Search

Making art is a uniquely human act, and one that provides a wellspring of health benefits

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/girija-kaimal-1486183">Girija Kaimal</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/drexel-university-1074">Drexel University</a></em></p> <p>When you think about the word “art,” what comes to mind? A child’s artwork pinned to the fridge? A favorite artist whose work always inspires? Abstract art that is hard to understand?</p> <p>Each of these assumes that making art is something that other people do, such as children or “those with talent.”</p> <p>However, as I explain in my book “<a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-expressive-instinct-9780197646229?q=the%20expressive%20instinct&lang=en&cc=ca">The Expressive Instinct</a>,” art is intrinsic to human evolution and history. Just as sports or workouts exercise the body, creating art exercises the imagination and is essential to mental as well as physical well-being.</p> <p>I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=C8R2XOYAAAAJ&hl=en">professor of art therapy</a> who studies how creative self-expression affects physical and emotional health. In our clinical research studies, my colleagues and I are finding that any form of creative self-expression – including drawing, painting, fiber arts, woodworking or photography – can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08322473.2017.1375827">reduce stress</a>, improve mood and increase self-confidence.</p> <p>As a sickly child who needed to stay home from school a lot, I found that making art helped me cope. Today, creating art is my sanctuary. I use it as a sounding board to better understand myself and a way to recharge and learn from the challenges of life.</p> <h2>The uniquely human attribute of creativity</h2> <p>Although everyone has their own concept of what defines art, one thing is universally true: Creativity is a defining feature of the human species.</p> <p>How so? Well, human brains are not computers processing data. They are biological prediction machines that perceive the environment through memories and the senses, with the capacity to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2010.00025">use that information to imagine</a> plausible future scenarios.</p> <p>These inherent predictive and imaginative capacities are the wellspring of humanity’s abilities to survive and thrive – because self-expression is a safety valve that helps us cope with uncertainty. No one truly knows the future; they must live each day not sure of what will happen tomorrow. Art can help us all practice this imaginative muscle in a useful way.</p> <p>In our study examining brain activity while using virtual reality tools to create 3-D digital artwork, my team demonstrated that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2021.1957341">creative expression is a natural state of being</a>. The brain naturally uses fewer cognitive resources to be expressive and creative, compared with the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07421656.2021.1957341">brain power needed to do a rote task</a> that requires conscious effort.</p> <p>Seemingly ordinary everyday activities can provide opportunities to tap into one’s natural creativity and imagination: whipping up a meal from leftovers, figuring out an alternate route to work, dancing a little jig in response to hearing a song, or planting and tending a garden.</p> <p>We have repeatedly found in our studies that even a single session of real and honest self-expression can improve self-confidence and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1534735420912835">reduce feelings of stress</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2019.08.006">anxiety and burnout</a>.</p> <p>This is partly because <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2017.05.004">creativity activates reward pathways</a> in the brain. Using our hands and bodies to express ourselves activates dopamine pathways and helps us feel good. Dopamine is a neural messenger that is associated with feeling a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.ajpath.2015.09.023">sense of hope, accomplishment or reward</a>. Our brains are wired to secrete <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-does-experiencing-flow-feel-so-good-a-communication-scientist-explains-173505">feel-good hormones whenever we move</a>, create something or engage in any type of expressive activity.</p> <p>Tapping into the creative resources within is <a href="https://theconversation.com/drawing-making-music-and-writing-poetry-can-support-healing-and-bring-more-humanity-to-health-care-in-us-hospitals-204684">one of the most underrated seeds of well-being</a> in the world.</p> <p>By comparison, bottling up or <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-the-secrets-you-keep-are-hurting-you/">denying these feelings can cause distress</a>, anxiety and fear because we have not processed and expressed them. This is probably one of the reasons why every community around the world has its own creative and expressive practices. Even our ancestors in Indigenous communities all around the world intuitively knew that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2021.101879">self-expression was essential</a> to emotional health and social connection.</p> <p>Being unable to share our lives, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-the-secrets-you-keep-are-hurting-you/">keeping secrets</a> and feeling isolated and lonely tend <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.02.002">to worsen our health</a>. To our brains, social isolation feels like a chronic disease because it interprets this loneliness and inability to express as a threat to survival.</p> <p>Since creative expression can engage the senses, it can also be a body workout: a sensual as well as emotional and cognitive experience. Being active in expression – be it art, music, dance, drama, writing, culinary arts or working with nature – imparts a sense of confidence and hope that <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-expressive-instinct-9780197646229?q=the%20expressive%20instinct&lang=en&cc=ca">challenges can be navigated and overcome</a>.</p> <h2>The role of art therapy</h2> <p>Given the integral role of art in our lives, it makes sense that making art can help people manage transitions, adversity and trauma, such as the stresses of puberty, the death of a loved one or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2019.08.006">experiencing a serious illness</a>.</p> <p>According to a global study, 1 in 2 people will experience a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(23)00193-1">mental-health-related challenge in their lifetime</a>, whether from life’s challenges, genetic predispositions or a combination of the two.</p> <p>This is where art therapy can come in. Art therapy is <a href="https://arttherapy.org/about-art-therapy/">a regulated mental health profession</a> in which clinical psychotherapists with extensive clinical training offer psychotherapy to patients with diagnosed mental health needs.</p> <p>The origins of art therapy go back to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-021448">attempts to treat soldiers struggling with post-traumatic stress</a> during the 20th century’s two world wars. Today there is evidence that traumatic experiences tend to be stored as <a href="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7316-0473">sounds, images and physical sensations</a> in the brain. When someone <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.20825">lacks the words</a> to process these experiences through traditional talk therapy, art therapy can provide an indirect way to express and externalize those feelings and memories.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e-IiUcUVAwk?wmode=transparent&start=3" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption><span class="caption">The process of making art can help people process feelings that they aren’t able to put into words.</span></figcaption></figure> <p>One of art therapy’s unique strengths is that it provides nonverbal ways of communicating, processing and eventually managing the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. In fact, in a recent study, my team has found that a personal history of trauma is related to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1337927">how people react to evocative images</a>. Images of distress and pain resonate with us when we have known similar kinds of distress ourselves. This implies that our life stories make us sensitized to distress in others and even personalize it more.</p> <p>Creative self-expression is especially relevant in coping with trauma because it provides an outlet through which a person <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1534735420912835">can regain a sense of agency</a> and control.</p> <h2>How to bring creativity into daily life</h2> <p>For those new to exploring art as a creative pursuit or for well-being reasons, engaging in creative activities begins with letting go of unrealistic expectations. Being creative isn’t about becoming a famous artist or even a mediocre one. It is about allowing ourselves to flex the creative muscle that we all have and enjoying all the sensory and emotional aspects of imagining.</p> <p>Next, think about activities that made you feel free to explore when you were a child. Did you like singing, playing in the outdoors, dancing, making up pretend plays, or writing little tales? Allow yourself to indulge in any and all of these creative pursuits that made you feel relaxed and joyful.</p> <p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2021.101879">cultural tradition</a>, tinkering with electronics, making a gift for someone or simply paying attention to everyday beauty – any of these can be a creative activity. And just like any muscle, the more you exercise it, the stronger it becomes. Over time, you will notice yourself getting more confident and adventurous in your creative practices.</p> <p>Whatever it is, make time for this creative pursuit every week – which is possibly the hardest step of them all. If it seems “unimportant” compared with the demands of daily life, such as work or family, try thinking of it as another form of sustenance.</p> <p>Remember that creativity is just as critical to human health as <a href="https://theconversation.com/helping-children-eat-healthier-foods-may-begin-with-getting-parents-to-do-the-same-research-suggests-225157">eating nutritious meals</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/yoga-modern-research-shows-a-variety-of-benefits-to-both-body-and-mind-from-the-ancient-practice-197662">getting exercise</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-best-diet-for-healthy-sleep-a-nutritional-epidemiologist-explains-what-food-choices-will-help-you-get-more-restful-zs-219955">good rest</a>. So as the Latin saying goes: “Plene vivere.” Live fully.</p> <p></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/girija-kaimal-1486183">Girija Kaimal</a>, Professor of Art Therapy Research, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/drexel-university-1074">Drexel University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-art-is-a-uniquely-human-act-and-one-that-provides-a-wellspring-of-health-benefits-219091">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Mind

