10 "Stuck at Home" Project Suggestions

I look forward to the day when this blog post is outdated! For now, though, many of us are taking shelter indoors — to protect ourselves and others — as COVID-19 rocks the world. If you plan to spend a lot of time at home for the next couple of weeks, I’ve got a list of 10 “stuck at home” project suggestions! Bonus: many of these can also be done with kids who are home from school.

1. Channel Your Inner Planner

At a time when things feel a little bit out of control, you can whip things into shape in your own universe! You know that closet you never have time to organize or that room you’ve been meaning to paint? Now is the time to tackle those types of projects.

Free Illustrated Printable Weekly Planner | The Postman's Knock — You can find this printable weekly planner by clicking here.

There are several productivity-focused printables on the TPK website. They include:

2. Start a Sketchbook Journal

You don’t have to identify as an artist to start a sketchbook journal! For many of us, this is an opportune time to process thoughts and emotions, and a sketchbook journal can help you to do that. Whether you opt to make actual sketches, simple patterns, or decoupage, you’ll appreciate the zen that sketchbooking can bring!

A Shinola Sketchbook — This sketchbook spread features a simple pattern (made with a Muji pen and Finetec gold dots) and a botanical letter.

The TPK blog has several articles about how to start or add to a sketchbook:

3. (Finally) Start a Blog

If you’ve been thinking about starting a blog or a website, this is a good opportunity to do that! Starting a blog takes time and energy up front, but that makes it the perfect “stuck at home” project.

A couple of years ago, I wrote a three-part series explaining exactly how to start a blog. There are also tips on how to come up with content!

4. Start an Etsy Shop

If you don’t want to commit to making a full-blown website, this would be a good time to start an Etsy shop! I’d set aside a week to tackle this goal. Plan out your shop offerings on the first day, use the second and third day to make products, then dedicate a day or two to photography. Then, start your shop and write your listing descriptions!

The Invitation That Started It All | The Postman's Knock — TPK actually got its start on Etsy in 2012 — this customized “BabyQ” invitation was the first product I ever offered!

Here are some articles that can help you get started. Many focus on selling calligraphy, but the tips apply to other items as well:

*If these articles interest you, also check out all of the posts tagged “Entrepreneur” on the blog! The idea for this “stay at home” project was spurred by this article, which I saw on CNBC and found interesting.

5. Get Ahead on Greeting Cards

Maybe I’m the only one with this problem, but I suffer from a shortage of greeting cards. I always need birthday/thank you cards, in particular! Make a few now, while you have time, and you’ll be glad you did later.

Here are some of my favorite card tutorials:

6. Learn How to Watercolor

In my opinion, watercolors are an easy medium to use because they’re so forgiving! You can easily control a pigment’s opacity, blend colors together, and fix mistakes.

There are several tutorials on the blog that involve watercolors, but three, in particular, are great for beginners:

7. Learn Calligraphy

… Of course I’m going to include this among my suggestions for stuck at home projects! You could not pick a better time to focus on learning calligraphy. This week, I’ve noticed a lot more lesson comments on Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course videos. That means that more learners are taking the time to watch the videos and practice, so you’ll be in good company!

Through Wednesday, you can use the coupon code KEEPINGBUSY to receive 25% off the Beginner’s Modern Calligraphy Online Course. Alternatively, you can peruse the blog for tons of beginner tips! Here are my three favorite articles for beginners:

8. Improve Your Handwriting

Maybe you don’t care about calligraphy, but you would like to improve your everyday handwriting. If so, you’ve now got time to practice your handwriting skills!

The TPK website has a few resources that will help you out with this endeavor:

9. Practice Calligraphy Drills

If you already know how to create calligraphy, work on improving it! This website has plenty of stimulating drills — both free and paid ($5.00) — to challenge you.

Fabulous Fairytale Calligraphy Drills! — You can click here to find this enchanting calligraphy drills packet.

You can find several of TPK’s freebie calligraphy drills here, and all paid drills here.

10. Do Tutorials!

I’ve dedicated the past eight years to writing tutorials for this website. I can guarantee there are at least a few that will appeal to you!

It’s not really fair to pick favorites since there are — truly — so many tutorials, but I’m going to provide you a list of my current loves anyway:

Gift-Worthy State Lettering Map Tutorial (shown above)
“You Made This?!” Lily Drawing Tutorial
Anything in the 8 Absorbing Projects to Bust the Winter Blues post

I hope that this article gives you some good ideas for things to do at home while we wait this awful thing out! If you have more stuck at home project ideas (or requests), I’d love to hear them in the comments. Otherwise, I’ll have the ultimate project prepared for you on Thursday: the Illustrated Map eCourse. Thanks so much for reading, and hang in there!

Warmly,