When we explored Altschmerz, it occurred to me that I might really benefit from a specific time limit, or regularly scheduled space in my daily routine for either dealing with, or reliving the thoughts and feelings that put me in a funk, or ruin what might possibly have been a really nice day.

What I came up with is a number of fun little arts and crafts ideas that can be as basic and simple or as elaborate and complicated as you’d like them to be. It seems smart to start with simple and then embellish as time goes by, but I know myself pretty well, and I fully expect I’ll go full out elaborately complicated.

• Happy Memories

Ok, so here’s what I was thinking. Instead of torturing myself with the sad, bad, or otherwise unhappy moments in the past, I thought it might be fun and useful to spend a few minutes each day thinking about the best days, fun times, happy memories or experiences. And then, taking it one step further and writing it down.

Sylvia Hartman suggests a Star Memories journal, where you have a simple journal, and then just jot down your best memories, the date, your age, and anything else about that experience that you’d want to share. I like this idea.

It might also be fun to have a box. It doesn’t have to be an awesome and amazing box. Something as simple as a shoe box would work just fine. And then just jot down memories that cheer you up or make you smile and toss them in. Maybe pictures, mementos, little stuff could also go in. If you are cleaning house, or decluttering your car, and find a little something that makes you smile, it could go in the box too.

On the days when nothing is happy or fun, you could open the box and spend a little time reliving those little moments. And, on days when you feel up to it, you could spend some time adding to your memory box.. or decorating it.

What I really like about this idea is that at some point, when your time is up, and you have left this life – there will be a box of happy memories that your family and friends might find comfort in.

• Write About It

Some days, I need (or want) to just wallow in my “stuff.” And I am pretty sure that those are the days that the “Happy Memories” box will stay on the shelf, unopened.

For those days, I thought it might be helpful to simply acknowledge whatever it is that I’m in a funk about. I thought it might look like this:

I am ______ (pinpoint the feeling)
And I must really like feeling this way
Because if I didn’t, I would __________ (write the first thing that comes to mind)
And/or _________ (write the next thing that comes to mind)
So, it must be useful to me in some way
And I might as well spend the next ______ minutes enjoying it.

For me, today, it went like this:

I am feeling really tired and overwhelmed. I must really like feeling this way because if I didn’t, I would do something about it, and maybe get more sleep, go outside and get some fresh air, or even begin to implement a plan to cope with it. So, it must be useful to me in some way and I might as well spend the next 10 minutes enjoying it.

And I did spend about 10 minutes wallowing in the feeling, and then I actually got up and went outside and got some fresh air. Amazingly, it felt really good and helped a lot.

I didn’t want to forget this little exercise, and I thought it might be helpful if I had some little booklets all made up in advance. This video shows how to make little emoji booklets out of one sheet of paper with no glue… I’m going to make several when I finish with this post.

You will end up with 8 little pages. Some of the pages are doubled or even tripled, which bothered me a little bit, and I solved it by cutting the bottom edges of the bulkiest ones and then using scotch tape to bind up the middle parts where the booklet kind of separated.

My method gave me enough pages to do it like this:

1. I am feeling:
2. (leave blank to write on)
3. I must really like
4. Feeling like this
5. Because
6. If I didn’t
7. I would:
8. (leave blank to write on)
9. and/or:
10. (leave blank to write on)
11. So it must be useful to me
12. And I might as well
13. Spend ______ minutes
14. Enjoying it.

If you love your little booklets and want them to be really cute, you could use washi tape to secure the middles and around the sides. The double sided ones could even be left open at the top or on the side to give you a little pocket for… I dunno what… but something fun?

This has the added bonus of being wonderfully distracting! I love arts and crafts solutions to emotional issues. Plus you can take one or two of them with you in case you need to use it at work… when waiting for an appointment… or while visiting relatives.

• Blow It Off

Here’s another fun idea. It looks really really easy, and doesn’t require a lot of materials. Plus you have the added bonus of simply using a regular box of tissues and decorating it (if you want to). My vision for this is to pull out a tissue and blow your angst, anxiety, issues… whatever it is that’s bothering you… into it. Really get it all blown out of your head and into the tissue.

And then flush the tissue with a wave good-by and a squirt of room sanitizer, a spritzer of aromatherapy fragrance… whatever you have that you think will clear the room. Some days it might take several tissues to get it all out. Other days, you might not even need it.

There are a lot of tutorials online about how to make these. You can also buy them ready made on Etsy. Or you can keep it simple and just decorate a box of tissues.

If you want to make one out of a jar, it’s pretty easy:

Start with a mason jar, take the lid off and decorate the jar with paint, fabric, or whatever you like. The round middle part of the lid can be replaced with either felt or cardboard. Or even the top of the tissue box if the opening is small enough. Simply use the middle lid to cut  the right size circle from the felt or cardboard. Make an opening to pull the tissues through. Decorate the top of the lid however you want, and voila!

Most of the tutorials call for a mason jar because the lid is easy to alter. You can use any wide mouth jar, even a plastic peanut butter jar, the only draw back is that the plastic lid will have to be cut for the tissues to pull through.

• Put It On A Stick

This is a cute and fun little all purpose idea that requires either popsicle sticks or strips of colored cardstock. When I was a kid, my parents had a little set of bible verses on strips of cardstock that they kept in a container on the dining room table. Every morning we would pick one and read it aloud, and that would be our spiritual theme for the day.

This idea is similar. What you would do is spend some time making the different bits for it. It can be approached as a work in progress. When you find yourself spiraling down the rabbit hole, you could pull this out and add to it. If you’re already too far gone, you can pull something out of your jar and maybe it will help.

This would also make for a great group project. Get everyone in the family involved on a lazy Sunday afternoon, or get together with friends and help each other think of stuff to write down.

I find that the simple process of making something like this acts as a huge mood booster. It’s wonderfully distracting, feels productive and useful, and if you give it something cute to live in, you can keep it out and have it ready for those times when you really might need it.

• Count Your Blessings

This can take any form. You can think about and list your good qualities and loveable attributes. You can list all the things that you have that make your life easier and more comfortable. You can use it as a gratitude journal, box, jar…

Alternatively, if this sort of thing works for you, you can fill your container or your book with affirmations, uplifting thoughts, and positive images.

I like the idea of using a bottle or a box over a journal simply because I have so many unfinished journals. However, I have been exploring Junk Journal making. It’s a really ambitious and complicated idea, but maybe i will make more than one. If I do, it might be fun to create a blessing / gratitude / positive thoughts journal. I’m really intrigued with the idea of a tiny one. Here’s a link to one of the tutorials that got me inspired.