64-year-old man saved after crafting SOS symbol on remote island

<p>A sailor who found himself stranded on a remote island in the Bahamas due to his boat's mechanical issues has been successfully rescued after ingeniously attracting the attention of a passing plane.</p> <p>Recent aerial imagery provided by the US Coast Guard depicts the remarkable tale of a 64-year-old individual, whose identity remains undisclosed, crafting the letters "SOS" on the sandy expanse of the beach to signify his distress.</p> <p>The sailor's vessel had encountered mechanical failure during its voyage through the enchanting Bahamas archipelago, leaving him marooned for an arduous three-day stretch on Cay Sal Island.</p> <p>Prompted by the sighting of distress flares originating from a disabled sailboat, a vigilant coast guard aircraft sprang into action. Supplies including nourishment, water, and a radio for communication were air-dropped to establish a lifeline with the stranded sailor. Through this communication, he shared the details of his challenging ordeal.</p> <p>A coast guard ship was dispatched to retrieve the man, who remarkably remained in good health despite his trials.</p> <p>Cay Sal Island, an isolated landmass nestled within the Straits of Florida north of Cuba and west of the Bahamas, continues to stand as an uninhabited segment within the Bimini district of the Bahamas.</p> <p>Dev Craig, an officer within the coast guard, expressed a sense of pride in the team's accomplishment, stating, "We’re proud to have saved this man’s life. This case serves as a perfect example of why you must have the proper safety equipment on your vessel. Without seeing the flare, the case may not have had a successful outcome."</p> <p><em>Images: US Coast Guard</em></p>

Travel Trouble

"Absolute f***ing disaster": The Block presenter slams former contestants

<p>Shelley Craft has ripped into two former contestants of <em>The Block</em>, saying the team was an "absolute f***ing disaster".</p> <p>The Block presenter was chatting candidly about the formula of the show on Hit radio show <em>Breakfast with Maz & Matty</em>, where she described what she thought was the ultimate pairing for a team to partake in the renovation show. </p> <p>Shelley was asked about the calibre of contestants on the upcoming season, admitting that the show’s producers generally cast for “characters,” rather than previous experience.</p> <p>“I always thought the best team would be an accountant and an HR manager, because you have to be able to manage your money and manage your trades,” she said, revealing her own personal pick for a successful team. </p> <p>“[But] we sort of had that last year and it was an absolute f***ing disaster. That was the worst team that there is, it’s not the recipe!” she continued, to laughter from the radio hosts. </p> <p>“We’re really after great people that are happy to give it everything they’ve got, and we’ve got five teams this year who are ready to give it a red hot crack.”</p> <p>The “disaster” Craft is referring to is last year’s most controversial couple, lawyer-turned actor Sharon and her accountant husband Ankur, who copped a fierce backlash from viewers over their apparent negative attitudes while filming <em>The Block</em>.</p> <p>The couple repeatedly clashed with their builders, foremen Keith and Dan and host Scott Cam, and also declared on camera numerous times that they wished they’d never signed up to do the show. </p> <p>The couple even had their finances frozen by Scott Cam due to their apparent inability to manage their budget during the intense renovation project.</p> <p>Sharon and Ankur later said they felt “ambushed” and were upset at how they’d been portrayed on the show, prompting Cam to later say in an interview that he thought the couple had “made [the experience] harder” on themselves than it needed to be.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p>

DIY fabric-covered notebooks

<p>This DIY fabric-covered notebook makes a lovely gift idea for friends and family. Using scraps of fabric (or even old items of clothing) and cheap plain notebooks, these customised notebooks cost next to nothing and will take you no time to make.</p> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">What you will need:</span></strong></p> <ul> <li>Notebook</li> <li>Fabric of your choice </li> <li>Scissors</li> <li>Sharpie and ruler</li> <li>Mod podge</li> <li>Paint brush</li> </ul> <p><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">How to:</span></strong></p> <p>1. Open your notebook flat over the fabric. Trace around notebook leaving a three centimetre border. Cut fabric.</p> <p>2. Paint the outside of notebook with a layer of mod podge. Carefully press fabric onto notebook and smooth so there are no wrinkles.</p> <p>3. Glue overhanging fabric edges on inside of the cover. Stick the first and last pages of notebook to covers so the fabric won’t show. Let dry.</p> <p>Top tip: Embellish your notebook with ribbons or twine. You can even use a few different materials to create a pattern on your notebook. Your imagination is your only limit! </p> <p><em>Images: Shutterstock</em></p>

Art

Artist keeps craft alive with beautifully bound books

<p>In a world taken over by digitised forms of just about everything, book artist Liz Constable says her beautifully bound bohemian journals, handmade envelopes and painstakingly stitched self-help books still inspire the biggest shrieks of delight from total strangers.</p> <p>Journaling in cafés, Constable often feels eyes shrouding over her diary. "They say, oh that looks like a very old book," Constable says. "Oh yes, it's two weeks old," she laughs. </p> <p>Type 'book art' into online creative depository, Pinterest, and it will come up with 636 ways of turning old, clunky books into works of art. Likewise, Google images paints a pretty picture of the ways you can up-cycle unwanted novels.</p> <p>But unlike the art we relegate to a shelf or a picture hook, Constable's creations are usable. They're designed to be drawn on, hauled around in a tote and pulled out to illustrate ideas, and are made with any material she can get her hands on. </p> <p>"It's that old worldy style," she says. "Everyone wants things to look old. You see people with laptops in bags that look like they're carrying old typewriters."</p> <p>What started off as a hobby 16 years ago turned into a full time business called Book Art Studios in 2007, when Constable, then a careers counsellor, says she counselled herself out of her former job and into where her heart truly lay- making books.</p> <p>It began with dying her journal papers with tea and coffee, then a friend introduced her to coloured dye. Now the "scavenger by nature" says her books are made with paper taken from the likes of old shipping maps, cloth and other recycled materials, before being stitched and bound in her own West Auckland studio.</p> <p>The UK migrant makes books for the likes of happy couples who need something special to keep track of wedding guests, to soda giant Coca Cola who commissioned Constable to make books for staff training, and Fonterra, whose Constable-made creations went all the way to a conference in China. </p> <p>Constable believes it's the nostalgia that inspires such gushing responses from people who frequently request to hug her when they see her creations. Not so long ago she hand delivered a job application written in a handmade book, nestled in a mail art envelope.</p> <p>She despairs walking into bookstores and seeing the rows and rows of identical book spines, prompting ever more thoughts about how she can make her work stand out.</p> <p>It's a thought at the forefront of her mind as Constable prepares to undertake something she's never done- producing her first book series en masse by enlisting the help of potential publishers at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October. After years of ensuring each of her works is unique, Constable said the decision to take hand made to mass made came after reading a theory that it takes 10,000 hours to perfect a skill.</p> <p>Constable realised she'd clocked up more than enough over time, and enjoyed 'the simple life' long enough to begin relishing the fruits of her labour.</p> <p>She wants to produce a series of semi-autobiographical self-help books, whose roots can be traced back to the death of Constable's aunt many years ago. "Oh, I see a door," were her finals words on her death bed, prompting Constable to wonder just what exactly was behind that door. </p> <p>"I was so curious," Constable says. The words kept coming and before she knew it, nine books were conceived. The Martha series, she calls it. Stories for adults grappling with bigger issues.</p> <p>In March she published and began selling another self-help book, One Small Drop, in order to help fundraise for Frankfurt. Unlike the text heavy self help books of yester-year, you can hold One Small Drop in one hand. The pages are laser cut with small drops that turn into hearts with every page turn, the colours gradually turning from dark to light.</p> <p>More than 7,000 authors and book makers at the book fair will be vying for the attention of publishers who scout the exhibits for "innovate business models".</p> <p>After attending the fair some years ago Constable walked around searching for fellow book artists, disheartened to find they were "miles away from anywhere." Her exhibit, she promises, will be like walking into one of her storybooks. </p> <p>"I came back and I said I'm not going to stand in a queue trying to get someone to read it. I said I don't care how it happens, I'm going to get someone to pick up the Martha series."</p> <p><em>Written by Kelly Dennett. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>. </em></p> <p><em>Image credit: Getty</em></p>

