Drinking tea is a great past time on its own, but on its own leaves a little room for doing something else as well. Whether it’s with friends or by yourself, the following activities will take up a few minutes of your time while you’re waiting for your favorite cup of Earl Grey to cool a little.
Origami
Origami is the Japanese art of papermaking, or rather, making objects out of paper by folding them in specific ways. This is an easy practice to pick up, and there are varying levels of difficulty, but none are without fun. You don’t need much in the way of resources other than paper or thin sheet cards to do this, and there are plenty of books or online tutorials to help get you started. Imagine the joy on your friend’s face when you suddenly make them a paper dragon out of the blue. It can be done, and it really is amazing what kind of objects can be fashioned out of a simple piece of paper.
Watercolor Painting
Anyone can do a watercolor painting because it is easy to do with a little practice, and purchasing the paints is actually cheaper than other kinds of paint (acrylic, oil). The benefit of watercolor painting is the portrait needs to be done in stages, so the paint doesn’t bleed into others on the page, so it’s a perfect activity over a nice cup of tea in varying stages. The best part is, you can set up your workspace in the time it takes the kettle to boil. Oh, and watercolor painting is great for developing or improving hand-eye coordination skills, too.
Jigsaw Creation
Everyone loves a good puzzle, and it’s even more fun when you get to create your own. All you need is a piece of card, a pencil, some glue, a picture on an A4 piece of paper and a pair of scissors. First, all you have to do is sketch out the lines of the jigsaw pieces on the back of the card and then glue the picture onto the other side. After that and once the glue has dried, cut the pieces according to the marked lines, and there you have your jigsaw. The whole activity is great because this can be done over two or three sittings with a cup of tea.
Embroidery
You may think embroidery is a bit old fashioned, but it is one of the most relaxing crafts to take up. It lacks the complexity of crocheting and knitting while teaching you valuable sewing skills. What’s more, embroidery (or cross stitch) is relatively inexpensive compared to other craft activities. Embroidery is an underrated mindfulness activity that takes attention away from the world around us and helps build concentration skills. Perfect over a cuppa.
There you go. It may not sound like much, but doing these activities over a cup of tea is a great use of time, and it’s even better when you have someone to do them with as well. Enjoy!