8 Affordable Purchases To Start Living A More Creative Life

Having a creative outlet in your day is a guaranteed way to take your mind off your awful day at work or busy schedule, relax, and create something you genuinely love. Whether it’s writing or photography, leading a creative life (even if you can’t pursue one professionally) leads to generally feeling happier and less anxious day-to-day. Consider purchasing items that will inspire you to pursue something creative more often, whether it’s a beautiful moleskin notebook that sits on your desk or carrying your favorite pen set in your bag. Here are some top picks to help you live a more consistently creative life.

1. Sketchpad Set

While refined artists carry around battered sketching notebooks everywhere they go, stopping frequently to capture old buildings and park fountains, the everyday artist may not be so dedicated. If you enjoy casual sketching, consider investing in a sketchpad set to keep at home. The Urban Outfitters sketchpad set comes with fifty sheets of thick sketching paper and a beautiful display of colored pencils to make your artwork accessible and enticing.

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2. Bonsai Starter Kit

For a less conventional creative outlet, consider purchasing a Bonsai starter kit. You might not have the time or space (or green thumb!) to start a full garden, but you can learn to grow a specific type of plant. This kit comes with all the tools and information you need to grow four distinct types of Bonsai tree, meaning you’ll be able to dedicate hours to growing your own little forest. Rather than delving straight in and buying random plants and attempting to follow their vague instruction cards, feel empowered to garden with the provided organic seeds, healthy soil, labels for your plants, and even little pots.

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3. Embroidery Kits

If you love how therapeutic knitting sounds but don’t actually want a closet full of knitwear, consider investing in an embroidery kit. The fun packets often come with cute designs you can copy, every colored thread imaginable, and fun hoops of various sizes. While embroidery has a slight learning curve, you can very easily begin to create simple designs to hang around your home or gift your friends. This is a great investment that you can spend many, many hours on, and eventually create something really stunning.

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4. Calligraphy Set

We’ve all watched those mesmerizing Instagram videos of artists drawing beautiful calligraphy designs. While this is probably a skill you don’t have any background in, buying a calligraphy set could be the inspiration you need to sit down and master a new art. From beautiful wedding cards and Instagram designs to notebook covers, you may soon find yourself obsessed with your developing talent.

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5. Drafting Notepad Set

If you have an interest in architecture or product design, upgrade your graph paper notebook and invest in an actual drafting notebook set. Complete with compasses, pencils, protractors, rulers and more, this Urban Outfitters set allows you to indulge in messy drafting on blank paper as well as calculated final designs on the graph paper. The organized display is sure to may you want to sit down and document your great ideas in precise detail.

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6. Hanging Picture Frames

Buying a new camera is pricey and doesn’t guarantee that you’ll actually go out and take more pictures. Instead, think about buying a decorative picture display. Wireframes for Polaroids or hanging frames that you can pin photos to serve as a constant reminder to take and develop more photos. The wall display will look bare if you don’t have photos to hang up, and you’ll want to keep rotating your pictures to keep them current or match your room decor at the moment. Constant photo motivation? Check!

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7. Watercolor Set

Without investing in an expensive wooden easel which either sits unused in a closet or takes up a massive amount of space if left permanently on display, find a way to make painting part of your daily routine. This watercolor set comes in a darling bamboo box which tucks away neatly or can sit open on your desk, awaiting your next creation. While this is pricier than some of the other options, it comes with 12 high-quality paints, watercolor paper, and other needed essentials.

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8. Bullet Journal Kit

While Bullet journals have been popular for a while, it can seem overwhelming to try and jump right into the trendy pastime. Between buying varied sticker collections, the right pens, a cute journal with thick enough paper (that’s also not too thick), and a Polaroid camera to provide cute decoration for your pages, just thinking about trying to create a bullet journal can feel exhausting. Buying a kit can help you make the transition, inspiring you to lead a more creative and organized life without getting bogged down in the details.

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