Seven Spring Crafts for Seniors

By Anna Hazard

Introduction

With spring in the air and a spring to everyone's step (not to mention all the leftover supplies unearthed due to spring cleaning), it's time to whip up some seasonal decorations that will be a fun & healthy way for your senior loved ones (or anyone else in a crafty mood) to pass their time.
 
Most crafts can be made with supplies found around the house or with a few additional & inexpensive supplements for certain styles & tutorials (such as foam forms, special terrarium plants, or just a bit of iron-on hemtape to avoiding sewing).

Spring Snow Globes & Sensory Bottles

• Particularly helpful when it comes to relaxing techniques, stress relief, and medication, these spring themed snowglobes and sensory bottles can be made from leftover jars & water bottles and can be made in various water-filled & liquid-free styles. Other supplies include flowers (real or fake), glitter, confetti, rice, pvc tape, and other small spring related baubles at hand.
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Spring Terrariums

• These cool & classy looking terrariums can be made from recycled glass jars, empty lightbulbs, cut plastic bottles, or specific terrarium cases that can be bought from craft stores. They can be filled with local spring fauna or with specialty plants such as Tillandsia (airplants) that can grow without soil & little moisture.
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Spring Clothespins Crafts

• If your senior loved one is someone who suffers from seasonal allergies (and thus shouldn't have their laundry hanging outside near the pollen & grass), those old clothespins can be easily repurposed for fun crafts such as decorate clips, flower pots & planters, candle holders, or magnets.
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Spring Windchimes

• Fun to make & decorate with beads, shells, metal washers, keys and other bits & baubles that may be at hand, these craft windchimes can become a permanent part of your senior loved one's outside decor. Some styles of windchimes require better hand dexterity (such as for threading beads) than others and some may require preparation beforehand (such as drilling into wood, shells, clay pieces and other ornaments that will be added to the chimes)
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Spring Scent Sachet

• Bring the scents of spring indoors with these handy (and handmade) scent sachets that can pull double duty as moth repellent, air freshener, laundry fragrance in the dryer, or as aromatherapy. Both sewing & no-sew tutorial versions are available for those with varying hand dexterity. Most machine sewing can also be subbed with handsewing or fabric glue for those sachets that will be handled gently (ie not tossed into the dryer)
• Sewing
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Spring Tissue Flowers

• A hypoallergenic choice for those who suffer from pollen allergies, these flowers can be easily made in various styles using various available supplies with all of them having plain colored tissue paper as their bases. Go small & handheld or super large with different varieties of flowers from sunflowers to anemones to mums.
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Spring Wreathes

• It's time to replace those winter wreathes with something more light & colorful. While many wreathes require a foam or metal bases that can be bought at local craft stores (with cutout cardboard an acceptable sub for some varieties that aren't holing up heavy decorations), their exact style can be tailored depending upon the supplies on hand (from coffee filters to scrap cloth to tissue paper to cupcake wrappers)
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