Books

The benefits of doing arts and crafts with grandkids

<p>Arts and crafts activities have a wide range of relational and health benefits for you and your grandchildren. Whether you<strong> </strong>make a craft activity, do embroidery or do painting and drawing to allow them to express their creativity, you will create special memories with your grandchildren. Here are some key benefits of doing arts and crafts together.</p> <p><strong>1. Flexible bonding</strong></p> <p>Arts and crafts is an activity that can be enjoyed one afternoon or can be continued over various visits to your grandchildren. Working together on a project and seeing it through until completion is a fun and genuine way to bond with someone. Grandchildren will also see the effort you taken to prepare something fun for them. Arts and crafts will allow you to invest in your relationship by doing an activity that will create special memories as you make your art and then at the end of your project you will have physical memorabilia of the time you spent together working on your craft.</p> <p><strong>2. Fun learning</strong></p> <p>Immersing yourself in arts and crafts have a huge range of health benefits for both you and your grandchildren. Arts and crafts can hone fine mother skills due to the repetition of various small movements and concentration. It can also improve coordination as hand movements have to be direct and precise. Arts and crafts can also improve concentration levels and visual processing abilities. Visual processing is a skill that is key in a child’s early years as they learn names and identification of primary colours and objects.</p> <p><strong>3. Improves self-esteem</strong></p> <p>Once a child has finished creating a craft activity they will have a sense of accomplishment because they created something. While you are doing the arts and crafts with your grandchild, you will have plenty of opportunity to observe their skills and encourage them along the way.</p> <p><strong>4. Teaches them to express themselves</strong></p> <p>Arts and crafts allow children to express what is on their minds as they tend to be very visual with the emotions and thoughts they are experiencing. Activities such as painting and drawing is particularly great for children who are shy as it will give insight to what is on their mind.</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Family & Pets

How Bob Dylan used the ancient practice of ‘imitatio’ to craft some of the most original songs of his time

<p>Over the course of six decades, Bob Dylan steadily brought together popular music and poetic excellence. Yet the guardians of literary culture have only rarely accepted Dylan’s legitimacy.</p> <p>His <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/arts/music/bob-dylan-nobel-prize-literature.html">2016 Nobel Prize in Literature</a> undermined his outsider status, challenging scholars, fans and critics to think of Dylan as an integral part of international literary heritage. My new book, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/No-One-Meet-Imitation-Originality/dp/0817321411">No One to Meet: Imitation and Originality in the Songs of Bob Dylan</a>,” takes this challenge seriously and places Dylan within a literary tradition that extends all the way back to the ancients.</p> <p><a href="https://english.umbc.edu/core-faculty/raphael-falco/">I am a professor of early modern literature</a>, with a special interest in the Renaissance. But I am also a longtime Dylan enthusiast and the co-editor of the open-access <a href="https://thedylanreview.org/">Dylan Review</a>, the only scholarly journal on Bob Dylan. </p> <p>After teaching and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Raphael-Falco">writing about</a> early modern poetry for 30 years, I couldn’t help but recognize a similarity between the way Dylan composes his songs and the ancient practice known as “<a href="http://www.artandpopularculture.com/Dionysian_imitatio">imitatio</a>.”</p> <h2>Poetic honey-making</h2> <p>Although the Latin word imitatio would translate to “imitation” in English, it doesn’t mean simply producing a mirror image of something. The term instead describes a practice or a methodology of composing poetry.</p> <p>The classical author Seneca <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_84">used bees</a> as a metaphor for writing poetry using imitatio. Just as a bee samples and digests the nectar from a whole field of flowers to produce a new kind of honey – which is part flower and part bee – a poet produces a poem by sampling and digesting the best authors of the past.</p> <p>Dylan’s imitations follow this pattern: His best work is always part flower, part Dylan. </p> <p>Consider a song like “<a href="https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/hard-rains-gonna-fall/">A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall</a>.” To write it, Dylan repurposed the familiar Old English ballad “<a href="https://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/lord-randall/">Lord Randal</a>,” retaining the call-and-response framework. In the original, a worried mother asks, “O where ha’ you been, Lord Randal, my son? / And where ha’ you been, my handsome young man?” and her son tells of being poisoned by his true love. </p> <p>In Dylan’s version, the nominal son responds to the same questions with a brilliant mixture of public and private experiences, conjuring violent images such as a newborn baby surrounded by wolves, black branches dripping blood, the broken tongues of a thousand talkers and pellets poisoning the water. At the end, a young girl hands the speaker – a son in name only – a rainbow, and he promises to know his song well before he’ll stand on the mountain to sing it.</p> <p>“A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” resounds with the original Old English ballad, which would have been very familiar to Dylan’s original audiences of Greenwich Village folk singers. He first sang the song in 1962 at <a href="https://bedfordandbowery.com/2016/12/the-story-of-the-gaslight-cafe-where-dylan-premiered-a-hard-rains-a-gonna-fall/">the Gaslight Cafe</a> on MacDougal Street, a hangout of folk revival stalwarts. To their ears, Dylan’s indictment of American culture – its racism, militarism and reckless destruction of the environment – would have echoed that poisoning in the earlier poem and added force to the repurposed lyrics.</p> <h2>Drawing from the source</h2> <p>Because Dylan “samples and digests” songs from the past, <a href="https://thedylanreview.org/2022/08/04/interview-with-scott-warmuth/">he has been accused of plagiarism</a>. </p> <p>This charge underestimates Dylan’s complex creative process, which closely resembles that of early modern poets who had a different concept of originality – a concept Dylan intuitively understands. For Renaissance authors, “originality” meant not creating something out of nothing, but <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Origin_and_Originality_in_Renaissance_Li/1OmCQgAACAAJ?hl=en">going back to what had come before</a>. They literally returned to the “origin.” Writers first searched outside themselves to find models to imitate, and then they transformed what they imitated – that is, what they found, sampled and digested – into something new. Achieving originality depended on the successful imitation and repurposing of an admired author from a much earlier era. They did not imitate each other, or contemporary authors from a different national tradition. Instead, they found their models among authors and works from earlier centuries.</p> <p>In his book “<a href="https://archive.org/details/lightintroyimita0000gree/page/n5/mode/2up">The Light in Troy</a>,” literary scholar Thomas Greene points to a 1513 letter written by poet Pietro Bembo to Giovanfrancesco Pico della Mirandola.</p> <p>“Imitation,” Bembo writes, “since it is wholly concerned with a model, must be drawn from the model … the activity of imitating is nothing other than translating the likeness of some other’s style into one’s own writings.” The act of translation was largely stylistic and involved a transformation of the model.</p> <h2>Romantics devise a new definition of originality</h2> <p>However, the Romantics of the late 18th century wished to change, and supersede, that understanding of poetic originality. For them, and the writers who came after them, creative originality meant going inside oneself to find a connection to nature. </p> <p><a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Natural_Supernaturalism/-ygCZmrJ2E4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=natural+supernaturalism&printsec=frontcover">As scholar of Romantic literature M.H. Abrams explains</a> in his renowned study “Natural Supernaturalism,” “the poet will proclaim how exquisitely an individual mind … is fitted to the external world, and the external world to the mind, and how the two in union are able to beget a new world.” </p> <p>Instead of the world wrought by imitating the ancients, the new Romantic theories envisioned the union of nature and the mind as the ideal creative process. Abrams quotes the 18th-century German Romantic <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/novalis/">Novalis</a>: “The higher philosophy is concerned with the marriage of Nature and Mind.”</p> <p>The Romantics believed that through this connection of nature and mind, poets would discover something new and produce an original creation. To borrow from past “original” models, rather than producing a supposedly new work or “new world,” could seem like theft, despite the fact, obvious to anyone paging through an anthology, that poets have always responded to one another and to earlier works.</p> <p>Unfortunately – as Dylan’s critics too often demonstrate – this bias favoring supposedly “natural” originality over imitation continues to color views of the creative process today. </p> <p>For six decades now, Dylan has turned that Romantic idea of originality on its head. With his own idiosyncratic method of composing songs and his creative reinvention of the Renaissance practice of imitatio, he has written and performed – yes, imitation functions in performance too – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_written_by_Bob_Dylan">over 600 songs</a>, many of which are the most significant and most significantly original songs of his time.</p> <p>To me, there is a firm historical and theoretical rationale for what these audiences have long known – and the Nobel Prize committee made official in 2016 – that Bob Dylan is both a modern voice entirely unique and, at the same time, the product of ancient, time-honoured ways of practicing and thinking about creativity.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-bob-dylan-used-the-ancient-practice-of-imitatio-to-craft-some-of-the-most-original-songs-of-his-time-187052" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Music

