Who doesn’t like a craft project? Crafts are fun. They let you be creative and oftentimes can be made out of simple things you tend to have lying around the house – with a little paint and some glitter thrown in for good measure. It can be fun to create an elaborate craft project but sometimes you either just don’t have that sort of time or you need something to keep your kids distracted for a little bit without needing too much supervision. With that in mind, these 5-minute crafts – some for kids and some for adults – take no time to make and can be done on a limited budget.
Rock Painting
The trend went rampant a few years ago where people would paint rocks and leave them in places like parks, walking trails, and even outside of storefronts and on sidewalks for people to stumble across. It is such a wholesome and smile-creating way to spend an afternoon. You do not need an entire afternoon though. These can absolutely be 5-minute crafts that you or your kids can do. All you need are rocks, acrylic paints, and 5 minutes!
Some people buy kits or even buy smooth river rocks from home improvement or craft stores. You do not need all that (unless you want it). Alternatively, you can pick up interesting rocks while walking your dog or go out on a rock-hunting adventure on weekend morning and collect rocks that would make perfect canvases and set them aside at home for whenever you have a few minutes to get crafty.
Bust out whatever paints you already have from your last crafting project or buy a half dozen at a local craft or department store and you are all set. Now use your imagination to turn a few rocks into masterpieces! You can leave them for others to find, use them as paperweights, or collect them in a pretty jar on your bookshelf.
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3D Paper Potted Cactus
These 3D potted paper cacti are much easier to assemble than they look. Download the template, cut out the pieces, and assemble. That is it! These really are 5-minute crafts. They make cute decorations for a bookshelf or desk. The fun part is that you can make them out of any color paper you would like so go crazy!
Cardboard Tube Crafts
Toilet paper and paper towel rolls can turn into all kinds of cute crafts to entertain your kids (although you will probably also enjoy making some of these 5-minute crafts). Rather than throwing away the empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls, collect them in a shopping bag until you either have a bunch or there is a rainy day and you need a few activities to keep everyone from getting cabin fever.
- Toilet Paper or Paper Towel Roll Ring Toss. These 5-minute crafts require a few toilet paper or paper towel rolls and some paper plates. Create a few bases out of a tube and a paper plate. Then create the rings by cutting large holes in the center of four or five plates for each player. Now play! While you can paint the tubes and plates, which will take some time to dry, you can also have your kids color the rings with crayons or markers so they can get right to playing their newly crafted game. Or simply wrap the tubes in construction paper. Check out Crayola for detailed instructions to make your game. It may only take a few minutes to make but it can entertain your kids for quite a while afterward!
- Castle Desk/Craft Organizer. If your kiddo loves crafting and art supplies, 5 minute crafts to hold all their pens, color pencils, and paint brushes might be just the thing. Honestly, you might want to make one of these yourself, forget about the kids. You need seven toilet paper rolls for this craft. Cut three in half. Paint them (they do need to dry, so do this part ahead of time and let them dry completely before you move on). Arrange into a castle configuration on a shoe box lid you have turned upside down. Hot glue it in place. You can add little extra details if you want to make it extra cute. Now fill each tube with your art supplies! Get the full instructions here.
- Toilet Paper Roll Octopus. Turn your saved toilet paper rolls into cute octopus crafts by painting the outside of the tube any color you like. Once they are dry, create tentacles at the bottom of the roll by cutting about three-fourths of the way up the tube every centimeter or so (remember, you want eight tentacles, so you might need to make some marks to be sure you have enough!). You can draw a face or design on your cute little octopus if you like. Voila. Cute little 5-minute crafts are perfect for an ocean-themed birthday party, for kids who love learning about sea creatures, or just a rainy afternoon.
- Toilet Paper Roll Owls, Cats, Fish, Cats, Frogs…you get the picture.
- Cardboard Tube Snake. Paint a bunch of toilet paper or paper towel rolls (depending on how long you want your snake to be. Link them together with ribbon. Add a pipe cleaner tongue. Again, the paint needs to dry, but the actual assembly makes this one of the coolest 5-minute crafts that can be made out of leftover cardboard tubes. Get step-by-step instructions with pictures here.
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Paper Flowers
Paper flowers are surprisingly simple 5-minute crafts that can be put together to make a beautiful paper flower bouquet to brighten up your space. These gorgeous paper tulips would look sweet displayed in a simple vase. A bunch of these gorgeous camellias would look great in a bowl as a centerpiece or attached as decoration on a gift box. Or make these paper hydrangeas to brighten up your desk. You will hardly believe you made these 5-minute crafts out of paper.
Drawstring Bags
Craft your own drawstring bags out of ribbon and a pillowcase. You can use old pillowcases, thrift some cute ones from a secondhand store, or buy new ones with cute patterns. Customize your DIY bags to whatever size you would like. Want or need a big bag? Use the whole pillowcase. Cut pillowcases in half or smaller for medium or small bags. These 5-minute crafts are perfect for traveling, organizing your stuff, or as super cute gift bags! Check out the details on how to make them here.
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Paper Face Boxes
These paper face boxes look intricate but they are great 5-minute crafts that you can use as treat boxes for any occasion. All you need is paper, glue, a craft knife, scissors, and a foam paint brush. Download the template here.
Star Garland
Hot glue little paper, felt, or fabric stars spaced out along a piece of twine, string, or ribbon. Add some buttons to the center of your stars if you have a big bag or tin of them stashed away in your closet. You can make your garland holiday-themed or match it to a room and hang it up year-round. Cut out simple stars from your material of choice or get fancy with it. Sew some little stuffed stars (or even hearts!) or make a bunch of these cute little origami lucky stars and string them up on a pretty piece of twine or string.
You can make this garland all fancy or you can easily make this a crafting activity that your kids take charge of. Either way, it is fun and fairly easy. Make a bunch and string them on a Christmas tree or give them as little gifts.
Paper, glue, paint, and maybe some fabric and you have nearly all the things you need to put together some quick, cute craft creations that will make you smile. You often see lists of craft ideas that are way more involved or difficult than the post initially lets on. While some of these 5-minute crafts require some time for paint to dry, you can often do that ahead of time or skip the paint and go with markers or colored paper instead if you do not have the time to spare. Happy crafting!
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