Prepping With Creativity

September 14th is National Live Creative Day. It’s an annual event that encourages people to look at the world through creative lenses. This holiday states that all of us are artists of our own rights. Today, we let our uniqueness shine and show everyone our inner artistic soul. In the US, there are currently 11,970 employed artists earning an annual salary of $68,690. 56% of households in the country will turn to a crafting hobby for personal enjoyment. Every year, the crafting market makes $44 billion dollars in the sale of supplies. With so many types of art mediums out there, quite a lot of them can save your life and benefit you in the apocalypse.

Painting

55% of crafters, or 41 million people, take part in this type of art style. Because of this, we consider painting to be the most popular medium in the art world. Painting is a very helpful way of relieving stress and is part of treatment for mental health conditions like anxiety and PTSD. The supplies used in the activity can also help you in a doomsday situation. Canvas, or canvas boards, can make sturdy maps as they’re less likely to get damaged the way paper can. Paintbrushes are good for detailed cleaning projects. We can use spilled paint to mark trails. Palettes have little compartments good for sorting seeds or organizing other little things.

Drawing

Currently, drawing and painting are tied in terms of popularity and members. Drawing is a great way to express your emotions and is used in similar treatment programs. If sharp enough, a pencil can do serious damage when used for self-defense purposes. Pencil sharpeners can turn ordinary sticks into spears, while we can use the shavings as tinder in a bonfire. Speaking of tinder, you can use this as an opportunity to burn those embarrassing fan art pieces you drew as a kid by crumpling them up and tossing them into it along with the shavings. Sharpie marker pens can write messages on doors or mailboxes to communicate with other survivors as their ink withstands most weather.

Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is the largest crafting category in the industry. It is the third most practiced medium, with over 4 million participants. This is by far the most creative outlet on the market as it has so much variety available to work from, making the survival possibilities endless. There is a wide assortment of cutting instruments, from different-shaped scissors to paper trimmers with creative blades to cut through just about anything. A ton of punches you can use to assign each survivor a particular one to use in place of signatures to speed up paperwork. A sea of stickers that can help you organize information (like I do) or implement a better rotation system.

Pottery

Pottery is one of the oldest art forms to exist. It dates back to Mesopotamia around 6000 BC. The most common type of clay used in pottery is called earthenware. They make it from bits of rock, sand, and other materials found in nature. Before the discovery of metal, and even after it, pottery was used to make everything from cooking pots to pipes for primitive plumbing projects. Today’s metal goods are made so manufacturers can sell more, as they often wear out much faster. After the apocalypse, potters will become in high demand as a handy bartering skill when those floppy metal wares give out or rust away.

Weaving

Weaving has always been a part of human life. Early humans used weaving to make shelters to live in. Thin strips of wood were used to make baskets to help forage for food easier. They turned strands of wool and cotton into fabrics for clothing articles. Twill is a type of woven fabric used for work pants for those doing hard labor, like farming and mining. We used silk fabric for fine goods like bridal dresses. To help them weave the strands of material better into the fabric, a loom was used. The loom also made blankets and pillowcases. Like pottery, this skill will also be in high demand after doomsday.