Crafting queen Tonia Todman to offload historic farmhouse

<p dir="ltr">Australian TV personality and ‘queen of craft’ Tonia Todman has listed the historic home she and her husband renovated after it was hit by a devastating fire.</p> <p dir="ltr">Known for her appearances on <em>Good Morning Australia</em>, <em>Healthy, Wealthy and Wise</em> and <em>Making It Australia</em>, Todman and her husband Michael Dowding bought the home in Kyneton, Victoria, in 2004.</p> <p dir="ltr">She said buying the home was “a moment of total madness, probably”.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-de95f1b1-7fff-b643-5f7c-e67e4db1abd0"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“It was on the market for 18 months, as every viewer was frightened by the amount of work it needed,” she said.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CgF2W1qPmcy/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CgF2W1qPmcy/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Tonia Todman (@toniatodman)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">After transforming the nearly-200-year-old home into a “very happy house”, Todman went on to host cooking, craft and gardening classes from their English-style gardens and invite over 100 guests on special occasions.</p> <p dir="ltr">However, the house was partially burnt down in a 2018 fire after the old roof shingles heated up near a chimney.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-3f080eb3-7fff-cf56-a0f0-cfcd2769d440"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">What followed were “four years of anguish” as the couple undertook an extensive rebuild, using materials salvaged from the home, including chimney bricks on the herringbone floor and bluestone behind the fireplaces, and moving back in at the end of 2020.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVAI7yaFoTP/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVAI7yaFoTP/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Tonia Todman (@toniatodman)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“I said to my architect, if he didn’t give me a proper workable laundry, I’d never speak to him again,” Todman joked.</p> <p dir="ltr">Along with a first-class laundry, the home boasts soaring ceilings, a library with a Cheminees Philippe fireplace, a main bedroom with a walk-in wardrobe and ensuite, and stunning views of Mt Macedon and Daylesford from the verandah.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-af3d8a5e-7fff-e9e7-1b40-04852d7294a1"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">The property also includes a self-contained cottage, a barn built in 1848, an orchard, two pears trees that are 130 years old, and the “Hilton of chicken houses”.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CiHfpJqLgas/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CiHfpJqLgas/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Tonia Todman (@toniatodman)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">It also makes frequent appearances across Todman’s social media, including snaps of the media star weeding with her grandkids, cooking in her kitchen, and updates from the restoration of the home.</p> <p dir="ltr">RT Edgar Macedon Ranges-Kyneton agent Jodie Alcaraz said the house matches “the warmth of Tonia and Michael” and is “comfortable”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“You feel comfortable here, the aspect out to the garden is just a picture,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">The four-hectare property has been <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-kyneton-140467595" target="_blank" rel="noopener">listed</a> with a price range between $2.9 and $3.1 million.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-6051debe-7fff-02a9-9bb6-6200edc31af4"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: @toniatodman (Instagram) / realestate.com.au</em></p>

Real Estate

An air-craft toilet with a view

<p dir="ltr">Everyone knows that going to the bathroom on a plane isn’t an enjoyable experience to begin with. Cramped, dingy lighting and the most horrendous flush in the world make relieving yourself not exactly the most pleasant task.</p> <p dir="ltr">However, a Reddit user revealed they caught a flight with the best economy plane bathroom in the world. The person, who goes by username <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/drewsoulman/">u/drewsoulman </a>on the platform, shared a photo of the plane toilet that had a window inside – a feature that is unheard of in most aeroplane bathrooms.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/04/New-Project.jpg" alt="" width="601" height="583" /></p> <p dir="ltr">On top of that, there was even a shelf behind the toilet – perfect for holding a phone or wallet.</p> <p dir="ltr">The post has received more than 116,000 votes and 2600 comments, and most viewers were amazed at the bathroom.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I wouldn’t leave. Better than an economy seat,” one person wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Plane toilets are always so cramped and gloomy – this is nice,” added another.</p> <p dir="ltr">Someone else said they thought a window would help them get over one of their fears.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I wish this was more common. I have an irrational fear of aeroplane bathrooms. I like being able to see out the window on planes as I feel more grounded. I feel like this would help my fear,” they wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">Meanwhile, a former flight attendant has revealed the best time to use the facilities on a plane. Mark Benders explained that flyers should go to the toilet about half an hour before landing as it’s just before the seatbelt sign goes on before the descent.</p> <p dir="ltr">“When you are on a flight and you start getting the feeling that you’re getting close to your destination, the first time you feel the aeroplane slow down from cruising speed, you will have about half an hour before landing,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“That would be a good time to use the lavatory because the fasten seatbelt light will go on soon and you won’t be allowed out of your seat until the plane reaches the gate.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-a1dd10ed-7fff-b2b3-52d0-5e32975b8217"></span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.04; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 18pt;"><em> Image: Getty</em></p>

Travel Tips

6 easy and fun adult crafting ideas to get you inspired

<p><strong>1. Canned Vase</strong></p><p>Woven materials, like cane webbing, are neutral in color, giving bold florals the space to shine. Cut a piece to fit around any ol' vase, then stitch a line or cross pattern along the edges in a contrasting color of your choice. Wrap the webbing around the vase and adhere with hot glue.</p><p><strong>2. Dip Dye Candles</strong></p><p>Cast a custom glow with these color-blocked candles. Take plain taper candles and dip them in a mixture of colored crayon shavings and melted candle wax. Use painter's tape for a more even dye job or embrace the unexpected and dip as you please.</p><p><strong>3. Paper flowers</strong></p><p>Make these flowers now, so you can enjoy 'em all season long. To make, fold dyed cupcake liners in half and cut out petal and fringe shapes. Then fold a piece of floral wire in half and twist around the faux flower stamen. Poke the wire through the center of three to four paper liners. Finish it off by wrapping floral tape around the base of the liners and bringing it all the way down the stem.</p><p><strong>4. Hand-Dyed napkins</strong></p><p>Bring color to any table with watercolor napkins. Once you soak napkins in water and wring out the excess, brush fabric paint in small strokes from bottom to top, diluting the paint with water as you work your way up. Hang and let dry completely before adding them to your place settings.</p><p><strong>5. Entryway organiser </strong></p><p>Breathe new life into a dumpster-bound window frame by coating it in a striking pastel hue. Then come up with clever ways to make it functional for your everyday — adding a chalkboard for grocery lists, small hooks to hang keys and more.</p><p><strong>6. Wallpapered Vessels</strong></p><p>Quite literally a trash-to-treasure craft, pretty wallpaper or wrapping paper turns empty cans into statement vessels, which can be used as vases, pencil holders or candle holders. Just be sure to rinse out the cans and file down sharp edges first.</p>

