Autumn is a great time to try a new hobby or craft!
Embrace the beauty of the season with an autumnal door wreath workshop or try something completely new like decoupage or macramé crafting! Research tells us the importance of a little 'me time' and the benefits of arts and crafts i.e. focusing on using our hands to create something enables us to relax our thinking, forget about our worries and to ultimately destress. Taking part in arts and crafts is a great way to learn new skills and harness our inner creativity. We are all creative.... we just need to take a little time to  develop and embrace what lies within! 

Macramé is the continuing BIG trend for 2023!

The bo-ho craft of macramé has been around for a very long time. During the 1960s and 1970s it was popular... individuals made hanging plant pot holders, handbags, belts, wall hangings and much more. Then it went out of fashion... however, now it's back, and it's BIG!

Macramé is essentially a 'knotting' craft. Using cords, you learn to make different knots to achieve different looks and effects. Once you learn some of the basic knots, the project possibilities are endless! From table runners to wall art... all your handmade Christmas presents sorted!

It's a craft that's also great for health and wellbeing. Like any acitivity working with your hands, it allows your worries to slip away while you focus on making and creating! Let's Craft NI is delighted to be offering a range of Beginner's Macramé Classes!

The Wintry weather and short days are coming to an end, and Spring is upon us! This is a great time of year to learn a new craft, try something new, and enjoy a little 'me time' which is necessary for our own health and wellbeing and mindfulness!

Let's Craft NI offers a range of seasonal creative courses for all ages. Lovely Spring crafts include fresh flower arranging workshops, felt flower crafting courses, bird box decorating with decoupage, and, of course, making your own Spring wreath.
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Creative programmes support positive mental health, whilst encouraging creativity and lifelong learning.

Gardening is a great way to enjoy the outdoors, keep fit and be creative. For me, the outdoors provides a sort of open canvas to experiment with colour, shape and texture as I grow plants ranging from edibles to those that attract bees, birds and insects.

I’m not sure how my interest in gardening started, but I recall as a child visiting my grandparent’s house and being fascinated by their vegetable plot. I would help dig up potatoes, and was bemused by a rubber snake they kept in their fruit bushes to deter birds. Best of all was going on slug safari to capture slimy plant-crunching creatures.​

Later, as an adult, I loved two things: being outdoors and being creative. That is how my interest in gardening began to sprout.

Taking part in arts and crafts is so important, not just for children, but it’s also essential for adults! Crafting is beneficial to our health and wellbeing, from keeping our mind active by learning new skills, to the way it enables us to form social connections, to developing problem solving skills and increasing our feeling of purpose and self-esteem.

There are so many great merits to crafting and working with your hands, with a multitude of studies and research providing evidence of the health benefits, including the positive impact on our mental health.

The benefits of crafting include…

Based in Newtownabbey, Let's Craft Northern Ireland's founder, Kelli Johnston, has over 15 years' experience of facilitating learning and development and has a lifelong passion for making and creating, and promoting arts and crafts for all ages.

Kelli tells us...