Create a Self-Care Box – A Gift of Kindness to Yourself
A self-care box, sometimes known as a Make-it-better box, is just like it sounds – a beautiful, personalized box filled with items that boost your mood and wellbeing. The contents are up to you and can include anything from notebooks and pens to incense, chocolate, essential oils, candles, bath oils, tea, hot chocolate sachets, photos, affirmations, quotes, books, postcards, mementos, or tapes. Basically, anything that lifts your spirits when you’re feeling down.
### Why Make One?
Creating a self-care box is not only fun but also gives you an opportunity to take time for yourself, which is often something we neglect. We dedicate so much attention to work, family, and maintaining our homes that we sometimes forget about our own needs. Making a self-care box is a way to ensure you spend some time caring for yourself.
### Who Can Make One?
Anyone can make a self-care box – it’s an enjoyable activity to do alone or with friends. You don’t need to be artistic. It’s a great group activity and has been used successfully in places like women’s shelters, nursing homes, mental health groups, and carer’s forums. It’s also perfect for kids or as a family project. In my experience working with a local charity, these sessions were very successful with both adults and children.
### What Do I Need?
Here’s what you’ll need to get started:
– A shoebox or any box with a lid
– Wrapping paper or magazines with inspiring pictures or patterns
– Old calendars or greeting cards
– PVA glue
– Scissors
– Optional items like fabric scraps, sequins, glitter, beads, buttons, tissue paper, and acrylic or poster paint
### How Do I Make It?
1. **Collect Materials**: Cut out pictures, shapes, words, colors, and textures that you like.
2. **Decorate the Box**: Use decoupage (collage) to cover your box with these pictures or patterns. There’s no right or wrong way to do it – just go with what you like. You can layer images or spread them out. If you prefer, you could also paint the box or combine painting with decoupage.
3. **Add Embellishments**: Decorate your box with any extras that appeal to you – fabric, ribbon, glitter, sequins, words, etc.
4. **Fill Your Box**: Think about what would cheer you up. Some people include photos of friends and family, others create pamper kits, and one friend filled hers with funny animal pictures that made her smile.
5. **Optional Interior Decoration**: You can line the inside of your box with fabric or wrapping paper if you like.
6. **Optional Varnish**: If you want your box to be more durable, you can spray it with acrylic varnish, but it’s perfectly fine to leave it unvarnished.
Keep your self-care box somewhere accessible – by your bed, under it, in a drawer, or even out in the open where you can see it.