Art

Fix a Sagging Plasterboard Ceiling

<p>Tools: Chalk line; stringlines; hammer; electric drill and 5mm twist bit; screwdriver; tape measure; spirit level; straightedge; steps; panel lift (hired); plastering equipment; safety protection.</p><p>Materials: 68 x 18mm pine battens; plasterboard sheets; wedges and packers; 30, 75 and 100mm plasterboard screws; plasterboard adhesive, base coat and topping coat.</p><p><strong>Step 1</strong></p><p>Remove any cornices if they are fitted (see panel, page 230). Find the lowest spot on the ceiling using a level and a 2400mm straightedge. Transfer the location of this low spot to the closest wall by holding the straightedge level against the ceiling and marking the position of its top edge on the wall. You may need to ask somebody to help you hold the straightedge.</p><p><strong>Step 2</strong></p><p>Measure down 24mm from the mark to allow clearance below the lowest point for 18mm-thick battens plus a 6mm leeway. Use the long straightedge and a spirit level to extend this line around the room, making short tick marks on the end of the straightedge rather than a solid line.<br />If the lines don’t match when you reach your starting point, level again as necessary until they do. Then snap chalk lines between the corners to create a solid level line around the room.</p><p><strong>Step 3</strong></p><p>Locate both ends of each ceiling joist. Joists usually run parallel to one another, and are about 45mm wide. They are typically 450 or 600mm apart. Probe with a hammer and nail, locate and mark the centre of each joist at opposite ends of the room. Snap chalk lines between these marks to indicate joist locations. The thin strips of timber seen through the hole here are laths, which were used to support a solid plaster ceiling like this one.</p><p><strong>Step 4</strong></p><p>Lay out the ceiling for the 68 x 18mm battens. First make a mark 434mm from the wall, to fix the location of the far edge of the second strip. This allows the plasterboard to be fixed along or across the battens. Extend your tape from this point and mark every 400mm to locate the edges of the remaining strips. Repeat this process on the opposite wall and snap chalk lines between the marks.</p><p><strong>Step 5</strong></p><p>Cut the strips to fit between the walls and temporarily fix them in the centre with a partially driven plasterboard screw.</p><p><strong>Step 6</strong></p><p>Pack the ends of the battens down so the bottom edge of each is aligned with the level line. Fix them with plasterboard screws long enough to penetrate the ceiling and at least 25mm of the framing. Angle the screws towards the wall if necessary so that they penetrate into solid timber.</p><p><strong>Step 7</strong></p><div> </div><p>Use spacer blocks and a stringline to straighten the battens. Make sure nothing is touching the string between the two ends, and that it is pulled very tight.</p><p><strong>Step 8</strong></p><p>Pack each strip so that a scrap of 68 x 18mm timber just fits between the taut stringline and the batten. Double-check the distance between the stringline and the batten after you tighten the screws. The screws will often draw loose plasterboard up tighter onto the joists, requiring you to add more packing.</p><p><strong>Step 9</strong></p><p>Screw the battens to each ceiling joist after packing it down. Use screws long enough to penetrate the joist for at least 25mm. Double-check the spacing with the scrap of 68 x 18mm timber. Adjust if necessary and retighten the screw. Repeat these steps for each batten in turn.</p><p><strong>Step 10</strong></p><p>If there are light fixtures on the ceiling, have them removed temporarily by a licensed electrician, and ask him to poke the wire back up into the ceiling. Note the position of fittings so you can make a neat hole in the new plasterboard for the wires to be pulled through when the electrical fittings are replaced after you have finished.</p><h4>Safety tip</h4><p>Wear safety glasses and, if necessary, a good-quality P2 dustmask when cutting or drilling the ceiling.</p><h4>Tackling cornices</h4><p>If your ceiling has cornices you will have to remove them before you start. To do this, work a putty knife between the wall and the cornice to break the bond, then repeat the process along the cornice-to-ceiling joint. Some older fibrous plaster cornices will also have nails that should be removed – you can often spot these from the bulge where the framing timber has settled, exposing the nail head.</p><p>Bear in mind that ceiling repair can be an extremely dusty job, and the older the house, the more dust there will be. If your house is near a busy road, or under an aircraft flight path, this dust is likely to have a high lead content, so effective safety precautions are essential:</p><ul><li>Wear disposable overalls, and discard them when finished.</li><li>Use a cartridge-type respirator.</li><li>Protect your eyes with goggles.</li><li>Seal the room.</li><li>Clean up thoroughly, using a vacuum cleaner with an HEPA filter. Dispose of the bag when finished.</li></ul>

Art

Feeling crafty this Valentine's Day?

<p>Amaze your significant other with this DIY scented bath oil. The ingredients are available from your local health-food or craft store.</p><p><strong>You will need:</strong><br />1 cup almond or pecan oil<br />Concentrated candle dye (optional)<br />1/4 teaspoon pure vitamin-E oil<br />1/2 teaspoon essential oil, for scent<br />Dried herbs or flowers (such as lavender sprigs or rose petals)<br />8-ounce bottle with cork stopper<br />Decorative label<br />Rubber cement<br />12-inch length waxed beige cord<br />12-inch length 1/2-inch-wide ribbon<br />Red sealing wax and stamp<br />Vegetable oil<br />Chopstick</p><p><strong>What to Do:</strong><br />1. Measure almond or pecan oil. If coloring oil, pour off about 1/8 cup into custard cup. Shave 3 to 4 slivers of candle dye into custard cup oil, microwave on high 10 seconds and stir with chopstick. Repeat until dye is melted and color is evenly distributed, then return mixture to measuring cup. Add vitamin-E oil and essential oil, pour entire contents into bottle and insert cork stopper.</p><p>2. For visual interest, drop in dried herbs or flowers.</p><p>3. Create label and attach to bottle using rubber cement.</p><p>4. Loop waxed cord around bottle neck, catching ribbon at back.Then draw both ribbon ends over top of bottle and down front.</p><p>5. Wind cord around neck, tie off and cut excess. Trim ribbon ends. To apply sealing wax, cover stamp with a thin coat of vegetable oil. Light candle and hold sealing wax over flame for 10 seconds. Then cut a 1/8-inch circle from softened wax with a sharp knife. Using tweezers, position wax on ribbon ends, then impress with stamp.</p><p>Yields 1 cup bath oil.</p><p>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/diy-projects/perfect-diy-valentines-day-gift-scented-bath-oil">Reader's Digest</a>. </p>

Art

Christmas wonderland created using thrifty crafting

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A Sydney mum has taken her Christmas decorating to another level, using a clever Kmart hack.</span></p> <p><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/toni.getscreative/?hl=en" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Toni Mackie</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> began a collection of miniature Christmas trees in 2016, which soon grew into an extensive pair of villages covering two kitchen benchtops.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She estimates that 90 percent of the villages - originally brightly coloured with red roofs and glitter - came from Kmart. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Toni then spent three nights transforming them into pale pink and white homes dusted with pearl glitter (also sourced from Kmart).</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Five years later, Toni is still creating her Christmas villages and has expanded to above her fireplace, as well as Christmas elves donned in a variety of pastel colours.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CXOHBQ_JNZr/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CXOHBQ_JNZr/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Toni Mackie (@toni.getscreative)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Toni also sells the elves - which are pinkified Elf on the Shelf dolls - dressed in pastel pinks and blues, reds, emerald green, and sapphire blue, complete with lacy collars and pendants.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The buildings and characters in her villages now include figurines found in op-shops and incense waterfalls, “pinkified” as per usual.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CHjzXBJH5om/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CHjzXBJH5om/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Toni Mackie (@toni.getscreative)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As for the mini trees, they have been either bleached or painted white and surrounded by white feather boas used to replicate snow.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Toni has also shared her top tips for people looking to replicate her Christmas wonderland without spending a fortune.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Always remember if the shape [of the house] is good, and the price is right, just get it,” she told </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.bhg.com.au/christmas-village-kmart-hack?category=decorating" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Better Homes and Gardens</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“You can always paint it to make it fit your colour scheme.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The wire lights are what brings it all together and give it that warm soft glow, especially at night. It is really magical.”</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: @toni.getscreative (Instagram)</span></em></p>

