Courtesy iStockphoto/Thinkstock If your motivation for crafting is to destress, choose a craft that requires a rhythmic motion, such as knitting or crocheting.

As hobby farmers, we take pride in doing things ourselves, whether it’s growing food for our table, building a shelter for our livestock, preparing a dinner from scratch or crafting useful items for around the home. Tuning into the spirit of DIY, the Craft and Hobby Association has declared March National Craft Month. The organization, through its CRE8TIME campaign, is encouraging individuals to take a little time out of each day to participate in a crafting community, either by starting a CRE8TIME team, school club or event. 

While we all have our own reasons for picking up a craft, such as knitting, furniture restoration or scrapbooking, CHA reminds us that there are multiple benefits to taking time out to craft:

1. Crafting brings communities together.
Inviting a friend or neighbor to create handmade soaps or baskets with you allows you quality time to foster that relationship, while giving you the added benefit of producing one-of-a-kind items that can be transformed into thoughtful gifts.

2. Crafting relaxes and destresses.
Many crafts help to sharpen your senses and focus your attention. If you’re crafting to unwind from a busy day on the farm or at the office, choose a craft—such as knitting, crocheting or candle making—that promotes rhythmic activities.

3. Crafting helps create lasting memories.
If you aim to create a farm legacy or preserve childhood memories for your kids, choose a craft that allows you to do this creatively. Try creating a scrapbook of your farm property or of your child’s milestones, taking time to put your creative touch on the project. 

4. Crafting can highlight family connections.
Genealogy fascinates many hobby farmers. If you’ve been tasked to uncover your family history, show off your findings in a unique way for all your family members to enjoy. Proudly display a family tree with a frame-it-yourself photo montage or tell a living story of your family history by assembling an heirloom-recipe cookbook that can be replicated and given to extended family.

5. Crafting offers an opportunity to salvage and reuse old items.
Hobby farmers and homesteaders wanting to live a simpler, more sustainable lifestyle or who want to decorate their farmhouse on a budget can repurpose common items to give them new and polished uses. Turn a discarded cookie sheet into a cute magnetic board for posting to-do lists and notes to your family, or sew antique towels and pot holders together for a vintage-chic apron. When it comes to reusing and repurposing items, you’re only limited by your imagination (though a visit to an inspirational Pinterest board couldn’t hurt).

6. Crafting gives us control over our households.
While modern conveniences allow us to get things done at a more rapid pace, an increasing awareness of our environment has motivated homesteaders to return to age-old chores, such as making soaps and household cleaners, sewing their own clothes, or even making their own paper, in an effort to reduce contact with the harmful chemicals that could be present in these items or in the industrialized production of them.

With snowstorms and still-cold weather keeping most of us indoors this month, now might be the perfect time to start a new crafting project. If you’re motivated to get crafting but aren’t sure where to start, try out one of these projects:

• How to Assemble a Scrapbook 
• How to Make Soap with Milk 
• How to Make a Terrarium
• How to Make a Towel Apron
• How to Make a Twig Trug 

Get more crafting ideas. »