Crafting is a great way for teens to express their taste, creativity, and personality. DIY projects allow them to customize their clothes, their rooms, and their lives to reflect their unique style, while learning DIY skills and techniques that will last a lifetime.
Even better, most DIY crafts for teens are affordable, so they can pursue their interests and express themselves without spending a lot of money. Here are some great DIY crafts for teens.
DIY Crafts for Teens
1. DIY Paper Chain Wall Hanging
Most teens remember making paper chains as kids, but this project gives it a more mature, sophisticated touch. Even better, this project uses supplies that you already have at home.
To make a DIY paper chain wall hanging, you will need a lot of strips of card stock paper. You can use already-cut paper strips, or use your own paper.
Since you will need hundreds of strips, a paper trimmer will make it faster. Make the paper chains, and then hang them in a row from a cardboard tube with cord through it, or repurpose a clothes hanger to make your unique wall hanging.
2. DIY Easy String Word Art
String art is so fun and easy, and this project lets a teen make word art for their walls in no time at all. While you can make word art with a wooden plaque and small nails, it may be easier to start with cork board and push pins.
To make this craft, design your word on a computer and print it out. Place the printed paper on your cork board, and use push pins to outline the text, placing a pin about every ¼ to ½ inch, depending on the size of your design.
Tear away the paper, leaving the pins in place. Then tie some embroidery floss to one of the pins, and begin wrapping the floss around the pins, making a web.
You can make a gradient effect by gradually changing the color of the floss as you wrap along the length of the word.
3. DIY Sewn Paper Pennant Craft
This project is a great way to decorate for a party or gathering, but can also simply be a piece of wall décor to use year round. Teens may want to make pennants in their school colors, or decorate their pennants with washi tape or stickers.
To make these paper pennants, you will need squares of craft paper or scrapbooking paper, and matching sewing machine thread.
Cut your paper into triangles, and then use a sewing machine to sew the long ends of the triangles together with a 1/4” seam allowance, creating a row of triangles to hang as a pennant.
Use the thread tails to tie into a loop to hang the pennant.
4. DIY Pom Pom Paperclips
These fun paperclips are a fantastic back-to-school craft, and once you start making pom poms, you may want to attach them to everything.
For this project, you need fairly large paper clips, a small pom pom maker, and yarn. You may use several colors of yarn for multi-colored pom poms.
Follow the instructions on the pom pom maker to create tiny pom poms, then use yarn to tie them tightly to the paper clip. Trim the excess.
5. DIY Glitter Phone Case
A DIY phone case is a great project for teens, because they tend to be hard on their phones, and want new cases often. This glitter phone case is a fun and easy project, and an affordable way to update your phone as often as you like.
For this project, you need a clear phone case, fine glitter, and decoupage glue. Brush the glue onto the phone case, and then pour glitter over the glue, using a paper plate to catch the excess.
Allow the case to dry, brush away any excess glitter, and then repeat the glue and glitter process to fill in any gaps. Finish with a sealer for more durability.
6. DIY Cord Organizer
A cord organizer is another great back-to-school project, making it easier to carry cables and chargers. This project is so fun and easy, and all you need are two colors of felt fabric, Velcro strips, and a hot glue gun.
Cut one color of felt fabric into a one-inch wide strip, with a rounded button shape at one end, and a pointed tip at the other. Cut a second piece of felt to the same shape, but smaller, leaving a margin around the edges.
Hot glue the two pieces of felt together, for a colorful design. Then cut your Velcro into narrow strips the size of your large felt piece, and cut them in half.
Glue the hook part of the Velcro to the outside of the pointed half of your felt, and the loop part to the inside of the rounded part of your felt, so they will wrap and attach to each other.
You may also want to embellish it with a decorative button or fabric trim.
7. DIY Custom-Stamped T-Shirt
This fun craft project for teens is a great way to use old take-out boxes or scraps of cardboard, while customizing T-shirts with any design you like. To make this craft, you will need a blank cotton T-shirt, foam paint brushes, parchment or wax paper, and fabric paint.
You will also need Styrofoam boxes, or pieces of cardboard. To make the stamp, use a pencil to draw or trace your stamp design on a sheet of cardboard or foam. If you are using foam, go over the design again, pressing harder with your pencil to make deep indentations in the foam.
If you are using cardboard, cut out your design pieces and stick them to a second piece of cardboard. Lay the T-shirt flat, with a piece of parchment paper inside the shirt to keep the paint from bleeding through to the opposite side.
Then use a foam brush to paint fabric paint onto your foam or cardboard stamp, and press it onto the shirt. Let it dry. You may want to use a fabric marker on the shirt to outline the design again, or add other enhancements.
Let it dry overnight, then iron or machine-dry the shirt to heat-set the paint.
8. DIY Comic Art Picture Frame
This DIY craft is a great choice for people who love comics, and it’s a simple project to do. Simply choose a wooden picture frame, and cut out old comic strips (or print comic strips for cutting).
Remove the photo and glass from the frame, then paint the frame with decoupage medium, then place your comic strips in any arrangement you like.
Once it’s dry, paint over the entire surface a second time with decoupage medium. Then reassemble the glass and photo.
9. DIY Personalized Planter
A personalized planter is a great way to keep your plants happy while showcasing your style, and also makes a great gift. For this project, you will need a ceramic planter, and choose a planter that is a solid color (rather than patterned).
Add vinyl letters to spell out your message (block letters will work the best). You may also want to add stars or heart shaped stickers as well.
Then take a Sharpie and make dots all around the edges of your letters, overlapping the dots slightly. Continue making dots on the pot, keeping them the most dense around the letters, then spacing them out further as you move away from the text.
Allow the dots to dry for several hours, then peel off the stickers. If necessary, you can use rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab to clean up any messy areas.
10. DIY Yarn-Wrapped Wall Art
Yarn-wrapped wall art is a fast and fun way to decorate or personalize a dorm room, and all it takes is cardboard, yarn, and a little bit of glue. You may want to print out a template, or simply hand-write your text.
Write or trace your text onto a piece of cardboard twice. Glue the sheets of cardboard together, so you have a stiff surface.
Secure the end of your yarn to the back of the cardboard with a piece of tape, and then start wrapping the cardboard in yarn. Wrap evenly and tightly, not leaving any gaps. You may use different colors of yarn if you like.
Once you are done, tie a loop of yarn on the back for hanging, or use standard picture hangers
Conclusion
These DIY crafts for teens are fun, creative, and even useful. They make great projects, and great gifts.
Letting teens express their style and creativity with craft projects is a great way to introduce them to a lifetime hobby of making and personalizing their own décor, and these crafts are so easy and affordable that anyone can try them.