Home Hints & Tips

21 Christmas crafts for kids to get them in the holiday spirit

<p><span>There’s nothing quite like crafting for getting into the holiday spirit – it’s a fun Christmas tradition, especially when you get your kids involved! </span></p> <p><span>Christmas crafts for kids ensure hours of family fun, laughter, and creativity – and, not to mention, some pretty awesome DIY Christmas decorations to hang around your house. Remember to always supervise younger children with scissors, paint and glue.</span></p> <p><strong>Paper plate angel </strong></p> <p>Hark, the paper plate angels sing! For this Christmas decoration idea, paint a paper plate blue and cut it into three pieces to form the dress and wings.</p> <p>Attach yellow construction paper to the plastic spoon as hair and glue together. It’s just about the easiest Christmas craft for kids you can find.</p> <p><strong>Christmas cards</strong></p> <p><span>There’s no Christmas craft for kids quite as special as a handmade holiday card. Help your kids spruce up their card-making game this year by using construction paper and buttons to create fun paper card cut-outs in the shapes of Christmas trees, reindeer, wreaths, ornaments and more. </span></p> <p><span>Not sure your crew is up to the task? Try one of these free printable cards instead.</span></p> <p><strong>Orange peel garland</strong></p> <p>After peeling (and eating) an orange, lay out the skin and use Christmas-themed cookie cutters to cut out shapes.</p> <p>From there, thread a string or twine to form the garland. Oranges aren’t the only fruit fit for Christmas – did you know that it’s a Chinese tradition to eat an apple on Christmas?</p> <p><strong>Pasta Christmas trees</strong></p> <p><span>Help your kids spray paint uncooked pasta shapes in green and silver and hot glue the pasta together to form tree shapes. </span></p> <p><span>Don’t forget the bowtie noodle on top!</span></p> <p><strong>Pinecone Christmas trees</strong></p> <p><span>A Christmas craft for kids that’s both eco-friendly and adorable? Sign us up! Have your kids scavenge pinecones in the backyard. </span></p> <p><span>Then, use hot glue to attach the pinecones to corks to act as the stump. Dip in green paint to complete.</span></p> <p><strong>Pasta wreath</strong></p> <p><span>Kids will love this fun twist on the classic Christmas wreath idea. Use craft glue to adhere bowtie pasta to a foam wreath form or paper plate. </span></p> <p><span>Spray paint to apply colour and for an extra special holiday surprise, attach red bows and roses.</span></p> <p><strong>Chimney Santa Claus</strong></p> <p><span>This Christmas craft for kids transforms recycled toilet paper rolls into chimneys with red construction paper and a black marker. Use the same tools to create Santa’s hat and feet.</span></p> <p><strong>Swirly paper snowman</strong></p> <p><span>Help your child cut white paper into a spiral to form the snowman’s swirly body. From there, draw eyes, a mouth, and a carrot nose at the top. </span></p> <p><span>Don’t forget to cut out a construction paper hat to complete the craft.</span></p> <p><strong>Circle snowmen</strong></p> <p><span>What’s round, white, and absolutely adorable? This Christmas craft for kids! All your kid will need is coloured construction paper, scissors and glue, making it absolutely kid-friendly. </span></p> <p><span>And talk about creative – your child can craft and decorate these little bundles of snowy joy as they see fit.</span></p> <p><strong>Paper snowflakes</strong></p> <p><span>We’d be remiss if we didn’t include the most classic of all Christmas crafts for kids – the paper snowflake. </span></p> <p><span>No matter how simple this craft is, the magic of unfurling the paper to see the incredible patterns created will always be a Christmas miracle.</span></p> <p><strong>Tissue paper Christmas tree</strong></p> <p><span>Cut green pieces of tissue paper into squares and have your child crumple and glue them together to form the shape of a Christmas tree. </span></p> <p><span>For an extra special touch, cut up a white cotton pad and use it as snow.</span></p> <p><strong>Toilet paper toys</strong></p> <p><span>What do Frosty, Santa, and a Christmas tree all have in common? They’re made out of toilet paper rolls!</span></p> <p><span> For this craft, all your child will need is glue, construction paper, and paint.</span></p> <p><strong>Snowmen greeting cards</strong></p> <p><span>All your child will need for this Christmas craft are white buttons, blue cardstock, a white pen, and some creativity. </span></p> <p><span>Have your child glue three buttons in a row to create the shape of the snowman. Draw stick arms, hair, snow and more using the white pen.</span></p> <p><strong>Christmas tree snow globes</strong></p> <p><span>What’s the only thing better than a holiday-themed snow globe? A DIY holiday-themed snow globe, of course! To create the Christmas tree, paint a pine cone green and decorate it with sequins and glitter and attach to the bottom of a Mason jar lid. </span></p> <p><span>Then, fill the Mason jar with glitter and add glycerine (that secret snow globe ingredient!). Screw on the lid, flip over, and watch the holiday magic commence.</span></p> <p><strong>Toilet paper roll Christmas tree calendar</strong><span></span></p> <p><span>To make this fun, upcycled Christmas craft, first, tape recycled toilet paper rolls in a pyramid shape. Then, cover in green construction paper. </span></p> <p><span>Finally, decorate each of the rolls with numbers 1 to 25 to finish the advent calendar.</span></p> <p><strong>Santa puppets</strong></p> <p><span>First, cut out a triangle using red construction paper and glue to a Popsicle stick. </span></p> <p><span>Then glue half a cupcake wrapper to make Santa’s beard, a white circle to form his head, and add a small white circle on top to complete his hat.</span></p> <p><strong>Going green wrapping paper</strong></p> <p><span>To take your child’s Christmas crafting to a whole new level…have them custom DIY wrapping paper! </span></p> <p><span>Cut a Christmas tree stamp out of a sponge then stamp green paint onto a repurposed brown bag to create a pattern.</span></p> <p><strong>Wooden stick holiday characters</strong></p> <p><span>To make the paddlepop stick snowman, glue together six wooden sticks with one lying diagonally. </span></p> <p><span>Paint the top half and diagonal stick black for the hat, and the bottom half white. Draw on eyes, a carrot nose, and a smile.</span></p> <p><strong>Santa Claus lollipop package</strong></p> <p><span>This is an adorable way for kids to give their friends treats on Christmas. First, fold red cardstock into a freestanding triangle shape. Decorate one side with Santa’s face, made out of construction paper and pieces of a doily. </span></p> <p><span>Slide a lollipop face down into the triangle and staple on either side to secure. Bonus: have your child add in one of these funny Christmas quotes to complete the present.</span></p> <p><strong>Angel garland</strong></p> <p><span>Use patterned paper for a fun twist on this classic kids’ Christmas craft.</span></p> <p><strong>Christmas masks</strong></p> <p><span>Decorate your masks this year for the ultimate holiday cheer. Glue on pom-poms and cotton fluff for a bona fide Santa’s beard.</span></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared in <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/food-home-garden/home-tips/21-christmas-crafts-for-kids-to-get-them-in-the-holiday-spirit?pages=1" target="_blank">Reader's Digest</a>.</em></p>

