first year, your college years, your graduation? You don’t have to have a theme, of course, but it does help give a focus and identity to each scrapbook you make (and once you make one, you’re almost sure to want to make a second). Once you’ve decided what kind of story you want your scrapbook to tell, start sorting through your photographs to find ones that fit. The rest is down to you and your own inner artist.

Plan a Costume Party

Looking for a fun activity that’ll keep you entertained from dawn to dusk? Then do as Life Hacks recommends and plan a costume party. Granted, this one won’t work quite so well if you live alone, but if you’re stuck at home with the family, it’s a winner. In the morning, have everyone pick a theme for the party (superheroes, history legends, pop stars, etc.) and write it on a piece of paper. Stick the ideas in a hat, close your eyes and pick one out. For the rest of the day, everyone should plan, create, and perfect a costume that fits the theme. At night, put some music on, layout some nibbles, and have yourself a little house party. If you’ve got something that could act as a prize, you could even have a competition for the best costume: have everyone write down their favorite costume (with the rule that no-one votes for themselves), count up the votes, and have an Oscars style ceremony for the winner.

Get Crafty

If you’ve ever secretly wanted to learn a new skill, now’s the time to do it (and if you already have the skill, see it as an opportunity to improve on it). The options here are limited- whether you want to become a knitter, a sewer, or a macramé master, there’s an online tutorial out there just waiting to teach you how. Once you’ve got the basics down, set yourself a task (knitting a scarf, crocheting a hat, whatever takes your fancy) and get to work.

Make a Food Show

Like to bake? Then bring the whole gang into the experience by making a food-themed TV show. Depending on the number of members in your family, you might need to double on duties. cut some altogether, or work in teams, but ideally, you’ll need at least one host, one cook, and one “cameraman”. Plan what you want to make, gather the ingredients, and start cooking. You can even introduce multiple segments with one person cooking the starter, one the main, and another the desert. Once filming is done, settle down to enjoy the meal and watch the show.