Crafting and 2020.

Over the last year there has been so much change, with 3 lockdowns, social distancing, not seeing family or friends, and not being able to leave your house for months. This has caused people to look for something to do, to keep them busy and take their minds off of the outside world.

Crafting is one way that people did this. According to Crafts Council: 'between 2006 and 2020 – with 73% of the population buying craft in 2020, the sector has now entered the mainstream market. Between 2006 and 2020 the number of people buying craft in England increased from 6.9m to 31.6m people. Across the UK, the number of people buying craft is now 37.7m. There has been a four-fold increase in the volume of craft objects bought annually between 2006 and 2020 – from 5.6m to 24.7m objects. The total value of craft sales has increased from £883m in 2006 to over £3b in 2019. Over the same period, the average price per object has decreased from £157 in 2006 to £124 in 2020.' (Council and Partners, 2020) This is interesting to see how 2020 has helped crafting.

Crafting can come in many shapes and sizes, theres knitting, sewing, embroidery, painting, drawing and so much more.

One thing I have made for Mindful Crafts is a photo frame with paper roses stuck around the edge of the photo frame to make it a flower frame. Its not much but it made me happy, and that is what crafting is and it helped my mental health.

Mental health can also come in many forms, Crafting has been proved to help with stress, depression, self-esteem, insominia and prosessing grief. This is because crafting is known as mediation in some ways. And it helps people because things like kitting has rhythms and constant patterns, it helps people to relax. (Foster, 2019)

So crafting, if it makes you happy, keeps you busy and takes your mind off of things then it is helping. Please share your creations below in the comments!

(Citations:

Foster, A., 2019. Crafting for Health | What are the health benefits of crafting?. [online] Crafting for Health | What are the health benefits of crafting?. Available at: <https://www.uaex.edu/life-skills-wellness/personal-family-well-being/navigating-life-blog/crafting_for_health.aspx#:~:text=Depression%20relief%20is%20by%20far,you%20feel%20better%20about%20yourself.> [Accessed 9 April 2021].

Council and Partners, C., 2020. The Market for Craft. [online] Craftscouncil.org.uk. Available at: <https://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/documents/880/Market_for_craft_full_report_2020.pdf> [Accessed 9 April 2021].)