Art

“My age isn’t a barrier”: Maker Will shares his crafting experience

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After an act of kindness saw no eliminations on </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Making It Australia</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> last week, the Makers returned this week to face another series of challenges that ended with an elimination.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Will, the youngest Maker to appear on the show, said his goodbyes to the rest of the contestants.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVEp342lHe-/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVEp342lHe-/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Will Thomson (@willmade_aus)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Following his elimination, Will sat down with <em>OverSixty </em>to share his experience on the show and how it felt creating pieces under pressure.</span></p> <p><strong>O60: What was the highlight of being a Maker?</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I can flat-out just say the entire thing. The entire experience of the show, everything I did.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There’s been little highlights, but I definitely can’t pin down one thing [as] the best. It was all just fantastic.</span></p> <p><strong>O60: It sounds like it, and it looks like you all had an amazing time on the show and made some really great friendships.</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yeah for sure. Coming in, I was excited to see other creators and what they did and how they work and how their minds work, and we all met, and we all got along so quickly and well.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">30 minutes after we met each other, it was like meeting friends you’d known for two years or five years, 10 years. That was a pretty surreal moment to meet other like minded people and be able to work with them creatively.</span></p> <p><strong>O60: What surprised you most about your <em>Making It</em> experience?</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It was all surprising. It was all the emotions at once, but it was all the time.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Maybe one thing you could say that surprised me was what people could achieve in a limited time frame, and such a short time frame.</span></p> <p><strong>O60: <em>Making It</em> saw contestants from a variety of age groups and backgrounds come together to craft, but how did you feel being the youngest competitor on the show?</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I kind of see myself as an old soul sometimes, so I'm happy to work with anybody. My age isn’t a barrier for me, I don't feel.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One thing you could say is [that I was] lucky enough that I kind of found making early and I can grow and develop that for years to come.</span></p> <p><strong>O60: What’s next for you after <em>Making It</em>?</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A few things. I finished my trade, so I’ve just become a sparkie.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[There are] a few other things on the horizon, which is exciting. There’s some tradie things I want to start and have a dabble in and [I’m] kind of finding those little paths now.</span></p> <p><strong>O60:<em> Making It</em> posed challenges that saw you use a whole range of different skills and techniques, has it changed how you have gone about your creative practice since leaving the show?</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I definitely learned a lot from other Makers. I find it easier to use harder material, I suppose, than softer materials … I hadn't done much in textiles or paper and I learnt a little bit more, which is developing into a skill set.</span></p> <p><strong>O60: Last but not least, if you had the chance, would you do it again?</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yes, for sure. It was such a fun, adrenaline-filled challenge. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As I said, all the emotions, all the time. The atmosphere and everything was unreal and it was just an absolute delight. Yeah, for sure, I'll do it 100 percent. If you ask me tomorrow, if you ask me in five minutes time, I’ll do it again. </span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVFUWs5FZI5/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVFUWs5FZI5/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Will Thomson (@willmade_aus)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The remaining four contestants will craft their hearts out on the next episode of </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Making It Australia</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, airing next Saturday night at 6pm.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: willmade_aus / Instagram</span></em></p>

Home & Garden

How to 'love-craft' your relationships for health and happiness

<p>You know how to find happiness: Just meet Prince Charming (or Cinderella), overcome all obstacles, get married. The end.</p> <p>Sure, we <em>kind of</em> know real life doesn’t work like that. And yet this <a href="https://bigthink.com/aeon-ideas/how-a-hackneyed-romantic-ideal-is-used-to-stigmatise-polyamory">“romantic” story</a> remains right up there on its cultural pedestal. We measure ourselves against it when we “fail.”</p> <p>I know how that feels. I’m polyamorous — in two simultaneous loving relationships — which is a “failure” condition because if you <em>really</em> love someone, you aren’t supposed to want anybody else.</p> <p>But I’m also a philosophy professor, and I say this blinkered focus on a single story arc is making us miserable.</p> <p>Can’t we dethrone the fairy tale, and celebrate a range of stories with real people in them? Wouldn’t it be more creative — not to mention more honest — to <em>craft</em> the role of love in our lives to fit who we truly are?</p> <p>I’m not saying we’d all go around singing <em>Happy Days Are Here Again</em> if that happened, but I am saying love-crafting is conducive to living a meaningful life, which might just be the key to a deep kind of happiness.</p> <h2>The freedom to choose</h2> <p>As philosophers are wont to do, let’s start by distinguishing two concepts of “happiness.” One is about nice feelings: <em>Hedonic</em> happiness. The other is about broader well-being or flourishing — what Aristotle called <em>eudaimonia</em>. If you are <em>eudaimonic</em>, you might be deeply satisfied with your life, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you feel good all the time.</p> <p>Philosophers love to pull apart concepts like this, but we also like to mash disparate concepts together and see what happens. My conceptual recipe for <em>love-crafting</em> has three main ingredients drawn from happiness research, the world of business and management and the philosophy of love. A strange brew, sure, but hear me out.</p> <p>Let’s start with happiness. It is <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2002-18731-012">quite</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.02.005">well</a> <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-2903-5_14">known</a> that happiness is tied to <em>agency</em> — that is, making one’s own decisions. The link can be understood partly in biological terms. As neuroscientist <a href="https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-upward-spiral-using-neuroscience-to-reverse-the-course-of-depression/">Alex Korb explains</a>, one study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity shows that:</p> <blockquote> <p>“(a)ctively choosing caused changes in attention circuits and in how the participants felt about the action, and it increased rewarding dopamine activity.”</p> </blockquote> <p>Dopamine feels good, but there’s more to it than just that. Psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor <a href="http://www.beacon.org/Mans-Search-for-Meaning-P607.aspx">Viktor Frankl’s work with suicidal prisoners in Nazi death camps</a> led him to conclude that having a sense of meaning or purpose in life is ultimately what makes it worth living. He stresses agency in this connection, noting that:</p> <blockquote> <p>“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms —to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”</p> </blockquote> <h2>Reshape the raw materials</h2> <p>OK, but what does this have to do with business and management? Here we toss <em>job-crafting</em> into the mix. This concept was <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2001.4378011">introduced by researchers Amy Wrzesniewski and Jane Dutton in 2001</a> to “capture the actions employees take to shape, mold, and re-define their jobs.”</p> <p>Although a job description determines the “raw materials” you have to work with, job-crafters creatively reshape their work for better alignment with their strengths and values.</p> <p>Wrzesniewski <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_igfnctYjA">describes one of the original inspirations for their theory</a>: A hospital cleaner who switched around the pictures in the rooms of coma patients, in case something about the changing environment might encourage their healing. This wasn’t in her job description — she <em>chose</em> to make it part of her role.</p> <p>This is huge, because the connection with agency brings <em>eudaimonia</em> into view. As <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780060919887/the-writing-life/">Annie Dillard powerfully reminds us in <em>The Writing Life</em></a>, “(h)ow we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”</p> <p>Now for the third ingredient: <em>Intentional love</em>. This has roots in the thought of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Erich-Fromm">social psychologist Eric Fromm</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/347852.The_Road_Less_Traveled">psychiatrist M. Scott Peck</a> and feminist cultural critic bell hooks. In <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17607.All_About_Love"><em>All About Love</em></a>, hooks, for instance, says that: “(l)ove is an act of will, both an intention and an action,” and that “will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love.”</p> <p>Although we are taught to think of love as out of control, something we “fall” into, an “addiction,” and even a form of “madness,” that is not <em>intentional</em> love.</p> <h2>Break the rules</h2> <p>Now to combine the ingredients together:</p> <p>1) Exercising agency is tied to happiness — not just good feelings, but a deeper sense that one’s life has meaning.</p> <p>2) Job-crafting is a powerful way to exercise agency, even when your role has been externally prescribed.</p> <p>3) Love, like work, can be practised intentionally and thoughtfully.</p> <p>Conclusion? Love-crafting has <em>got</em> to be worth a try.</p> <p>So what would it look like? Better to ask what it <em>does</em> look like. Many love-crafters “break the rules” (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_igfnctYjA">as do some of their job-crafting counterparts</a>).</p> <p>Some forge a network of loving friendships that (gasp!) doesn’t include a focal romantic relationship. Some craft non-monogamous marriages, non-sexual romances, queer loves and all kinds of things we don’t have labels for yet.</p> <p>Others craft “normal” relationships. The difference between a monogamous, hetero (etc.) relationship that’s “fallen” into and one that’s <em>chosen</em> is all the difference in the world.</p> <p>As <a href="http://www.beacon.org/Mans-Search-for-Meaning-P607.aspx">Frankl says in <em>Man’s Search for Meaning</em></a>, “happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue.” <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/359472-those-only-are-happy-i-thought-who-have-their-minds">Philosophers</a> <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hedonism/#PsyHe">have</a> tried to tell us this for centuries, and now they have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2014.33.10.890">empirical evidence</a> to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0022010">back them up</a>. Once the point sinks in, it’s obvious: Chasing a “happily-ever-after” that’s externally prescribed by a one-size romantic ideal is a great way to <em>ruin</em> our chances of being happy-ever-at-all.</p> <p>Intentionally crafting love to make it meaningful to you? Now that might have a shot. This does not mean a life of wall-to-wall <em>The Hills Are Alive</em> happiness — hedonic feelings <a href="https://qz.com/1046605/theres-a-biological-reason-you-feel-down-after-having-the-time-of-your-life/">tend to come and go</a>.</p> <p>Rather, my money is on this hypothesis: like job-crafting, love-crafting tends towards <em>eudaimonia</em> — the deep happiness that makes everything else possible.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102391/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><em></em></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/carrie-jenkins-544980">Carrie Jenkins</a>, Professor of Philosophy and Canada Research Chair, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-british-columbia-946">University of British Columbia</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-love-craft-your-relationships-for-health-and-happiness-102391">original article</a>.</em></p>

