Fun Five is a monthly email I send out on the 5th. Each edition is a short list of five things I’ve been enjoying lately. Things like inspiration, design, music, food, small curiosities, and more.
March is officially here, and that "new year" motivation has definitely worn off. Living in Montreal, the drag of a long winter can really test your patience right about now. To keep burnout away, I've been focusing on keeping my creativity fun while prepping some new things for the store. Here is what I found for this month.
1. Juggling hobbies without burning out
This video by Nextcore about managing multiple creative interests is a must watch if you ever feel scattered between too many different projects. Their biggest point is that having too many passions isn't the problem. The burnout actually comes from trying to tackle all of them every single day or all at once. Instead, they break down why rotating your hobbies using the specific method they describe in the video is the best way to keep things fresh and actually make progress.
2. Just 9 minutes a day is all it takes
I always appreciate finding smaller creators who put out incredibly well made content, and I really love Massa's video style here. Like me, he's also trying to get better at drawing. In his video, he clearly breaks down his own struggles with improving and how to actually get better without overdoing things and burning out. All you need to focus on is improving 1% each day. He even built a free tool called drawingtimer.com to generate timed sessions from any Pinterest board. It's super handy to keep your reference sketch practice quick and spontaneous.
3. A lamp made of its own extension cord
I just love this Coil Lamp by Manual. The whole thing is literally made by wrapping a standard extension cord around a simple frame. It's so simple and fun. The designer even released the template as a free open source download so you can build it yourself.
4. Breathing new life into old clothes
Sometimes the best projects are just for the joy of it. This quick tutorial by Toofbush shows a super simple way to add multicolour stitching across the seams of old clothes. I love his whole ethos of just having a good time making things. His sewing projects are so original, and his editing style is really fun to watch. I definitely recommend checking out his other stuff. But if you're looking to relax while watching a TV show and still want to feel like you accomplished something, this is the perfect project.
5. Don't be fooled by high protein claims
This quick breakdown by Alexa Zezi completely changed how I read nutrition labels. She explains a massive loophole where products boast high protein numbers on the front of their packaging using incomplete protein, which actually doesn't count toward your daily value percentage on the back.
Hope this helps to get you through until spring. Thanks for reading the Fun Five. If there’s something you’ve been really into lately, feel free to reach out and share it!