12 Best Craft Kits to Get You Through the Hours at Home
After nearly three weeks in self-isolation, it’s likely that you’ve already puzzle-swapped your favorite jigsaws, baked homemade banana bread, sweat through a retro Jane Fonda workout tape, FaceTimed your college roommates, and binged season one of Tiger King.
Now you need a project—something that will last a while, something that you can work on little by little between the necessary Zoom conferences and solitary walks, something that you can gift to a friend whose physical presence you miss, or take with you when this pandemic is over.
But where to begin? Crafting can be tricky without the right tools, and it’s hard to know which supplies are needed to complete your entire project. Even with the proper accoutrements, devising your own original design can be daunting—you may find yourself spending more time deciding on style, color palette, and subject matter than you will actually creating your piece.
Our advice? Streamline your shopping list with a simple, pre-assembled kit. Complete with all the materials, tools, and step-by-step instructions you’ll need to create your very own work of art (be it in the form of clothing, jewelry, or decor), craft kits offer a succinct and user-friendly gateway into the wonderful world of DIY.
Here, shop our guide to the 12 best—and chicest—adult craft kits, from paper floral arrangements to oven bake clay.
Dannijo DIY Bead Kit
Danielle and Jodie Snyder, the New York-based sister duo behind the cult-favorite jewelry brand, Dannijo, have put together a beading kit that puts a sophisticated spin on the DIY style of your summer camp glory days, with a colorful assortment of glass, plastic, and clay beads, and three yards of cord—more than enough to make for yourself and send to the friends and loved ones you miss most!
Dannijo DIY bead kit
$65.00, BERGDORF GOODMAN
Graham Keegan Indigo & Shibori Natural Dye Kit
For a sophisticated take on the tie-dye trend, try this natural indigo shibori kit. All you need is a bucket of hot water and something to stir it with, and the kit will provide the rest, including a blank bandana for you to test your technique before moving on to your own garments.
Graham Keegan indigo & shibori natural dye kit
$23.00, ETSY
Arteza Polymer Clay Set
If you ever played with Sculpey as a kid, this one should feel familiar. But this time, instead of animal figurines and Christmas ornaments, try your hand at something more elevated like a jewelry dish, bud vase holder, or jewelry pendant. Pro tip: lightly kneading two or more colors together will create a swirly marbled effect.
Arteza polymer clay set
$29.00, ARTEZA
Wool and the Gang Lights Out Shade Macrame Kit
Hippie-era macrame is all the rage these days—get in on the retro trend with a fun piece of decor you can make yourself. We love this homespun take on a lampshade, perfect for intermediate knitters. Or, if you’re a beginner, opt for one of Wool & The Gang’s fringy macrame wall hangings. Both kits include sustainable yarn made of fabric roll off-cuts from fashion factories in Turkey.
Wool and the Gang Lights Out shade macrame kit
$38.00, WOOL AND THE GANG
The Green Vase Hibiscus Flower Kit
Unless your isolation digs include a garden, chances are you have scarce access to fresh cut flowers. Luckily, Livia Cetti (known for her fabulously artful tissue and crepe-paper blooms which are always on center display at John Derian’s New York shop), offers you the chance to assemble your very own floral arrangement with a series of DIY bouquets from her site, The Green Vase.
The Green Vase hibiscus flower kit
$14.00, THE GREEN VASE
Lingua Franca Virtual Embroidery Workshop
Lingua Franca, the beloved clothier famous for adorning her cozy knitwear with cheeky taglines in sweet cursive stitches, is offering a DIY embroidery kit with the purchase of a plain sweater—and it comes complete with a one-on-one Zoom workshop with a member of the LF team. Your favorite cashmere crewneck just got a whole lot more personal!
Lingua Franca virtual embroidery workshop
$320.00, LINGUA FRANCA
Art Making with MoMA: Action Painting Kit
MoMA’s action painting kit is technically for ages 6 and up, but what adult doesn’t want to let out their frustration in the form of Jackson Pollock splatter art? Each kit comes complete with canvas fabric, a four-color paint set, and multiple tools for brushing, dripping, and of course, splattering.
Art Making with MoMA action painting kit
$20.00, MOMA DESIGN STORE
Lizzie Fortunato Small Fortunes DIY Jewelry Kit
Lizzie and Kathryn Fortunato, the twin sister team behind their chic namesake brand, are also answering avid customer demands for an at-home jewelry kit of their own design, which features a gorgeous assortment of limited edition glass, wood, bone, and one-of-a-kind porcelain beads from the Lizzie Fortunato studio archives.
Lizzie Fortunato Small Fortunes DIY jewelry kit
$65.00, LIZZIE FORTUNATO
We Are Knitters Holbox Basket Crochet Kit
Many of us are using this government-sanctioned time at home to organize our spaces, and what better way to revamp than a new (homemade!) storage solution like this minimalist crocheted basket? With hundreds of patterns and categories, We Are Knitters has endless options for yarn-based pastimes for all interests and skill levels.
We Are Knitters Holbox Basket crochet kit
$63.00, WE ARE KNITTERS
Apprvl DIY Learn Embroidery Kit
After multiple consecutive weeks of daily wear, your favorite grungy stay-at-home jeans could use a little zhuzhing; Look no further than APPRVL’s embroidery kit for beginners, which provides everything from transfer paper to sewing scissors, plus scraps of the studio’s recycled denim and linen for you to test out your skills before taking the needle to your own pieces.
Apprvl DIY Learn Embroidery kit
$30.00, APPRVL
Carolina Bucci Forte Beads Glasses Kit
For those of us working from home, blue light glasses have never come in so handy—both for protecting the eyes from all that screen time, as well as for ramping up our WFH lewks. For an extra cool companion to your favorite frames, Italian jeweler Carolina Bucci’s glasses chain kit is a must. Meant to be reconfigured daily to match your vibe, the adjustable rubber loops make Bucci’s iconic Forte Beads easy to rearrange and play around with so you’ll never get bored.
Carolina Bucci Forte Beads glasses kit
$1119.00, CAROLINA BUCCI
Shit That I Knit Quarantine Kit Cowl
Studies show that the repetitive nature of knitting can be extremely effective in combating anxiety and stress—and in this time of global crisis and uncertainty, we could all use a little meditation. Sh!t That I Knit’s “Qu
arantine Kit” follows a simple cowl pattern that is easy to navigate and is accompanied by a series of helpful online videos and live Q&A.
Shit That I Knit Quarantine Kit cowl
$65.00, SHIT THAT I KNIT
Originally Appeared on Vogue