Relationships

Easy craft ideas to make with the grandkids

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There’s no better way to keep the grandkids entertained than with craft activities. Taking part in the fun will not only give you time to bond with the little ones, but it’s also a creative way to pass the time. </span></p> <p>Family spotlight photo</p> <p>What you need:</p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Burlap Ribbon </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">2 Eyelet Screws</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lighter</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hemp Twine </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Small Clothes Pins</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Floral Decor of your choosing</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Staple gun</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hot Glue/Gun</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Vinyl Black and White (or any colour you choose)</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wood Plaque </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Paint</span></li> </ul> <p>How to make:</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">1. Paint your plaque the colour of your choice and let it dry. Once your piece of wood is dry, take woody paint colours or darker colours of your paint choice and use a heavy dry brush to utilise different areas. After the plaque is coated and still wet, turn the plaque over and use the wood end to draw a pattern to give a rustic fence board look. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">2. You can use cardboard to do this or vinyl to make the word of your choice to go on your plaque. Stick it on your piece of wood. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">3. Mark the bottom left and right corners of your plaque by putting a little pressure on your eyelet screw into the wood. Once you have marked the corners, screw both of them in place.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">4. With your hemp twin, knot the rope on each end and pull tight (but not too tight!)</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">5. Add ribbons, floral décor or any decoration to your sign with a hot glue gun</span></p> <p> </p> <p>Seasons tree</p> <p>What you need</p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Paper</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pencils</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sharpie or permanent marker</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Paint</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rags, or sheets</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Old t-shirts to use as smocks for the kids</span></li> </ul> <p>How to make:</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">1. Trace a child’s arm on paper</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">2. Trace the arm with a permanent marker</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">3. Let the kids decorate the hand for whatever season they want </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">4. Frame the work of art as a gift</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Will you be trying out these craft activities with your grandkids? Let us know in the comments below.</span></p>

Art

3 easy craft projects you can do with your grandkids this Easter

<p>Easter is fast approaching and there are plenty of fun and simple crafts to do with your grandkids, so they are entertained.</p> <p>Here are three easy craft projects you can do with your grandkids this Easter.</p> <p><strong>1. Fluffy pom-pom chicks</strong></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7825635/shutterstock_1033164469.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/2e0718c0e62b4770bc39ecf66e3a4725" /></p> <p><strong>What you need:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Card</li> <li>Yellow wool</li> <li>Googly eyes</li> <li>Orange cards or felt</li> </ul> <p><strong>How to:</strong></p> <p>1. Cut two donut-shaped rings out of card and place both of the rings together</p> <p>2. Using scissors, cut a long piece of wool and wrap it around the donuts.</p> <p>3. When taking a new piece of wool, leave the ends at the top of the circle and not the centre.</p> <p>4. Once the donut is covered, cut the edges in between the two circles of card.</p> <p>5. With another piece of wool, place it between the two rings and tie the whole pom pom together. Pull the string tight and knot it.</p> <p><strong>2. Sock bunnies (no sewing required)</strong></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7825633/shutterstock_608096375.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/ce253977e0e94760938f8126abbdfd31" /></p> <p><strong>What you need:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Socks</li> <li>Elastic bands</li> <li>Rice, barley or lentils</li> <li>Buttons</li> <li>Scissors</li> <li>Glue gun / strong glue</li> </ul> <p><strong>How to:</strong></p> <p>1. Using a sock, fill it with either rice, barley or lentils.</p> <p>2. Tie an elastic band around the sock when it is filled a third of the way – this will make the bunny’s body.</p> <p>3. Further fill the sock and tie it again with an elastic band to make another ball – which is the head of the bunny.</p> <p>4. With the left-over sock at the top of the head, use some scissors to snip down the centre and round off the edges to make the bunny ears.</p> <p>5. Using your glue gun, stick two buttons on the sock for the eyes and a larger button for the nose.</p> <p>6. Tie a ribbon around your bunny’s neck and decorate with felt-friendly markers.</p> <p><strong>3. Yarn nests </strong></p> <p><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7825632/shutterstock_367611647.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/bdb4553157d945f8a3b34d7a766cd0e2" /></p> <p><strong>What you need: </strong></p> <ul> <li>Bowl</li> <li>Cling film</li> <li>Wool</li> <li>PVA glue</li> <li>Feathers</li> </ul> <p><strong>How to:</strong></p> <p>1. With your bowl and cling film, cover the outside of the upside-down bowl.</p> <p>2. Cut strings of wool and dip them in PVA glue.</p> <p>3. Cover the cling film bowl with the wool and continue to build up layers until you have your desired nest shape.</p> <p>4. Optional: You can line your nest with feathers and add your chocolate eggs!</p> <p>Would you try any of these easy Easter crafts with your grandchildren? Let us know in the comments below.</p>

Art

Kmart mum creates priceless gift for mother-in-law – for just $35

<p>Kmart has <a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/food-wine/2018/02/15-dollar-kmart-hack-will-save-you-thousands/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>become a treasure trove for creatively-minded shoppers</strong></span></a> who are buying for a tricky person, and if you’ve got a good imagination (and know your way around a craft desk) you can find something for just about anyone.</p> <p>A mum-of-five is the latest to use ordinary Kmart products to create something absolutely amazing, creating the following gift for her notoriously tricky-to-please mother-in-law.</p> <p>Tammie Vicziany, who lives in Western Australia, <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>told The Daily Telegraph</strong></em></span></a> this relative was the hardest to buy for, as she already seemed to have “two of everything”.</p> <p><img width="500" height="345" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7815803/kmart-hero-hero-in-text_500x345.jpg" alt="Kmart -hero -hero -in -text"/></p> <p><em>Hero image credit: Kmart / Facebook</em></p> <p>“All I want to do is give her something that reflects how much she not only means to me, but to her son and our children,” she said.</p> <p>The busy mum spent just $35 to buy the items she needed to make this one-of-a-kind gift, and every element of the piece was readily available on the Kmart shelves.</p> <p>The gift was made extra special by the fact that she made it with her children.</p> <p>Since sharing it on social media, Vicziany has been praised by all corners on her ability to create a memorable gift out of otherwise normal-looking pieces.</p> <p>What are your thoughts? What’s the best gift you’ve ever given?</p>

Art

Shelley Craft swears by this brilliant decluttering hack

<p>Well-known TV host Shelley Craft has some tips to help us ring in the new year in a cleaner, tidier home. The star of shows such as <em>Domestic Blitz</em> and <em>The Block</em> shared her advice on <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://nine.com.au" target="_blank">nine.com.au</a></strong></span> to help us all declutter the whole house with a few simple rules. </p> <p>* Every time something new comes into the house, something old has to go. So, if you get a new swimsuit, give a t-shirt you don’t wear to the charity shop. Got a new lamp? It’s time to part with the coffee table you never use. This means you aren’t bringing more ‘stuff’ into your life to fill your home. </p> <p>* Set up boxes in each area of your home for donations. For instance, you might have one for clothes, toys, kitchenware etc. Then spend some time going through each room and filling the boxes as much as you can. </p> <p>* Try buying the kids or grandkids experiences rather than ‘things’. For example, a movie voucher or a day out at the zoo. It’s also much more memorable for them than just another toy. </p> <p>* If you find a container or jar without a lid in the kitchen, toss it out. Life is too short to hunt through a huge drawer trying to find what you need each day. </p> <p>Do you make an effort to declutter your space each year or season? We would love to hear your tips for getting rid of ‘stuff’ in the comments.</p>

Home & Garden

Our Partners

Over 60

News

Shop

Catalogues

Contests

Entertainment

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Property

Games

Information

Keep up to date