Feeling artsy this summer? Whether you’re a DYI pro or a newcomer to the crafting world, here are 9 fun and easy crafts you can make at home that will be sure to spice up your dorm room come fall!
1. Picture Collage
Sometimes the blank white walls can make your dorm room feel like more of a detention center than a home. Add a personal touch by creating one of these photo collages featuring family, friends, and anything else that makes you smile. (:
Poster Board Collage
Picture Frame Collage
2. Bulletin Board
If collages aren’t your thing, but you still want to add a touch of personality to your room, try making a custom bulletin board. Simply buy a pack of 4 cork board squares, spray paint 2 and cover the other 2 with scrapbook paper, and attach them all to a cardboard backing. Glue on any decorations of your choice, and voila! Now you can pin up photos, reminders, and even your keys!
3. Homemade Projector
So you and your friends want to watch a movie on Netflix, but alas, the TV in the lounge is yet again occupied by an overly affectionate couple and your computer screen is too small for everyone to see. Sounds like the perfect time to save the night by whipping out the projector you made over summer! Learn how to make it here.
4. Paint Chip Sample City-scape
A great way for you and your roommates to show some city pride without breaking your bank account trying to buy merchandise from the tourist shops downtown.
5. Canvas Paintings
Canvases are a perfect way to brighten up any drab room. They come in all shapes and sizes and are a blank slate on which you can let your creativity flow. Some of my favorite canvas ideas include, quotes, paintings, monograms, a Tiffany’s box, and glue designs.
6. ChaNDelier
Nothing good can be said about the dim dorm room ceiling lights. But you can change your room from dreary to cheery with this DIY chandelier! All you need is a hula hoop, colored tape, about 9 yards of ribbon, and 2 strings of lights! First, wrap the colored tape (I used white) around the hula hoop. Then hot glue about 4.5 ft lengths of ribbon at 6 to 8 spots on the hula hoop. These will all meet in a knot at the center from which your chandelier will hang. Lastly, wrap either regular lights or “icicle” Christmas lights around the hula hoop (I used regular).
7. Shoebox Charging Station
A lack of outlets and the necessity for power strips, extension cords, and of course chargers can leave your dorm room with wires crisscrossing everywhere, like one of those high security laser mazes. Find out how to avoid this mess by making a discrete charging station, here.
8. Dry Erase Calendar
Between classes, clubs, friends, and the ever-elusive thing we call sleep, college can get hectic. But planning meetings, meals, and big assignments just got a lot easier with this weekly dry erase calendar. All you need is a multi-picture frame, some scrapbook paper to insert as the “pictures,” stickers to spell out the days, and then you can begin planning our your week! Just write on the glass with any dry erase marker.
9. Painted Initials
If you’re into monograms, try painting the letters of your initials to hang up by your bed! Any design goes–from simplistic monochromes to these intricate Lily Pulitzer flowers.
Happy crafting, collegiates!
The HCND application is now open! For more information contact Rebecca Rogalski at rrogalsk@nd.edu or Katrina Linden at klinden1@nd.edu.
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Images: 1, 2, 7, 10 (provided by author), 3 (provided by Maggie Wilhelm) 4, 8, 9, 12 (provided by Maria Hanna), 13 (provided by Natalie Mayer), 5, 6, 11