8 DIY Stress Relief Projects to Get You Through Monday

If Mondays are your least favorite day of the week, you’re not alone. However, you won’t dread going to work once you utilize some stress-killing techniques. You may wonder what you can do at your desk to relieve strain without distracting from your work. Luckily, handy stress relievers exist, and if you’re on a budget, you can make some at home with ordinary supplies.

Shake off those Monday blues and step into a happier frame of mind with these eight relaxing DIY projects.

1. Balloon Stress Ball

Balloon lend themselves effortlessly to crafting, and this goes for stress relief as well. Using a funnel, fill up a balloon with your choice of rice or flour. When it’s full, let out any remaining air and tie off the opening. You can store this stress ball in a desk or a drawer and reach for it whenever you need it.

2. Sensory Bottle

Sensory bottles aren’t only for children — they work well for tension-riddled adults, too. Any glass or hard plastic bottle will do as long as you clean it out and remove all labels. Once you’ve done that, fill it with water and add glue to suspend objects of your choice within the solution. Examples include rocks, seashells, and beads. You can use food coloring or glitter for a monochromatic color scheme, or you can create a themed, multicolored sensory bottle. 

Add sand and seaweed for a beach theme or flowers and leaves for a nature-oriented bottle.

3. Zen Garden

A zen garden will prove a useful and attractive addition to your office. Fill a bowl or tray with a thin layer of craft sand and place a few decorative objects into the sand. There’s no limit to the objects you can incorporate, so be creative. Gemstones and crystals in particular complement the color of the sand. Since you’re likely to have a few pens at your desk, keep one handy for drawing designs in the sand.

If you want more sophisticated designs, you can buy a miniature zen garden rake.

4. Polymer Clay Stress Ball

Polymer clay serves well for making stress balls, as this medium is manageable for those unfamiliar with handling clay. Its synthetic polymers make it easily moldable, and you don’t need a lot of expertise to handle it. The clay’s texture is soft, but it provides just enough solidity for you to sink your hands into and relieve your stress with. You can mix the clay with other mediums for a more textured stress ball. 

Many people find value in using polymer clay for emotional relief, and you can reap the same benefits if you give it a try.

5. Zipper Bracelet

Make a fun distraction out of your old hoodies or jackets. Alternatively, you can buy zippers if you don’t want to take apart your clothing. You’ll need to cut the cloth away from the zipper and coat the outside of the zipper with nail polish to keep it from fraying. Once you do this, you can use embroidery floss to sew the ends into a loop big enough for your wrist.

Tie the floss around both ends and make sure the knot is tight so the bracelet won’t come loose. During stressful days at the office, use the bracelet as a sensory tool to ground you.

6. Essential Oil Necklace

Essential oils calm the mind and body, but you’d probably rather not carry around bottles of them all day. An excellent way to make them portable is to create an essential oil diffuser necklace. You can make it with modeling clay or lava beads, which are porous and will absorb the scent. The scent can last anywhere from a few hours to a couple days, depending on the strength of the essential oil.

7. Slime Stress Ball

Make a stress ball out of slime using glue and liquid cornstarch, and experiment with the measurements depending on how sticky or solid you prefer the slime’s consistency to be. Add food coloring and glitter to the mixture for a fun range of colors. You can use the slime by itself and store it in an airtight container, or you can put it inside a balloon to create a stress ball.

8. Scented Playdough

Playdough may sound out of your age range, but it works much like a stress ball to get your hands moving and your mind relaxed. You can make it with boiling water, cream of tartar, flour, and salt. Add some essential oil to the recipe to give it a soothing scent. It smells best when warm, so you can either knead it or put it in your microwave for a quick spin to heighten the aroma.

De-Stress Your Week

Use these eight tips for inspiration on removing daily stress. Once you implement them, you’ll be able to kick off a better start to a more positive week.

Photo Credit

Follow Kacey on Twitter and subscribe to her blog to keep up with her travels and inspiring posts!