There are many ways to be kind. A smile or kind word can brighten someone’s day. A simple card or note can lift you up when you’re down. Messages of hope can express our thanks and gratitude in trying times. We’re sharing a couple of craft projects to help you spread kindness and positivity to your friends, family and more. Get inspired to create your own messages of gratitude and goodwill by making cards and window displays.
Good Vibes Only
A fellow librarian at Homer Township Public Library shared a great project—Good Vibe cards—that anyone can try. These little messages of positivity can be used to spread kindness and encouragement, and they are super easy to create. Here is what you need to get started:
- Paper (The project calls for a heavier stock of paper like cardstock, mixed media or watercolor paper, but plain paper or construction paper could also be used.)
- Crayons, markers, watercolors or some type of coloring tool
- Inspirational message (Here are some sample phrases.)
- Scissors (optional)
- Black sharpie (optional; used for outlining)
A few Bolingbrook High School teens and I used mixed media paper to create our Good Vibe cards. I cut the paper into quarters to make smaller note cards. We each picked our favorite phrase or message and designed and colored our cards using various coloring tools. I used a Crayola® 8-pan set of washable watercolors for a few of the cards, and I used markers and colored pencils for others.
Once you are finished, you could mail these to your family, friends, first responders, essential workers, teachers, nursing home residents and all the people that make your day a little brighter. If you can’t send them via mail, you can take a picture of your creations and try texting or emailing them as well.
#aworldofhearts & Hearts in the Window Displays
Residents and businesses are decorating their windows with hearts, rainbows, teddy bears and more as messages of hope. The #aworldofhearts and Hearts in the Window social media movements started as a way to thank the first responders and essential workers who are working hard while we shelter in place.
To help you create your own window displays, Anna from Studio 300 created some templates. You can decorate your own windows with simple rainbow and heart designs. We are providing the files as a PDF and SVGs (Scalable Vector Graphics).
There are several ways you can use these templates. You can print the files, cut out the images and use them as patterns to cut images out of construction paper or cardstock. You can also print them out, then customize them using markers, crayons, colored pencils or whatever you have on hand. If you have a cutting machine at home like the Silhouette Cameo®, you can use the SVG files we provided to cut them on your machine. You can also edit the SVG files using software like Adobe Illustrator or a free program like Vectr.
Both Anna and I decorated our windows using the templates she created. I added some extra hearts that I cut out of construction paper. I used Scotch™ tape to adhere the images to the inside of my patio door.
We can’t wait to see what you create!