5. Crochet a Stuffed Animal

Despite what others say, you're never too old for stuffed animals. And if you don't want to keep your creation for yourself, give it to a relative or friend. Giving gifts can improve your mood and encourage gratitude. Brighten someone else's spirits along with yours.

Make your stuffed animal out of virtually any material — use a pair of denim jeans, lightly worn socks or a t-shirt. Sew old clothing for a straightforward process, or crochet a pattern for a homemade look and feel.

6. Create a Mason Jar Pendant Light

Light up your home with a unique twist by designing pendant lights out of empty mason jars. You'll need a nail, hammer, pliers and shears in addition to the bulb and container. Use the light socket to trace a circle on the lid, and cut this shape out. Line this opening with smaller holes to allow ventilation — your jar will heat up quickly when the light is on. Put the socket through the opening and screw on the lightbulb. Choose an Edison lightbulb for a rustic look, or go with a modern LED.

7. Build a Twine Ball Lamp

Twine lamps embody refinement, but maybe you're reluctant to spend tons of money on them. Thankfully, making your own is cost-effective and stress-free. All you need is a balloon, yarn, paint and glue.

Inflate the balloon to your desired lamp size. Fill a bowl with clear-drying glue and dip the ball of yarn into it. Unravel the yarn and wrap it around the balloon until it's fully covered, then tie the rest of the thread to the balloon knot. Let it dry overnight before popping the balloon. Make it your favorite color using paintbrushes or spray paint.

8. Design Wallpaper Notebooks

Create a handy notebook using wallpaper, scrap paper and a stapler. Your scrap paper can be lined or graph paper, so long as it folds well. Cut your wallpaper to match the size and wrap it around the writing paper. Glue the front and back of the scrap paper to the wallpaper to reinforce it, or staple it for a finished piece.

Relax and Renew

Sit down with a fresh DIY project whenever you feel stress rearing its head. Your tension will melt when you participate in meaningful and fun activities. Grab a couple friends and turn it into a group stress-relief session.​

Before any real, positive change can happen you must realize that you are worthy of and deserve happiness. You are meant to show up in this world, shine your light, create, and be happy.

To truly manifest, you must change from the inside out.

Manifesting isn't just about thinking positive thoughts and reciting affirmations – it's digging into your deepest beliefs about yourself and the world around you, uprooting the beliefs that no longer serve you, and getting in alignment with your highest self. 

A positive change in thinking creates space for transformation. It allows you to sweep out the cobwebs of self-doubt and invite in miracles and magic. You must, before anything else, make room for the kind of life you want to live.

So how do you do this?

​By accepting yourself and claiming your spiritual self-worth. By practicing gratitude and forgiveness.

​PRACTICE GRATITUDE

By now I'm sure you've read tons of blog posts, articles, and books about the practice of gratitude, but I'm including it here because it really does make a difference. People aren't writing about it because it doesn't work. People are writing about it because it changes lives.

Think about it: when you're always seeking the next big thing, you can't focus on what you already have. Everything you own you once wanted. And it doesn't just stop at material things. You can have gratitude for your health, your body, your relationships, experiences big and small.

You can have gratitude that you opened your eyes this morning and that a zombie apocalypse isn't going on.

Gratitude allows us to appreciate what we already have, which in turn allows for more goodness to fill our lives. But even if nothing else ever came to you, gratitude creates contentment.

You could be perfectly happy knowing that you have everything you need. And when you really get down to it, you probably have everything you need in abundance. The bare necessities: water, food, shelter, clothing. How many outfits are in your closet? How many times did you eat today? Does water flow from your tap? Will you crawl into a comfy bed tonight?

These are things that are so easy to take for granted if you've grown up with them. They're almost expected, but many people in the world aren't afforded simple needs, much less small luxuries and pleasures.

Place gratitude in your heart. Wake each morning with a spirit full of love knowing that you are divinely blessed.

You can practice gratitude by keeping a thank you list and filling it out each day, week, or month. Whatever feels right for you. List everything you can think of, from the crème brule you had for dessert to the half mile you were able to run. There are so many things to be grateful for. 

​PRACTICE FORGIVENESS

Forgiveness is powerful in that it releases us from our own bondage. Many people find forgiveness challenging because they think by forgiving the person who wronged them, they're getting a free pass.

The truth is, when you hold a grudge, when you don't forgive someone, you're only hurting yourself. The pain stays inside you while the other person moves on.

It's important to understand that forgiveness does not mean that what the person did to you was right. It only means that you take back the power and release yourself from the pain the person caused.

One way to look at it is to think of the people who may have wronged you as teachers. They showed up in your life to teach you something, to be stronger, to look at things in a new way, to sympathize with others who may have had similar experiences.

Also know this, that just because you forgive someone doesn't mean you have to let them back into your life. You don't even have to like them. You just have to imagine a line that stretches from your heart to theirs and pain moving through that line like electricity. Break the line. Say, “You may go in peace,” or whatever feels right to you in order to break free.

It's also important to note that sometimes the person we need to forgive the most is ourselves. Have you ever held something over your own head that served as a reason for why you should “get what's coming to you”?

Once upon a time I did something I couldn't forgive myself for. I hurt someone I loved very much in a way that just seemed despicable to me. Even though this person forgave me, I couldn't forgive myself for many years and any time something bad happened to me or someone hurt me, I said I deserved it for what I had done in the past.

The truth is, the past is the past and we've all let our shadow selves overpower our higher selves at some point, but there comes a time when we must let our higher selves forgive those dark parts. I let my ego run amok when I hurt that person, but that is no longer who I am. What's done is done and the curtain's dropped on that situation.

​Whether the other person forgives you or not, you must cut the ropes around your own hands. Let it go, breathe it out, and move on. 

​You can practice forgiveness by writing down your resentments on a piece of paper. Try something like, "I release all my anger towards x. I give it up to the universe for my highest loving good." Then, light sage in a smudge bowl, place your paper in the fire, and let the smoke take it up and away from you.